A new analysis of ruins on the northernmost tip of

Question

A new analysis of ruins on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland reveals that the Viking settlement there is almost 600 years  as old as the supposedly  first North American colony.

A. as old as the supposedly
B. older than the supposedly
C. as old as the supposed
D older than their supposed 
E as old as its first supposedly

can anybody tell me why "Supposedly" is better than ''supposed".

daagh · Accepted Answer

1.’ Supposedly ’, the adverb, modifies the adjective ‘first’; it is not modifying the colony.

2. The point of the sentence is that what was supposedly the  first  one is not indeed the fist one. In fact, the recent studies reveal that the Viking settlements are older. So you have to say  “older than ”. When you say that they are  as old as  then you are admitting that both are of the same age and the word ‘ first ’ turns irrelevant in the context. Hence A is wrong

daagh · Answer

The supposed first North American colony- In this phrase, what does the adjective supposed modify? Is it supposed first, or supposed north or supposed American or supposed Colony? You can see the inappropriateness of the word supposed, given the context. . Hence you need to use the adverb supposedly to modify the adjective ‘first’. The sentence tries to mean that the one that is supposedly the first one is indeed the not the first one and in fact, the Viking Settlement is 600 years older. B is the choice.

HTH

HTH

andysimple · Answer

supposedly modifies first. supposed modifies colony. but I think the answer is B.

gmat1220 · Answer

Looks like B. The meaning says they were not sure whether they were "first" colony

garimavyas · Answer

i think there is a typo error here in what is posted.

brandy96 · Answer

it should be B. here 'first' is modified by supposedly and the 'north america colony'.

akkifreaky · Answer

I had a doubt in A and B and went with A. Can someone pls explain why A is not correct ?

ravitejar · Answer

i think the answer is c because u cannot use a adverb(supposedly) to modify a noun if any word is modifying a noun it must be a adjective so ly should be removed and look for options we are left with c and d we can reject d because the pronoun does not refer to sub so ans is 'c' i think,any comments if u have any doubt see the modifiers chapter 5 in book 8 of 8 strategy guides of mgmat.

ravitejar · Answer

The ans choice is c, does any one need explanation. Firstly, I would point out supposedly which is adverb and it can only modify verb and cannot modify noun 'colony' so any options with supposedly i.e a.b.e is out and then remaining choices are c & d .If u keenly observe the option 'd' u can get that 'their' does not refer to the main subject so u can eliminate d and u are left with the only option c i.e ans

aijordanov · Answer

This is not correct. Please scroll above to understand why B is the answer. Also, an adverb (supposedly) can modify the adjective (first), which in turn modifies the noun (colony).

There must be a mistake in the original post.

Tangkwa16 · Answer

Please correct if I'm wrong.
It's about choosing "as old as" or "older than". Suppose I couldn't decide by its meaning, whether it should be equally old or older. 
I think it is "older than", not "as old as"
because with "as older as", you need a comma in front, bacause it elaborates the "600 years" period. But without a comma in front, we need something to come after "600 years" so that together they will complete the meaning. Which in this case is "600 years older" together.
Is there such rule like this, and if there is, what's it called?

gmatopoeia · Answer

I gave my answer as C originally, but after thinking through...I think B is the answer.

This is how I think it is...
'almost   older than...' is correct. There is no 'almost   as old as...' - it is either 'as old as' or ' NOT as old as'. There is no 'almost as old as'. That immediately strikes out options A, C and E, leaving us with B and D.

D is wrong. Who is 'their' referring to? There is no specific person/body/organization in this statement.
This leaves us with the answer B

Can someone confirm the OA please?

Edit:  I did a quick check by running a google search and got this:  https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/post4312.html ...so, I think B is the correct answer.

avaneeshvyas · Answer

A new analysis of ruins on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland reveals that the Viking settlement there is almost 600 years  as old as the supposedly  first North American colony.
a) as old as the supposedly
b) older than the supposedly
c) as old as the supposed
d) older than their supposed
e) as old as its first supposedly

How are we supposed to judge whether the Viking Settlement is as old as or older than the first North American Colony, are their any pointers in the statement for the same?

Marcab · Answer

"Supposedly" being an adverb will modify the next word that comes right after it. In the sentence, it will modify "first", so the logic of the sentence becomes:
"......reveals that the Viking settlement....... either the first( we are not sure about it) but certainly is a North American Colony.(We are pretty sure about that).
Supposed FIRST NORTH AMERICAN COLONY means Viking Settlement is ceratinly the first, but it may or may not be THE NORTH AMERICAN COLONY.
So options that involve supposed are certainly wrong because they imply an unusual meaning. Eliminate C,D.
There are no referrents for "Their" and "its", so both the D and E are wrong.
A and B are close contenders.
On closer look, one may observe a case of redundancy here. If they are as old as the first north american colony then whats the importance of using FIRST here. Eliminate A.
Answer is B.

Please note that don't go by saying that the original sentence implies this emaning and that. Don't treat A more than other choices. Go for the choices that are logical. I mean to say that if A implies that "a man bit a dog" and if B implies that "a dog bit a man", then choose the most logical one, not A by saying that the original sentence meant the same. 
This is what was told to me by one of the MGMAT instructors, TOMMY WALLACH.

mun23 · Answer

A new analysis of ruins on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland reveals that the Viking settlement there is almost 600 years  as old as the supposedly  first North American colony.

(A)as old as the supposedly
(B)older than the supposedly
(C)as old as the supposed
(D)older than their supposed
(E)as old as its first supposedly

Need explanation...............

sdas · Answer

Answer B

Choice A - wrong comparison uses almost 600 years as old as (I cant be almost 3 years as old as my friend, I can be either younger/older)

Choice C - same

Choice D - wrong pronoun

Choice E - as old as

Vercules · Answer

Hi mun23,

This question tests one's understanding of adverbs and adjectives and little bit of comparisons. As a recap adjectives modify nouns, and adverbs modify every other thing apart from noun. i.e. an adverb can modify verb, adjective and even another adverb.

The first split is between supposed(adjective) and supposedly(adverb)

supposed first North American Colony -- >  In this case supposed is modifying North American Colony; this will mean that the we doubt the existence of the North American Colony. This would be illogical as we are comparing the age of something to the North American colony.

supposedly first North American Colony -->  This makes more sense, as an adverb "supposedly" is now modifying "first", an adjective. We now mean to say that the North American colony may or may not be the first one, a very logical meaning, thus the correct usage.

Based on the reasons above, we can eliminate (C) and (D). Lets consider (A), (B) and (E)

(A)as old as the supposedly

as old as is being used incorrectly in (A). We say "Mary is as old as Julia", but we do not say that "Mary is 6 year as old as Julia"
 
(B)older than the supposedly

Correct, this choice makes idiomatically correct comparison and uses the adverb "supposedly" instead of adjective "supposed"
 
(E)as old as its first supposedly

This choice also uses the unidiomatic comparison in its use of "600 years as old as"

Hope this helps,

Vercules

doe007 · Answer

All duplicate threads on this same topic are merged.

pqhai · Answer

First, select between "supposedly" and "supposed"
supposedly is adverb and modifies first, ==> it's correct. 
Supposed is adjective and modifies N.A colony ==> it changes meaning.
Narrow down to A, B, E.
E is wrong because "its" is unclear.
A is wrong because we never compare X is 600 years as old as Y, we usually compare X is 600 years older than Y.
B is correct.

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