Although over the last century many Americans faced discrimination and

Question

Although over the last century many Americans faced discrimination and unfair censure in the name of national loyalty, a case can be made  that democracy may fare better in a climate of patriotic sensibility rather than  constant criticism.

a) that democracy may fare better in a climate of patriotic sensibility rather than

b) for democracy faring better in a climate of patriotism rather than

c) that democracy may fare best in a climate of patriotic sensibility instead of through

d) that democracy may fare better in a climate characterized by patriotism than in

e) that democracy may fare better in a climate characterized by patriotism than in one of

mSKR · Answer

Although over the last century many Americans faced discrimination and unfair censure in the name of national loyalty, a case can be made that democracy may fare better in a climate of patriotic sensibility rather than constant criticism.

Prethinking : 
1. Parallelism : patriotic sensibility vs constant criticism.

a) that democracy may fare better in a climate of patriotic sensibility rather than
>> compare nouns( rather than shows preference)- make sense . since there is no preposition before “constant criticism” then constant criticism can only be compared with “patriotic sensibility”
I will buy a bag full of chocolates rather than( bag full of )candies;( bag full of)-goes silent
>> a climate of patriotic sensibility(simple and concise)
>>- better than is right but better rather than is wrong

Preference: I will have tea rather than coffee OR I will have a cup of tea rather than coffee.
>> What you are saying is that you would prefer tea but if tea is not available you will be ok with coffee as well.
>> I will buy a bag full of chocolates rather than candies. ( bag full of)-goes silent

b) for democracy faring better in a climate of patriotism rather than-WRONG
>> a case can be made for democracy – wrong meaning 
>>wrong parallelism ; as preposition is missing

c) that democracy may fare best in a climate of patriotic sensibility instead of through-WRONG
>> Issue1: ambiguous 
that democracy may fare best through constant criticism.
that democracy may fare best in climate through constant criticism
issue2: fare best; why best? We are only comparing 2 items.
Issue3: Instead of : used with nouns ( through xx is prepositional phrase)
Hence wrong

Replacement: I will have tea instead of coffee. OR I will have a cup of tea instead of a coffee.
>>Here you are not just expressing preference but rather you are replacing one option with another; so no coffee, only tea.

d) that democracy may fare better in a climate characterized by patriotism than in-WRONG
>>better in X than in Y is OK but democracy may fare better in climate than in constant criticism.- wrong logical meaning

e) that democracy may fare better in a climate characterized by patriotism than in one of-CORRECT 
>> better in X than in Y is OK 
>> democracy may fare better in a climate characterized by patriotism than in one of climate?
"Ones" = used ONLY with a modifier/description that further narrows the group.: one means among climate(e.g. he saw many clothes but picked one.)
>> climate characterized by patriotism: we have no other option concise and simple available

mSKR · Answer

AjiteshArun
egmat
VeritasKarishma

rishovnits91 · Answer

Although over the last century many Americans faced discrimination and unfair censure in the name of national loyalty, a case can be made that democracy may fare better in a climate of patriotic sensibility rather than constant criticism.

a) that democracy may fare better in a climate of patriotic sensibility rather than
- better than is the required idiom here.

b) for democracy faring better in a climate of patriotism rather than
- "for" introduces change in meaning and also see reason given in A.

c) that democracy may fare best in a climate of patriotic sensibility instead of through
-See reason in A.

d) that democracy may fare better in a climate characterized by patriotism than in
-Although the idiom error is corrected in this option, but the elements compared are wrong here. Climate is compared with constant criticism.

e) that democracy may fare better in a climate characterized by patriotism than in one of
 - All the errors are corrected here.

rvgmat12 · Answer

Official Explanation:

The underlined portion of the sentence contains the comparison word better, so check for comparison errors. The sentence compares a climate of patriotic sensibility to constant criticism. Since the correct comparison is a climate of patriotic sensibility to a climate of constant criticism, this is a comparison error. Eliminate choice A and look for any obvious repeaters. Because no answer choice is constructed the same way, there are no obvious repeaters. Now, evaluate the remaining answer choices individually looking for reasons to eliminate each.

Choice B changes the verb to faring better but maintains the incorrect comparison of a climate of patriotism and constant criticism, so eliminate choice B for a comparison error. Choice C changes the modifier better to best and the comparison phrase rather than to instead of through, both of which incorrectly change the meaning of the sentence. Eliminate choice C for changing the meaning of the sentence. Choice D addresses the original comparison error but still incorrectly compares a climate characterized by patriotism to constant criticism, so eliminate choice D for a comparison error. Choice E fixes the original comparison error by correctly comparing a climate characterized by patriotism to one of constant criticism, so keep choice E.

Choice A: No. A climate of patriotic sensibility is incorrectly compared to constant criticism. Comparison.

Choice B: No. A climate of patriotism is incorrectly compared to constant criticism. Comparison.

Choice C. No. The modifier best does not have the same meaning as better, and the phrase instead of through incorrectly changes the intent of the comparison. Changes meaning.

Choice D. No. A climate characterized by patriotism is incorrectly compared to in constant criticism. Comparison.

Choice E: Correct.

The correct answer is choice E.

Although over the last century many Americans faced discrimination and

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Although over the last century many Americans faced discrimination and

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