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17 Mar 2021, 00:00
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C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
35%
(medium)
Question Stats:
65% (01:22) correct
35%
(01:27)
wrong
based on 286
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
According to astronomers, detecting earth size planets is an enormous challenge because of the infinitesimal sizes and masses of the planets compared to the stars they orbit.
A) because of the infinitesimal sizes and masses of the planets compared to
B) because of the infinitesimal sizes and masses of the planets than those of
C) because of the infinitesimal sizes and masses of the planets compared to those of
D) due to the infinitesimal sizes and masses of the planets compared to
E) due to the infinitesimal sizes and masses of the planets compared to those of
17 Mar 2021, 00:03
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
THE PROMPT
Due to cannot modify verbs.
Because of modifies verbs and clauses.
See Notes, below.
• be certain that the sentence compares similar things
The sizes and masses of the planets can only be compared with the sizes and masses of (those of) the stars they orbit.
Those = sizes and masses.
THE OPTIONS inserted into a slightly shortened sentence
The sizes and masses of the planets cannot be compared with the stars that those planets orbit.
ELIMINATE A
→ What the heck is this than doing in the sentence? Answer: nothing, except making a big, fat mess.
Read the sentence out loud. It should sound bizarre.
In a comparison, if than is present, a comparison word must also be present. No such comparison word exists in this case.
ELIMINATE B
• I do not see any errors.
→ This sentence compares the sizes and masses of the planets with the sizes and masses of (those of) the stars they orbit.
→ Because of explains why detecting an Earth-sized planet is challenging.
KEEP
→ The sizes and masses of the planets cannot be compared with the stars.
• Due to is incorrect
→ Due to is trying to modify the entire clause that precedes it: Detecting earth size planets is an enormous challenge.
Due to cannot modify a clause.
Alternatively, due to is trying to answer a why question, but why questions are answered by because of. See Notes, below.
Why is detecting Earth-sized planets an enormous challenge?
Answer: Because of the tiny sizes and masses of such planets compared to the sizes and masses of the stars around which the planets orbit.
ELIMINATE D
ELIMINATE E
The correct answer is C.
NOTES
Due to vs. Because of
Typically, I would tell you to replace due to, with caused by, resulting from, or attributable to.
If the sentence works with any of those three replacements, then due to is almost certainly correct.
Typically, I would also add that if caused by or the other two replacements for due to create a nonsensical sentence, then use because of.
This question is one of a very few in which substitution does not yield an especially illuminating outcome.
I'll replace "due to" with "caused by" in the correct answer:
→ Detecting earth size planets is an enormous challenge caused by the infinitesimal sizes and masses of the planets compared to those of the stars they orbit.
Hmm. Replacement does not produce a bunch of nonsense that is easy to dismiss.
That replacement sentence seems correct. It isn't.
So we turn to another way in which due to is different from because of.
Due to is a preposition that can modify only a noun or pronoun.
Due to cannot be an adverb that explains why something happened.
Due to cannot explain a verb or clause.
Because of, on the other hand, can modify a verb or a clause; because of often explains why an event occurred.
Be careful. Because of is followed by a noun or noun phrase but explains a verb or clause.
That is, because of is a compound preposition that itself will be followed by a noun or pronoun but simultaneously will modify (explain) a verb or clause.
Due to answers what questions.
→ The public outcry was due to the leaders' ineptitude and indifference.
→ Public outcry due to leaders' ineptitude and indifference intensified when small children were forcibly separated from their parents at the border.
What caused the outcry? Ineptitude and indifference.
Because of answers why questions.
Because of indifference and ineptitude, leaders separated small children from their parents at the border—permanently, in more than 500 cases.
Why did the leaders separate children from parents? Because the leaders were indifferent and inept.
Most of the time, substituting "caused by" for "due to" will tell you whether "due to" is correct.
If not, check to see whether "due to" is trying modify a verb. If so, "due to" is incorrect.
This version of the due to/because of split is more subtle than what you will see on all but the hardest SC questions.
I rarely use due to. I don't like the phrase. Neither do GMAT SC writers.
Due to is not always wrong, but be suspicious.
If you cannot choose between C and D, choose C. Because of is correct far more often than due to.
Finally, you can read two short posts about due to and because of. The posts are here and here..
COMMENTS
AkashM , welcome to SC Butler.
I am glad to see everyone; this particular constellation of posters is a very good cross-section of SC Butler participants.
(As always: all aspirants have a standing invitation from me to post in Butler or anywhere on GMAT Club. Be brave. At the moment, bravery in the face of uncertainty is imperative for most of us. Plus, I don't bite.)
I like your interaction on the thread, Kyala1Jameson .
I like to hear distinctive "voices" in the prose of all of the posts here.
AkashM , you wrote about struggling with option B. Good!
You have a chance to learn a fairly easy guideline: in a comparison, if than is present, another comparison word must also be present.
Your use of 90 seconds is pretty darn good. This question is slippery.
And your thoughts prompt me to remind everyone: look for the four worst choices.
AkashM's intuition told him that option B was wrong—not necessarily that option C was correct.
Focusing on which option is "more" wrong is smart. (The other option may be not wrong at all, but it may not be clearly correct, either.)
If you all were able to get the options down to two within, say, 45 to 60 seconds, take the next step: give yourself only 10 seconds to decide between the two that remain. In other words, I would not use more than 70 seconds on this question.
The latter is a well-informed guess. Timing is not an exact science.
Fdambro294 , you found the official question! Well done!
And then you wrote:
Too funny. I haven't laughed out loud in too long. Chutzpah! Bring it on.
(Even so, I will restrain myself. Wipe your brow. In mock relief.)
You wish to know why you thought of that question when you saw this one?
I have a hunch.
Possessing a startling memory for patterns, you recalled a question in which a shorter version (A) was better than a resonant-sounding but longer option (E), and decided that this question was parallel—so much so that you should forgo your brain's choice of longer option (C) and go with your heart's choice, the shorter option (A).
Some part of you, in other words, recalled the pattern in the official question, saw parallels, and struggled with whether option C was unnecessarily long.
Do we really need to state "those of"? Answer: yes.
In the official case, do the words "they were" really need to be repeated? Answer: no.
So you had to decide whether to follow the pattern you remembered and mark shorter answer A or to follow your analysis of this SC and mark the answer choice that seemed a bit long.
Your "heart's" choice was really just a memory of an official question in which the longer answer was not correct.
(Recall of patterns does not "feel" as analytical as reasoning your way to an answer such as C.)
You did not elevate brain over heart.
You elevated analysis of the actual problem in front of you over a memory of a question that contained a few parallel elements.
Without analyzing more, I must rely on an impressionistic hunch.
These answers range from very good to outstanding.
The thread is interesting.
Nicely done.
Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)
THE PROMPT
Quote:
• because of vs due to
Due to cannot modify verbs.
Because of modifies verbs and clauses.
See Notes, below.
• be certain that the sentence compares similar things
The sizes and masses of the planets can only be compared with the sizes and masses of (those of) the stars they orbit.
Those = sizes and masses.
THE OPTIONS inserted into a slightly shortened sentence
Quote:
• wrong comparison
The sizes and masses of the planets cannot be compared with the stars that those planets orbit.
ELIMINATE A
Quote:
• when than is used in a comparison, a comparison word such as more, greater, smaller, or fewer must be present
→ What the heck is this than doing in the sentence? Answer: nothing, except making a big, fat mess.
Read the sentence out loud. It should sound bizarre.
In a comparison, if than is present, a comparison word must also be present. No such comparison word exists in this case.
ELIMINATE B
Quote:
• I do not see any errors.
→ This sentence compares the sizes and masses of the planets with the sizes and masses of (those of) the stars they orbit.
→ Because of explains why detecting an Earth-sized planet is challenging.
KEEP
Quote:
• incorrect comparison of unlike things
→ The sizes and masses of the planets cannot be compared with the stars.
• Due to is incorrect
→ Due to is trying to modify the entire clause that precedes it: Detecting earth size planets is an enormous challenge.
Due to cannot modify a clause.
Alternatively, due to is trying to answer a why question, but why questions are answered by because of. See Notes, below.
Why is detecting Earth-sized planets an enormous challenge?
Answer: Because of the tiny sizes and masses of such planets compared to the sizes and masses of the stars around which the planets orbit.
ELIMINATE D
Quote:
• As is the case in option D, due to is incorrect.
ELIMINATE E
The correct answer is C.
NOTES
Due to vs. Because of
Typically, I would tell you to replace due to, with caused by, resulting from, or attributable to.
If the sentence works with any of those three replacements, then due to is almost certainly correct.
Typically, I would also add that if caused by or the other two replacements for due to create a nonsensical sentence, then use because of.
This question is one of a very few in which substitution does not yield an especially illuminating outcome.
I'll replace "due to" with "caused by" in the correct answer:
→ Detecting earth size planets is an enormous challenge caused by the infinitesimal sizes and masses of the planets compared to those of the stars they orbit.
Hmm. Replacement does not produce a bunch of nonsense that is easy to dismiss.
That replacement sentence seems correct. It isn't.
So we turn to another way in which due to is different from because of.
Due to is a preposition that can modify only a noun or pronoun.
Due to cannot be an adverb that explains why something happened.
Due to cannot explain a verb or clause.
Because of, on the other hand, can modify a verb or a clause; because of often explains why an event occurred.
Be careful. Because of is followed by a noun or noun phrase but explains a verb or clause.
That is, because of is a compound preposition that itself will be followed by a noun or pronoun but simultaneously will modify (explain) a verb or clause.
Due to answers what questions.
→ The public outcry was due to the leaders' ineptitude and indifference.
→ Public outcry due to leaders' ineptitude and indifference intensified when small children were forcibly separated from their parents at the border.
What caused the outcry? Ineptitude and indifference.
Because of answers why questions.
Because of indifference and ineptitude, leaders separated small children from their parents at the border—permanently, in more than 500 cases.
Why did the leaders separate children from parents? Because the leaders were indifferent and inept.
Most of the time, substituting "caused by" for "due to" will tell you whether "due to" is correct.
If not, check to see whether "due to" is trying modify a verb. If so, "due to" is incorrect.
This version of the due to/because of split is more subtle than what you will see on all but the hardest SC questions.
I rarely use due to. I don't like the phrase. Neither do GMAT SC writers.
Due to is not always wrong, but be suspicious.
If you cannot choose between C and D, choose C. Because of is correct far more often than due to.
Finally, you can read two short posts about due to and because of. The posts are here and here..
COMMENTS
AkashM , welcome to SC Butler.
I am glad to see everyone; this particular constellation of posters is a very good cross-section of SC Butler participants.
(As always: all aspirants have a standing invitation from me to post in Butler or anywhere on GMAT Club. Be brave. At the moment, bravery in the face of uncertainty is imperative for most of us. Plus, I don't bite.)
I like your interaction on the thread, Kyala1Jameson .
I like to hear distinctive "voices" in the prose of all of the posts here.
AkashM , you wrote about struggling with option B. Good!
You have a chance to learn a fairly easy guideline: in a comparison, if than is present, another comparison word must also be present.
Your use of 90 seconds is pretty darn good. This question is slippery.
And your thoughts prompt me to remind everyone: look for the four worst choices.
AkashM's intuition told him that option B was wrong—not necessarily that option C was correct.
Focusing on which option is "more" wrong is smart. (The other option may be not wrong at all, but it may not be clearly correct, either.)
If you all were able to get the options down to two within, say, 45 to 60 seconds, take the next step: give yourself only 10 seconds to decide between the two that remain. In other words, I would not use more than 70 seconds on this question.
The latter is a well-informed guess. Timing is not an exact science.
Fdambro294 , you found the official question! Well done!
And then you wrote:
Quote:
Too funny. I haven't laughed out loud in too long. Chutzpah! Bring it on.
(Even so, I will restrain myself. Wipe your brow. In mock relief.)
You wish to know why you thought of that question when you saw this one?
I have a hunch.
Possessing a startling memory for patterns, you recalled a question in which a shorter version (A) was better than a resonant-sounding but longer option (E), and decided that this question was parallel—so much so that you should forgo your brain's choice of longer option (C) and go with your heart's choice, the shorter option (A).
Some part of you, in other words, recalled the pattern in the official question, saw parallels, and struggled with whether option C was unnecessarily long.
Do we really need to state "those of"? Answer: yes.
In the official case, do the words "they were" really need to be repeated? Answer: no.
So you had to decide whether to follow the pattern you remembered and mark shorter answer A or to follow your analysis of this SC and mark the answer choice that seemed a bit long.
Your "heart's" choice was really just a memory of an official question in which the longer answer was not correct.
(Recall of patterns does not "feel" as analytical as reasoning your way to an answer such as C.)
You did not elevate brain over heart.
You elevated analysis of the actual problem in front of you over a memory of a question that contained a few parallel elements.
Without analyzing more, I must rely on an impressionistic hunch.
These answers range from very good to outstanding.
The thread is interesting.
Nicely done.
General Discussion
17 Mar 2021, 00:40
Kudos
Bookmarks
Eliminate D and E because of 'due to'. (no pun intended)
Eliminate A for it makes the comparison between sizes and masses of the planets and stars.
Eliminate B for my intuition says so rather strongly. (I am not getting the right words to describe it)
C remains and is the correct answer.
It took me 1:28 seconds, but I guess its a bit much. I was stuck on how to be more eloquent in eliminating 'than' in option B.
+1 generis for the question and the soon-to-arrive wonderful explanation.
Eliminate A for it makes the comparison between sizes and masses of the planets and stars.
Eliminate B for my intuition says so rather strongly. (I am not getting the right words to describe it)
C remains and is the correct answer.
It took me 1:28 seconds, but I guess its a bit much. I was stuck on how to be more eloquent in eliminating 'than' in option B.
+1 generis for the question and the soon-to-arrive wonderful explanation.
