As Hurricane Hugo approached the Atlantic coast, it increased dramatic

Question

As Hurricane Hugo approached the Atlantic coast, it increased dramatically in strength, becoming the tenth most intense hurricane to hit the United States mainland in the twentieth century and  most intense since Camille in 1969 .

(A) most intense since Camille in 1969

(B) most intense after Camille in 1969

(C) the most intense since Camille in 1969

(D) the most intense after 1969, which had Camille

(E) since 1969 and Camille, the most intense

https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/23/us/carolinas-reeling-from-devastation-left-by-hurricane.html

By 6 A.M. the hurricane had weakened and was downgraded to a tropical storm. And by 6 P.M. meteorologists declared it to be over, no longer a tropical weather system, although it continued to dump rain on a band of states from the Carolinas to western New York. But before the hurricane approached the South Carolina coast Thursday night, it gathered a last-minute surge in strength, becomming the 10th most intense hurricane to hit the United States in this century and  the most intense since Camille in 1969 .

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

The big question here is whether "the" is necessary. Let's look at choice (A):

"As Hurricane Hugo approached the Atlantic coast, it increased dramatically in strength, becoming the tenth most intense hurricane to hit the United States mainland in the twentieth century and  most intense since Camille in 1969 ."

At first glance, this seems reasonable: "... becoming the 1) tenth most intense hurricane to hit the US mainland in the 20th century and 2) most intense since Camille in 1969." Both items in the parallel list seem to share the article "the", so what's wrong with that?

The problem is that there's a second way to interpret (A): "... becoming the tenth 1) most intense hurricane to hit the US mainland in the 20th century and 2) most intense since Camille in 1969." Was Hugo the 10th most intense since Camille? Or the most intense since Camille? Either could technically work in (A).

The meaning is much clearer in choice (C):

"As Hurricane Hugo approached the Atlantic coast, it increased dramatically in strength, becoming the tenth most intense hurricane to hit the United States mainland in the twentieth century and  the most intense since Camille in 1969 ."

Here there is only one way to interpret the sentence: "... becoming 1) the tenth most intense hurricane to hit the US mainland in the 20th century and 2) the most intense since Camille in 1969."

The meaning is unambiguous in (C), and that's our best choice!

sayantanc2k · Answer

In this case I do not see any problem in interchangability. However if there were a verb, then there would be a difference in tense. "Since" is used to depict an event that started at a point of time in past and is continuing till now- hence present perfect is required, not simple past / simple present. "After" shows a sequence and hence can take simple past / simple present.

Hugo has been the most intense hurricane since Camillein 1969 ...... right. 
Hugo was / is the most intense hurricane since Camillein 1969... wrong.
Hugo was / is the most intense hurricane after Camillein 1969... right.

daagh · Answer

the most intens e is the superlative degree of expression; between C,D,E which use  the most intens e eliminate D for saying 1969 had Camille and E for segregating 1969 and Camille as though there is no connection between them. C is the choice

rlevochkin · Answer

Quite tough, But the most intense is superlative form of adjective, so "the" is a must. D changes the meaning completely. Original sentence states that H. Hugo has been the most intense one after the year of 1969, when Camile occured, but D changes it saying that Hugo is the second most intense hurricane ever (sounds like) after Camile, but we already know that it is not true from the previous part of the sentence.

siyer · Answer

C for me.

Fulfills parallelism and better formed than D.

scheol79 · Answer

C

You need the most, so A and B are out.

D is awkward and wordy, and E distorts the meaning.

vyassaptarashi · Answer

My answer is C. Fulfills parallelism (...the tenth most intense...and the most intense...), concise and proper use of since.

paidlukkha · Answer

any diff between since & after?

the most intense  since  Camille in 1969
the most intense  after  Camille in 196.

nivedita88 · Answer

a. We must have ‘the’ before the word ‘most’
b. We must have ‘the’ before the word ‘most’
c.    Correct  
d. Using ‘which’ for 1969 is not correct; we can use ‘when’ for time
e. Becoming the tenth most <SHOULD BE PARALLEL WITH> the most intense....

CJWORK · Answer

I think 'the' is required here, and D is wordy.

bratbg · Answer

GMATNinja   egmat  can you please pour some light on this question.

cantaffordname · Answer

Example of Parallelism, easy to identify. Splits are among Most/ the most. Since "the most" is already used in first parallel, we can eliminate A and B. Other errors are highlighted in Bold.

As Hurricane Hugo approached the Atlantic coast, it increased dramatically in strength, becoming the tenth most intense hurricane to hit the United States mainland in the twentieth century and  most intense since Camille in 1969 .

(A) most intense since Camille in 1969 - The required

(B) most intense after Camille in 1969 - The required

(C) the most intense since Camille in 1969 - Correct

(D) the most intense after 1969,  which had  Camille

(E)  since 1969 and Camille , the most intense - You can parallel noun to noun, or verb to verb and so on. Here 1969 and Camille doesn't make sense. Also, meaning error.

willacethis · Answer

Dear experts

The correct answer choice in this question includes "the most intense since Camille". However, as per the explanation of some other official question's explanation by various experts, the expression "since" when it denotes the time-frame can only refer to a noun that depicts time. For instance, in this question, since can refer to 1969 but not "Camille", which is a noun that does not depict time.

If that is the case, then why is option C correct?

Thanks!

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  willacethis ,

Can you post links to those explanations? It would help if you did that, because there really is no reason to say that  since  cannot be followed by  Camille .

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  willacethis , another officially correct sentence where  since  is followed by a  person's  name.

The nineteenth-century chemist Humphry Davy presented the results of his early experiments in his "Essay on Heat and Light",  a critique of all chemistry  since Robert Boyle  as well as a vision of a  new chemistry that Davy hoped to found .

Of course one could make a case that the implication is:

....a critique of all chemistry since (the time of) Robert Boyle.....

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

In this question, the comparison is made in the  superlative form . This means that  ‘the most’  is the right expression.

Eliminate Options A and B  - it does not have 'the'

Out of the 3 options that use ‘the most’

Eliminate Option D  - alters the meaning with the use of ‘which’

Eliminate Option E  - awkward word order and the use of ‘and’ which makes no sense.

Option C  is the best option.

Hope this helps!

mba757 · Answer

(A) most intense since Camille in 1969
 (1) lack of parallelism: “becoming the tenth most intense hurricane….AND   most intense”; this issue leads to a meaning issue/ambiguity: “…becoming the tenth (i) most intense hurricane…AND (ii) most intense since Camille” OR “…becoming (i) the tenth most intense hurricane…AND (ii)   most intense since Camille” <- wow, didn’t even see this one – TY  GMATNinja

(B) most intense after Camille in 1969
 (1) lack of parallelism: “becoming the tenth most intense hurricane….AND   most intense”; (2) similar meaning as above

(C) the most intense since Camille in 1969
 The best option

(D) the most intense after 1969, which had Camille
 (1) strange meaning: “1969…had Camille”? This doesn’t necessarily make the clearest sense;

(E) since 1969 and Camille, the most intense
 (1) lack of parallelism: “becoming the tenth most intense hurricane….AND since 1969 and Camille

Dungavath · Answer

Please explain how to use "the" article. I got it from lllism sense, help me to have a clarity on how to utilize the (or visualize in the sentence).

ReedArnoldMPREP · Answer

"The most intense since Camille 1969" is a noun: "The most intense   since Camille 1969."

Without the article, I don't know how 'most intense since Camille 1969' could be used. It seems like maybe the superlative ('most' and 'least') typically take a 'the' article. Because we're specifying some object that is *THE* highest/lowest, worst/best, first/last...

As Hurricane Hugo approached the Atlantic coast, it increased dramatic

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As Hurricane Hugo approached the Atlantic coast, it increased dramatic

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