Because many of Australia's marsupials, such as the koala, are cute an

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Let's tackle this, one problem at a time, and narrow it down to the right answer!

Because many of Australia's marsupials, such as the koala, are cute and cuddly, as well as being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after their discovery in the 1700s.

A. being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after
B. being biologically different from North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since
C. biologically different than North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since
D. biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after
E. biologically different from North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention since

If you scan over the options quickly, two major differences stand out between each answer. By focusing on these two issues, we can quickly narrow things down to find the right option.

1. The beginning = being biologically different vs. biologically different
2. The ending = since vs. after

Okay, so let’s start with #1 on our list: being biologically different vs. biologically different. In this sentence, the writer is giving you a list of qualities of marsupials. We know that the items in a list must be parallel, so let’s see which of these two options is better. To make this easier to spot, exchange the words “as well as” with “and” to create a simple list:

cute and cuddly, and being biologically different → NOT PARALLEL
cute and cuddly, and biologically different → PARALLEL

We can eliminate options A and B because they both have lists that aren’t parallel. This leaves us with options C, D, and E to choose from. Let’s see how well they stack up to #2 on our list: using since vs. after correctly.

C. they attracted a lot of attention since

This is INCORRECT because the word “since” requires the present perfect (have attracted)to show that the event started in the past, but is still going on today.

D. they have attracted a lot of attention after

This is also INCORRECT because the word “after” doesn’t work with the present perfect “have attracted.” Saying “after” suggests that they attracted attention immediately after being discovered, but aren’t still doing so today – which isn’t true.

E. they have attracted a lot of attention since

Option E is CORRECT because it uses the word “since” with the present perfect to correctly show that an event began in the past, and it is still going on today.

This leaves us with option E as the correct answer!


Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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Because many of Australia's marsupials, such as the koala, are cute and cuddly, as well as being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after their discovery in the 1700s.

A. being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after

B. being biologically different from North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since

C. biologically different than North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since

D. biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after

E. biologically different from North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention since


We have three splits here
1) Usage of being .
Usage of being is incorrect here because it introduces parallelism error here.
X as well as Y. X & Y should be parallel
are cute and cuddly as well as biologically different is the correct usage.

Hence Eliminate A & B

2) Idiom - different than & different from.
We always use different from. different than is incorrect.

Eliminate C & D based on this.
E is the answer. But let's see what is the third split.

3) Usage of Since & After.
Usage of After is incorrect. Because "AFTER" doesn't provide the continuous details. It tells about a particular point in the past.
Whereas "SINCE" conveys the detail about every instant second from the past.

Basically:- "Since" includes all the seconds from then until now. "After" drops you on one spot in that time.

Hence E correctly conveys the meaning.

4) I noticed one more split here.
B & C - is missing the "have" in the Main Clause.
Whenever we use "SINCE", the verb tense should be Present Perfect. "have attracted" is the correct usage.

E is the best of All.

Because many of Australia's marsupials, such as the koala, are cute and cuddly, as well as being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after their discovery in the 1700s.


A. being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after
being biologically different is NOT parallel to cute and cuddly
Attention is since X not after X
Different FROM is the correct idiom

B. being biologically different from North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since
although corrects SINCE and different FROM errors,
creates a new error by removing HAVE..
It has to be ..(. they HAVE attracted a .... SINCE .....)
Being is wordy

C. biologically different than North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since
Being removed and since correctly uses..
However tense error-HAVE- and idiom error of different THAN remains

D. biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after
Errors of idiom different than, and usage of after

E. biologically different from North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention since
Corrects all errors

E

NEW question from GMAT® Official Guide 2019

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Because many of Australia's marsupials, such as the koala, are cute and cuddly, as well as being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after their discovery in the 1700s.


A. being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after - usage of being to describe physical characteristics is wrong. Also parallelism error for 'as well as".

B. being biologically different from North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since - Same as A

C. biologically different than North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since - different than.. is unidiomatic

D. biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after - Same as C

E. biologically different from North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention since - Correct


Answer E.


Thanks,
GyM
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Hi abhinav2892,
No, the pronoun THEY refers to the subject of the previous clause and the subject is Australian marsupials.
North American marsupials have been used as an object and that too only in a comparison of one of the property...
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With this question, scan the options as quickly as you can.
You will see that there is one difference that matters: ‘being biologically different than’ and ‘biologically different from’.

You need to first see which of these maintains parallelism with the items in the list. Take a look at the structure that goes before this phrase. The sentence says ‘are cute and cuddly, as well as…’

‘biologically different’ is parallel with ‘cute and cuddly’.

Eliminate Options A and B at this stage.

Now, we also know that it is idiomatic to say ‘different from’ in this context and not ‘different than’.

Option E is the only option with this correct expression. Eliminate Options C and D.

But if you find this dubious and still want to be sure, you can look at the distinction between ‘since’ and ‘after’.

The correct usage is ‘they have attracted a lot of attention since’. ‘Since’ refers to an event that continues into the present.

Thus, Option E is the best option.

Hope this helps!
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Dear Sir

I have a doubt regarding the usage of "they" in the second half of the sentence . Isn't the usage of "they" ambigious as it can refer to both the australian and north american animals ?

A. being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after

B. being biologically different from North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since

C. biologically different than North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since

D. biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after

E. biologically different from North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention since

look at choice D.
"after" can still work with have done if the logic is good.

after you leaved, I have closed the door
this is correct. closing is terminate action, which happen for a short time. closing is an action, which finished in the past but its effect is still at present. this is one case, in which present perfect is used.

the other case, in which present perfect is used is an action, which began in a point of time in the past and continue to present. this case is for our question. in this case, "since" is used.

it is clear that "after" can still go with present perfect.

but in our problem, "have attracted" is not a terminate action, so, we can not use present perfect to show an action finished in the past but its time frame continues until present.

"have attracted" show an action which continues until present, so, "since" is more logical than "after".
choice D is gone.

"as well as being biologically different" is grammatical and logical.

though "as well as" can work as a conjunction, which connect two similar things.
" as well as" can work as a preposition , and "as well as" +being can work as an adverb of the main clause . the following is from gmatprep.

Diesel engines burn as much as 30% less fuel than gasoline engines of comparable size, as well as emitting far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gasses that have been implicated in global warming.


(A) of comparable size, as well as emitting far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gasses that have

(B) of comparable size, as well as emit far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gasses having

(C) of comparable size, and also they emit far fewer carbon dioxide and other gasses that have

(D) that have a comparable size, and also they emit far fewer of the other gasses having

(E) that have a comparable size, as well as emitting far fewer of the other gasses having

but "as well as being biologically..." is wordy

I did this question in a record breaking 8 seconds
Let us see the solution

Being rejection as being here is wordy
different "from" not "than"
E becomes the winner on basic grammar rules
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Because many of Australia's marsupials, such as the koala, are cute and cuddly, as well as being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after their discovery in the 1700s.

Difference Between Since and After.

Since: If we are doing something which is still continuing from past to till now. We will use since. I am working as a professor since 1990.

After: If a worked happened in past and finished in past itself. The world found peace after 1990.

So in this question the action is continuing So we will use Since.( Correct)

A. being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after

Such as X, Y.So use of being is wrong. use of After also WRONG.

B. being biologically different from North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since

Same as A. Use of Since is correct

C. biologically different than North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since

Error in tense . Simple past use is wrong. As something is still continuing.

D. biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after

Use of After is WRONG. This is the trap answer, AS this one is same like opt E but the difference is only SINCE and AFTER

E. biologically different from North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention since

Correct answer.

I dont think that "as well as being different..." is wrong. the phrase is wordier than "as well as different...".

"as well as being..." is grammatical and logical. because "as well as" can work as a preposition and can stand before doing to be adverbial for the whole main clause.

the following gmatprep proves my point.

Diesel engines burn as much as 30% less fuel than gasoline engines of comparable size, as well as emitting far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gasses that have been implicated in global warming.


(A) of comparable size, as well as emitting far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gasses that have

(B) of comparable size, as well as emit far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gasses having

(C) of comparable size, and also they emit far fewer carbon dioxide and other gasses that have

(D) that have a comparable size, and also they emit far fewer of the other gasses having

(E) that have a comparable size, as well as emitting far fewer of the other gasses having

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the second point
look at choice d of our problem,
they have attracted attention after...

present perfect show an action which happened in the past but its time frame continue until present or which itself continue until present.
the first case is hard. the action finished in the past but its time frame continue until present. this mean we consider this finished action in the present context, time frame/period is from the point in the past until present. the first case goes with terminate verb, which finish in a short period, the second case with non terminate verb which happen over a long period.
the first case dont go with "since". I suggest you to read more on these two uses of present perfect in grammar book to get confidence. but dont read too much grammar because gmat dont test many grammar points.

after+noun shows a point of time. present perfect never goes with a time indicator showing a point of time. choice D is wrong.

Multiple concepts tested on this question
1) Parallelism
2) Verb tense
3) Idiom

Because many of Australia's marsupials, such as the koala, are cute and cuddly, as well as being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after their discovery in the 1700s.

The word and should pop out of the screen right away, it is one of the most important words in GMAT world.
are cute and cuddly, as well as being biologically different not parallel

are cute and cuddly, as well as biologically different parallel

A B out.

Different from is the correct idiom.

C D out

Option E Correct
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"different from" is the correct form.

A. being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after
“many…are cute and cuddly, as well as being biologically different…” – they aren’t literally “being” biologically different; they are biologically different.

B. being biologically different from North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since
“many…are cute and cuddly, as well as being biologically different…” – they aren’t literally “being” biologically different; they are biologically different.

C. biologically different than North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since
Needs the present perfect; you’re X is different from Y, NOT X is different than Y

D. biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after
you’re X is different from Y, NOT X is different than Y

E. biologically different from North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention since

Because many of Australia's marsupials, such as the koala, are cute and cuddly, as well as being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after their discovery in the 1700s.


A. being biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after X

B. being biologically different from North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since X

Present perfect tense is required here, since presumably koalas still attract more attention than North American marsupials

C. biologically different than North American marsupials, they attracted a lot of attention since

Present perfect tense is required here, since presumably koalas still attract more attention than North American marsupials. Secondly, 'different from' is idiomatic.

D. biologically different than North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention after

Present perfect tense is required here, since presumably koalas still attract more attention than North American marsupials. Secondly, 'different from' is idiomatic.

E. biologically different from North American marsupials, they have attracted a lot of attention since

Correct
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Thank you for the explanation EMPOWERgmatVerbal

Can you please elaborate on the usage of SINCE and AFTER in a sentence?

In option D, how is the use of present perfect + AFTER different from use of present perfect + SINCE?
For me, have attracted + AFTER also means that the "attraction" started soon after their discovery and still continues (present perfect) to this day.

Great question, NischalSR!

This is one of those grammatical differences that is subtle, but important:

have attracted + after
The word "after" here isn't necessarily the worst way to say this - it's just not the clearest option we have to choose from. Saying "after" gives us a frame of reference for when things happened chronologically, but it's not 100% clear that the attraction is still going on today. Therefore, it doesn't really match up when using present perfect tense.

have attracted + since
This is better because the present perfect tense and the word "since" indicate the exact same thing: an event started in the past, and it's still going on today. We prefer this because it's much clearer to the reader when things started/stopped happening.

We hope that helps! Make sure to keep tagging us at EMPOWERgmatVerbal if you have any more questions!
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Do we need "have" when time frame is given?