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Although Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters than

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mikemcgarry
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Although Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters than [#permalink] New post   23 May 2016, 15:27
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Although Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters than was McKinley, people who believed a silver-based economy would bring prosperity, McKinley won the 1896 election on a strong industry-based vote.

(A) Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters than was McKinley

(B) Bryant was better gaining the support of rural voters than McKinley

(C) Bryant was better than McKinley at gaining the support of rural voters

(D) compared to McKinley, Bryant had gained the support of rural voters more effectively

(E) unlike McKinley, Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters

Logic is important on SC questions. If a choice is 100% grammatically correct but logically flawed, it is wrong. For a discussion of logic on the GMAT SC, as well as the OE of this particular question see:
Logical Splits on GMAT Sentence Correction
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Re: Although Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters than [#permalink] New post   23 May 2016, 22:20
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mikemcgarry wrote:
Although Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters than was McKinley, people who believed a silver-based economy would bring prosperity, McKinley won the 1896 election on a strong industry-based vote.

(A) Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters than was McKinley

(B) Bryant was better gaining the support of rural voters than McKinley

(C) Bryant was better than McKinley at gaining the support of rural voters

(D) compared to McKinley, Bryant had gained the support of rural voters more effectively

(E) unlike McKinley, Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters

Logic is important on SC questions. If a choice is 100% grammatically correct but logically flawed, it is wrong. For a discussion of logic on the GMAT SC, as well as the OE of this particular question see:
Logical Splits on GMAT Sentence Correction


(A) Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters than was McKinley
The modifier (people who...) following the underlined part should logically modify the rural voters and cannot modify McKinley. Also, the expression "Bryant was better than was McKinley" is incorrect. It should be Bryant was better than McKinley
(B) Bryant was better gaining the support of rural voters than McKinley
Same mistake as A. The modifier following the underlined part should logically modify the rural voters and cannot modify McKinley. Also, "Bryant was better gaining" is unidiomatic. It should be Bryant was better ar gaining.
(C) Bryant was better than McKinley at gaining the support of rural voters
This is the correct answer. The modifier following the underlined part logically modifies the rural voters. The idiomatic issues seen in A and B are avoided in this option.
(D) compared to McKinley, Bryant had gained the support of rural voters more effectively
Same mistake as A and B. The modifier following the underlined part should logically modify the rural voters.
(E) unlike McKinley, Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters
This does not repeat the modifier mistake in A, B and D. However, this is also incorrect. If we use comparative forms, such as "better" in this sentence, then these should be followed by "than..." better than, fewer than etc.
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Re: Although Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters than [#permalink] New post   20 Dec 2021, 07:01
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siglon wrote:
According to the lesson-videos at Magoosh, the first answer choice is 100 % grammatically correct in itself, not taking the modifier mistake into account. But according to my intuition, the sentence is only correct if you take away the second was.

"Although Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters than was McKinley,..."

Can someone please explain to me why my intuition is false?


Hello siglon,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt.

The presence of "was" is not incorrect in Option A; "was" can be omitted under the rule of ellipsis, but doing so is not necessary. Likely, you feel that the presence of "was" is incorrect because omitting "was" makes the sentence a bit neater.

Remember, on the GMAT it is not wise to judge the validity of an answer choice "by ear", meaning by how it sounds. Sometimes, sentences that sound awkward or incorrect can be perfectly grammatical.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Re: Although Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters than [#permalink] New post   09 Mar 2020, 05:51
Hi!

I need your help to understand whether an absolute phrase can modify a noun in a clause.

I know that an absolute phrase is of noun+noun modifier form and modifies a clause in some way, and that an appositive is either a noun or a noun phrase which modifies another noun and follows the touch rule.
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Re: Although Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters than [#permalink] New post   18 Dec 2021, 09:03
According to the lesson-videos at Magoosh, the first answer choice is 100 % grammatically correct in itself, not taking the modifier mistake into account. But according to my intuition, the sentence is only correct if you take away the second was.

"Although Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters than was McKinley,..."

Can someone please explain to me why my intuition is false?
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Re: Although Bryant was better at gaining the support of rural voters than [#permalink]
18 Dec 2021, 09:03
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