As virtually all the nation’s 50 busiest airports are, New York’s were

don't know how correct I am but the original sentences given in the questions don't always have the intended meaning
So how can we say the author meant to compare the way the airports are built and not meant to compare the airports themselves?
Both sentences are logical and grammatically correct

Yes, you are absolutely right. But, when there are two grammatically correct sentences choose the one that maintains the original meaning. In this case though, the meanings of A and C are NOT different - these two sentences are equivalent. Such questions are not expected in GMAT.

You spoke my mind here. The meaning discrepancy pointed out above does not exist. Both mean the same as the "Like X" modifier acts as an adverb to the act of New York's airport "being built".

That said, I have mixed feelings about the verb tense in option A. I know this is probably just a badly made question, but is the tense usage in option A valid?

As all airports are, NY's airports were built for...

Instinct tells me this is not a valid construction in GMAT-ese. However, logically I can't find any flaws in the meaning. Worst case I can say parallelism is being violated as one clause uses past perfect and the other clause uses present perfect. Is this good enough to disqualify option A?

sayantanc2k Would be good to know your thoughts

Hi sanghar, difference in tenses does not amount to parallelism violation. Different parts of the sentence can be in different tenses.

As an aside, the original sentence does not use any perfect tense. First portion uses simple present, while second portion uses simple past.

Having said that, the difference in tenses is an issue in this case, because the context is the same for both parts of the sentence.

C is preferable because it uses like in the most classical manner (Like X, Y...).

I did mean that tenses are incompatible because the context is same. I understand that tenses can definitely be different if required within the sentence.

I would contest the idea that the tense in the first clause is simple present - because without the omitted word "built" after "are", the link is illogical - As other airports are, NY's airports were built... -> This construction somehow implies that the manner in which other airports exist is similar to the manner in which NY's airports were built.
So it is only logical to say - As other airports are built, NY's airports were built...

This makes the 1st clause present perfect and the 2nd past perfect. Also, I would think that this does violate parallelism within the construction "As X, Y".

Hi sanghar, this would not be logical. The sentence is talking about something in the past (before jet planes weighing 800,000 pounds needed over two miles of runway). Hence, are built would not be the correct tense. We need to use past tense here.

No. This is simple present and simple past construct (1st clause and 2nd clause respectively).

By the way, built is past participle (and not past perfect) and so, am wondering whether that might be the reason for confusion.

Actually ( believe it or not) participles don't have a tense at all! They just derive their tense from the main verb of the sentence.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses perfect tenses, their application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

The point to decide here is whether 'are' or 'were' is an action verb or a status verb. Since 'are' is a status verb, you need to compare the subjects themselves because an intended action by both the airports is not there. Therefore, C with the usage of like to compare the two items is the more pertinent one.


It is not clear what the topic wants to convey. There remains a lurking doubt whether the passage intends to criticize that all the US airports including those in New York are outdated. In that case, there is no need to mention New York at all.

Also, it is ambiguous whether New York refers to New York City or New York State.

Guys, the official answer is C!. This question is from the 1000 SCs old pack.

The official explanation says that A is wrong because of the verb tense "are" , since the non underlined portion uses simple past. It is not a question of parallelism, but of meaning.

Can any expert please answer why C is correct?

Please find below my reasoning.

(A) As virtually all the nation’s 50 busiest airports are, New York’s were built for an age of propellers, before jet planes weighing 800,000 pounds needed over two miles of runway.
I see no problem in this sentence.

(C) Like virtually all of the nation’s 50 busiest airports, New York’s (50 busiest airports) were built for an age of propellers, before jet planes weighing 800,000 pounds needed over two miles of runway.

Here the possessive New York's, doesn't this possessive imply that New York's 50 busiest airports? I found that to be a meaning issue(resolved in A because of the use of ARE), because the whole nation has 50 busiest airports. Using New York's in possessive implies that New York possesses the same 50 busiest airports, which to me is weird as New York is a subset of the whole nation.

What is wrong in my reasoning for rejecting C?

Appreciate help.

Thank you

Hi Saasingh

Not an expert, but will make an attempt to solve your query.

I will first mention my approach followed by answer to your query:

My Approach

Firstly "As" is used to compare clauses here the intent is to compare the airports. So that rules out A and B.

Answer choice D and E compare the cities - Again contrary to the intent of the question and hence eliminated so C is correct.

Response to query

No the possessive case does not imply New York's 50 busiest airports because "50" basically acts similar to a non-essential modifier if you remove 50 still the meaning of the sentence would remain intact. And that's why I happened to read the sentence in the following way -

Like [blah] [blah] the nation's busiest airports, New York's (airports) [blah blah]..

Hope this answers.

Hey,

Thankyou for your response.

But in A, we do have a clause i.e AS xxxxxxx ARE.

Also I see what you mean by the non-essential modifier thing. Makes sense.
I somehow had this notion in my head that the possessive should refer the entire noun phrase including the modifiers, just like the usage of IT.

Regards,
Saakhi

Responding to this - "But in A, we do have a clause i.e AS xxxxxxx ARE."

"Are" is an incorrect tense here because the sentence says that after jet planes came there were some changes. So it would be incorrect to assume that the changes happened only to airports in New York and not to the busiest airports across the country.

As for this - "I somehow had this notion in my head that the possessive should refer the entire noun phrase including the modifiers, just like the usage of IT."

I would say treat Possessive nouns as adjectives that would be a simpler approach. However, depends on your comfort.

Please clarify, what is issue with an Option A

Hello Dungavath,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, Option A incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "are" to refer to an action that concluded in the past.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

A, and B incorrectly use "As", and both sound awkward when you remove the extra language.

D and E compare airports to cities, that comparison is incorrect. The focus is ONLY airports.

C is left and follows the correct idiom "Like virtually all airports"

As virtually all the nation???s 50 busiest airports are, New York???s were built for an age of propellers, before jet planes weighing 800,000 pounds needed over two miles of runway.

(A) As virtually all the nation???s 50 busiest airports are
(B) As with virtually all of the nation???s 50 busiest airports
(C) Like virtually all of the nation???s 50 busiest airports
(D) Like the cities where virtually all the nation???s 50 busiest airports are
(E) Like other cities where virtually all the nation???s 50 busiest airports are

As the unmarked portion starts with New York's the word precceding should be the Airport so we are left with just two options B and C; Amongst B and C, We are not directly comparing the absolute value of airports (Eg. Same door, same runway, same layout) but we are pointing out the similarities that all 50 busiest airports posses which makes Like a better use of word instead of As.

This is my logic, correct me if I'm wrong somewhere it !
Corrections and reviews are highly appreciated as it will help me as well to improve my approach towards questions !