NEW HERE? LEARN MORE
closeclose
Last visit was: 23 Apr 2024, 21:14 It is currently 23 Apr 2024, 21:14
Decision Tracker
My Rewards
New posts
New comers' posts

Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel

Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br

SORT BY:
Date
Kudos
 1   2   3   
Tags:
Find Similar Topics 
Show Tags
Hide Tags
User avatar
eybrj2
Manager
Manager
Joined: 31 Oct 2011
Posts: 201
Own Kudos [?]: 7793 [166]
Given Kudos: 18
Send PM
Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 14 Jun 2021, 01:30
13
Kudos
152
Bookmarks
00:00
A
B
C
D
E

Difficulty:

25% (medium)

Question Stats:

69% (01:15) correct 31% (01:21) wrong based on 5631 sessions
Hide Show timer Statistics
Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.

(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating

(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate

(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating

(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of

(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate

SC54561.01

Show Spoiler
Initially, I couldn't decide between B and E, but eventually picked B, which was wrong.
I was thinking about why B wasn't the answer, and came up with a couple of reasons.

Reason 1) census is a countable noun.
Reason 2) "Unlike Britain" is awkward.

Are those right?
ShowHide Answer
Official Answer
E

Originally posted by eybrj2 on 02 Mar 2012, 11:03.
Last edited by Bunuel on 14 Jun 2021, 01:30, edited 7 times in total.
Renamed the topic and edited the question.
Most Helpful Reply
User avatar
D
EMPOWERgmatVerbal
EMPOWERgmat Instructor
Joined: 23 Feb 2015
Posts: 1691
Own Kudos [?]: 14672 [40]
Given Kudos: 766
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 17 Apr 2020, 16:22
24
Kudos
16
Bookmarks
Expert Reply
Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:

Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.

(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating
(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate
(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating
(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of
(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate

There are a few key differences we can focus on here to eliminate wrong choices:

1. there is not a linguistic census / there is no linguistic census (countable vs. non-countable nouns)
2. as there is for Britain / unlike Britain / as there is in Britain (parallelism)
3. their endings (wordiness)

Let's take a slightly different path than many of the previous comments and start with #1 on our list: "there is not a linguistic census" versus "there is no linguistic census." It's a fairly simple "either/or" split that will eliminate 2-3 options quickly.

The term "census" here is a non-countable noun, meaning there is only one and no possibility for there to be more than one. This means we cannot use "a linguistic census" here because that would suggest there could be more than one type of census we could be talking about. Let's eliminate any options that treat the word "census" as though it's a countable noun:

(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating
(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate
(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating
(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of
(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate

We can eliminate options A & D because they treat the non-countable noun "census" as though it is countable. Now that we have it narrowed down to 3 options, let's tackle #2 on our list: parallelism. We need to make sure that France and Britain are discussed using parallel wording and structure:

(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate

This is INCORRECT because it's not parallel. This sentence is trying to compare the fact that there is no linguistic census in France with the entire country of Britain, which are not parallel items.

(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating

This is also INCORRECT because it's not parallel. It's trying to compare Britain the country with the lack of a linguistic census in France, which are not parallel items.

(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate

This is CORRECT because it's completely parallel! It is comparing the fact that there is no census in France with the fact that there is (a census) in Britain.


There you have it - option E is our correct choice! By focusing on the "either/or" splits first, we were able to eliminate enough wrong options to make finding the correct one easier!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.

Originally posted by EMPOWERgmatVerbal on 17 Feb 2020, 13:18.
Last edited by EMPOWERgmatVerbal on 17 Apr 2020, 16:22, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
L
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Status: GMAT/GRE/LSAT tutors
Posts: 6917
Own Kudos [?]: 63649 [12]
Given Kudos: 1773
Location: United States (CO)
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V46
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170

GRE 2: Q170 V170
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   10 Jan 2022, 10:06
9
Kudos
3
Bookmarks
Expert Reply
Quote:
EMPOWERgmatVerbal GMATNinja KarishmaB can you delve deeper on the issues of last part of the sentence? "there is difficulty in estimating/ it is difficult to estimate/ fact makes for difficulty in estimating/ act making for difficulty in the estimation of"

Thank you! :please:

Beware of tunnel vision! Sometimes if you focus too much on one part of the sentence, you miss other issues, particularly in a question like this where the errors are unusually subtle. Take another look:

Quote:
(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating

First, the phrase "for Britain" is odd. Why would we compare a census in France to a census for Britain? Was a census taken somewhere other than Britain, but then delivered to the Brits for analysis?

I also don't like "difficulty in estimating." If there's trouble in Denmark, Denmark is the location of the trouble. But "estimating" clearly isn't a location. I'd much rather see the clearer "difficult to estimate." Still, I know what the writer means, and this isn't a grammar error, so I'm not 100% comfortable eliminating this choice yet.

For now I'll hang on to (A), but everything else is going to have be a complete mess for me to really consider this.

Quote:
(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate

"Like" must compare nouns. Here, it seems to compare the prepositional phrase, "in France" to the noun "Britain." That's a problem. (B) is out.

Quote:
(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating

Another comparison problem. Either we're comparing "Britain" to "there" or we're again comparing "Britain" to "in France." Either way, (C) is no good.

Quote:
(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of

This is like (A), but worse. Again, we have the illogical phrase, "for Britain."

And then the phrase "a fact making for difficulty in the estimation" is a dumpster fire. At first I read "fact making" the way I might have read "fact-finding," an interpretation that makes no sense. And I see no reason to write "difficulty in the estimation" when I could just say "difficult to estimate."

Again, no real grammar issue, but the meaning issues here are even more problematic than they are in (A), so I'm happy to give (D) the boot.

Quote:
(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate

I don't love this, but it's less terrible than the others. Now we're comparing the census in France to the one in Britain. And we have the cleaner, more logical, "difficult to estimate." Both of these constructions are improvement over what we saw in (A).

The only element that gives me pause is the "it," but, as the always-wise AndrewN notes in a previous post, this seems to be a rare instance of a pronoun that doesn't really refer to anything. The sentiment is clear enough. What is difficult? To estimate is difficult. Makes sense.

I may not love (E), but it's the best of the bunch.

I hope that helps!
User avatar
P
gmatt1476
Senior Manager
Senior Manager
Joined: 04 Sep 2017
Posts: 318
Own Kudos [?]: 19709 [6]
Given Kudos: 50
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   22 Sep 2019, 09:30
3
Kudos
2
Bookmarks
eybrj2 wrote:
Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.

(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating

(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficulty to estimate

(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating

(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of

(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate

SC54561.01

Show Spoiler
Initially, I couldn't decide between B and E, but eventually picked B, which was wrong.
I was thinking about why B wasn't the answer, and came up with a couple of reasons.

Reason 1) census is a countable noun.
Reason 2) "Unlike Britain" is awkward.

Are those right?


Official Explanation

Logical predication; Rhetorical construction; Parallelism

The sentence suggests that because France, unlike Britain, has no linguistic census, it is difficult to estimate how many people in France speak Breton.

A. This choice is incorrect because in France is not parallel with for Britain. Furthermore, this choice uses the wordy construction not a linguistic census as opposed to the clearer no linguistic census as in choice E.

B. This choice is incorrect because in France is not parallel with unlike Britain.

C. This choice is incorrect because in France is not parallel with unlike Britain.

D. This choice is incorrect because in France is not parallel with for Britain. Furthermore, this choice uses the wordy construction not a linguistic census as opposed to the clearer no linguistic census as in choice E. Furthermore, the construction making for difficulty in the estimation of unnecessarily turns the adjective difficult and the verb estimate into nouns.

E. Correct. This choice uses the parallel in France and in Britain and correctly uses the comparison structure there is no X as there is Y.

The correct answer is E.
General Discussion
avatar
BigNasty
Intern
Intern
Joined: 29 May 2011
Status:Obsessed with failure!
Posts: 21
Own Kudos [?]: 31 [5]
Given Kudos: 29
Location: India
Concentration: General Management, Marketing
GMAT 1: 630 Q47 V29
GMAT 2: 540 Q41 V23
GMAT 3: 610 Q39 V35
WE:Programming (Computer Software)
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   04 Mar 2012, 11:00
3
Kudos
2
Bookmarks
Hey,

IMO,

Improper comparison employed in 'B', in 'B' Britain as a whole is being compared to a fact in France. If the sentence were to be worded as 'Unlike in Britain', i guess 'B' would have been correct.

we are left with 'E'.
User avatar
crashVcrush
Manager
Manager
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Status:SLOGGING : My son says,This time Papa u will have to make it : Innocence is BLISS
Posts: 116
Own Kudos [?]: 267 [2]
Given Kudos: 30
Location: India
Schools: IIMC (I) IIM Lucknow IPMX'16 (A)
WE:Sales (Energy and Utilities)
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   29 Aug 2012, 13:03
2
Kudos
If the original poster has posted the ans choices correctly, THEN.....

B is utterly wrong because : It is DIFFICULTY to estimate ( the word in caps pushes it into the abyss )

If we consider it to be a typo, THEN........ Bxn B n E

The intent : there is no census in France but the same is not true for Britain.

B : there is no census in France, unlike Britain..........

No census is compared to the whole country : GROSS ---- Eliminated

E : No census in France, as there is in Britain...... ( correctly conveys the intent of the sent : In France - No Census , In Britain - Census Yes )

Thus E outweighs B.
User avatar
G
Bombsante
Manager
Manager
Joined: 03 Oct 2012
Posts: 120
Own Kudos [?]: 298 [2]
Given Kudos: 41
Location: India
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, Strategy
WE:Brand Management (Pharmaceuticals and Biotech)
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   30 May 2019, 00:47
1
Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.

(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating (census in France should be compared with census in Britain not for Britain. Eliminate).

(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficulty to estimate (linguistic census in France is compared with Britain, illogical. Eliminate).

(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating (Again Britain is compared with linguistic census in France, illogical. Eliminate).

(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of (Awkward construction, in France compared with for Britain, incorrect. Eliminate)

(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate (Correct comparison, correct tense. Best choice.)
avatar
B
gmatassassin88
Manager
Manager
Joined: 22 Aug 2018
Posts: 51
Own Kudos [?]: 13 [0]
Given Kudos: 135
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   26 Jun 2020, 01:05
eybrj2 wrote:
Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.

(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating

(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate

(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating

(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of

(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate

SC54561.01

Show Spoiler
Initially, I couldn't decide between B and E, but eventually picked B, which was wrong.
I was thinking about why B wasn't the answer, and came up with a couple of reasons.

Reason 1) census is a countable noun.
Reason 2) "Unlike Britain" is awkward.

Are those right?


GMATCoachBen GMATNinja VeritasKarishma ChiranjeevSingh

As per my learning while using Like/Unlike for comparison, entities should be logically compared & must be adjacent to each other.Therefore i marked option B , which is an incorrect answer choice.
kindly share why B is wrong, even though it compares no linguistic census in France with in Britain. Also France & Britain are adjacent to each other.

THANKS
User avatar
L
KarishmaB
Tutor
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Posts: 14816
Own Kudos [?]: 64886 [1]
Given Kudos: 426
Location: Pune, India
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   26 Jun 2020, 02:42
1
Kudos
Expert Reply
gmatassassin88 wrote:
eybrj2 wrote:
Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.

(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating

(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate

(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating

(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of

(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate

SC54561.01

Show Spoiler
Initially, I couldn't decide between B and E, but eventually picked B, which was wrong.
I was thinking about why B wasn't the answer, and came up with a couple of reasons.

Reason 1) census is a countable noun.
Reason 2) "Unlike Britain" is awkward.

Are those right?


GMATCoachBen GMATNinja VeritasKarishma ChiranjeevSingh

As per my learning while using Like/Unlike for comparison, entities should be logically compared & must be adjacent to each other.Therefore i marked option B , which is an incorrect answer choice.
kindly share why B is wrong, even though it compares no linguistic census in France with in Britain. Also France & Britain are adjacent to each other.

THANKS


Like and unlike are followed by a noun/pronoun.
Here, the comparison is between 'linguistic census in France' and 'linguistic census in Britain' - that there is none in France but there is in Britain. The comparison is not between Britain in France but between the way things are in Britain and the way they are in France.
Hence, the use of 'like Britain' is wrong.

The correct comparison is 'there is no so and so in France, as there is in Britain.'
avatar
B
gmatassassin88
Manager
Manager
Joined: 22 Aug 2018
Posts: 51
Own Kudos [?]: 13 [0]
Given Kudos: 135
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   10 Jul 2020, 20:51
VeritasKarishma wrote:
gmatassassin88 wrote:
eybrj2 wrote:
Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.

(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating

(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate

(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating

(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of

(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate

SC54561.01

Show Spoiler
Initially, I couldn't decide between B and E, but eventually picked B, which was wrong.
I was thinking about why B wasn't the answer, and came up with a couple of reasons.

Reason 1) census is a countable noun.
Reason 2) "Unlike Britain" is awkward.

Are those right?


GMATCoachBen GMATNinja VeritasKarishma ChiranjeevSingh

As per my learning while using Like/Unlike for comparison, entities should be logically compared & must be adjacent to each other.Therefore i marked option B , which is an incorrect answer choice.
kindly share why B is wrong, even though it compares no linguistic census in France with in Britain. Also France & Britain are adjacent to each other.

THANKS


Like and unlike are followed by a noun/pronoun.
Here, the comparison is between 'linguistic census in France' and 'linguistic census in Britain' - that there is none in France but there is in Britain. The comparison is not between Britain in France but between the way things are in Britain and the way they are in France.
Hence, the use of 'like Britain' is wrong.

The correct comparison is 'there is no so and so in France, as there is in Britain.'


VeritasKarishma

I believe intended meaning remains the same:B says- Unlike Britain, France has so and so..
then why B is incorrect.( Only thing is France is mentioned at the end of sentence followed by Unlike Britain) which seems grammatically and logically correct:

1.Unlike Britain, France has so & so .
2. ...As in France, Unlike Britain

Are above two examples different.I feel since entities compared are adjacent ,both examples are correct. Pls share the gap in my understanding.Thanks
User avatar
L
KarishmaB
Tutor
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Posts: 14816
Own Kudos [?]: 64886 [2]
Given Kudos: 426
Location: Pune, India
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   14 Jul 2020, 00:48
2
Kudos
Expert Reply
gmatassassin88 wrote:
VeritasKarishma wrote:
gmatassassin88 wrote:
eybrj2 wrote:
Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.

(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating

(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate

(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating

(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of

(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate

SC54561.01

Show Spoiler
Initially, I couldn't decide between B and E, but eventually picked B, which was wrong.
I was thinking about why B wasn't the answer, and came up with a couple of reasons.

Reason 1) census is a countable noun.
Reason 2) "Unlike Britain" is awkward.

Are those right?


GMATCoachBen GMATNinja VeritasKarishma ChiranjeevSingh

As per my learning while using Like/Unlike for comparison, entities should be logically compared & must be adjacent to each other.Therefore i marked option B , which is an incorrect answer choice.
kindly share why B is wrong, even though it compares no linguistic census in France with in Britain. Also France & Britain are adjacent to each other.

THANKS


Like and unlike are followed by a noun/pronoun.
Here, the comparison is between 'linguistic census in France' and 'linguistic census in Britain' - that there is none in France but there is in Britain. The comparison is not between Britain in France but between the way things are in Britain and the way they are in France.
Hence, the use of 'like Britain' is wrong.

The correct comparison is 'there is no so and so in France, as there is in Britain.'


VeritasKarishma

I believe intended meaning remains the same:B says- Unlike Britain, France has so and so..
then why B is incorrect.( Only thing is France is mentioned at the end of sentence followed by Unlike Britain) which seems grammatically and logically correct:

1.Unlike Britain, France has so & so .
2. ...As in France, Unlike Britain

Are above two examples different.I feel since entities compared are adjacent ,both examples are correct. Pls share the gap in my understanding.Thanks


The comparisons are different in the two cases.

Unlike Britain, France has ...
comparing Britain and France.

Linguistic census in France, unlike Britain ... is comparing 'linguistic census' with 'Britain' (in France is a prepositional phrase)

You need to compare 'linguistic census in France' with 'linguistic census in Britain'

So 'no A in France as there is in Britain'
avatar
B
tejaswym95
Intern
Intern
Joined: 25 May 2017
Posts: 21
Own Kudos [?]: 11 [0]
Given Kudos: 21
Location: India
Schools: ISB'22 Rotman '23
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   17 Aug 2020, 09:30
Hello Experts.
GMATNinja
Can you please explain in detail what is all wrong with option B?
Also Does ",unlike britain" apply to consensus or France according to its placement in the said option?
Thanks in advance
User avatar
L
MartyTargetTestPrep
Target Test Prep Representative
Joined: 24 Nov 2014
Status:Chief Curriculum and Content Architect
Affiliations: Target Test Prep
Posts: 3480
Own Kudos [?]: 5134 [3]
Given Kudos: 1431
GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V51
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   17 Aug 2020, 09:40
3
Kudos
Expert Reply
tejaswym95 wrote:
Hello Experts.
GMATNinja
Can you please explain in detail what is all wrong with option B?
Also Does ",unlike britain" apply to consensus or France according to its placement in the said option?
Thanks in advance

    (B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate

In this version, the contrast expressed is illogical. As a result of the use of "unlike Britain," "in France" seems to be contrasted with "Britain" itself.

In order for the comparison to make sense, "in France" would have to be contrasted with "in Britain" as in:

    (B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike in Britain, it is difficult to estimate
User avatar
P
AntrikshR
Manager
Manager
Joined: 26 Jan 2019
Posts: 122
Own Kudos [?]: 191 [0]
Given Kudos: 334
Location: India
Concentration: Finance, Technology
GMAT 1: 500 Q42 V17
GMAT 2: 590 Q47 V26
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   18 Sep 2020, 04:41
I chose E by eliminating other answer options, however I didn't understand the role of 'it' in the option E.
"There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate"
Can anyone explain it to me?GMATNinja
avatar
L
AndrewN
Volunteer Expert
Joined: 16 May 2019
Posts: 3512
Own Kudos [?]: 6856 [1]
Given Kudos: 500
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   18 Sep 2020, 08:57
1
Kudos
Expert Reply
zoezhuyan wrote:
MartyTargetTestPrep wrote:
tejaswym95 wrote:
Hello Experts.
GMATNinja
Can you please explain in detail what is all wrong with option B?
Also Does ",unlike britain" apply to consensus or France according to its placement in the said option?
Thanks in advance

    (B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate

In this version, the contrast expressed is illogical. As a result of the use of "unlike Britain," "in France" seems to be contrasted with "Britain" itself.

In order for the comparison to make sense, "in France" would have to be contrasted with "in Britain" as in:

    (B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike in Britain, it is difficult to estimate


dear MartyTargetTestPrep
and other experts GMATNinja, GMATNinjaTwo, VeritasKarishma, AndrewN


I picked up B instead of E ,because I thought B decrease the causal relationship, while E doesn't.
as for comparison, I though French VS Britain,

OA is E, but I have no idea what I missed, genuinely need your help...

in addition, I wonder whether unlike can be followed by preposition phrase?

thanks in advance.

Hello, zoezhuyan. I believe that several others, including Experts, have written detailed analyses of (B), so you may want to check out those responses above by EMPOWERgmatVerbal, VeritasKarishma, and MartyTargetTestPrep. To touch on your last question, whether unlike can be followed by a preposition, the answer is yes—in the real world, when the word is used as a conjunction. See Can unlike be used as a conjunction?: Usage Guide through the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, which notes that the conjunctive unlike almost always introduces a prepositional phrase, and goes on to provide a sample sentence with unlike + in. The Official Explanation also dodges discussing such usage. The real question is whether a correct answer to an official SC question incorporates unlike + [preposition]. I am unaware of one, but in any case, we do not need to worry about that for the purpose of answering this question. In any comparison on the GMAT™, you want to make sure you are comparing like with like, and those two entities should mimic the language of the other as closely as possible. In choice (B), a case could be made for a construct that follows in X, unlike Y, either without or with an understood in (in X, unlike [in] Y), but that would be a real-world argument, not one that we need to consider for the purposes of the GMAT™. Choice (E) opts for a safer as in to compare one prepositional phrase with another (in France and in Britain).

I hope that helps. Thank you for thinking to ask my opinion on this one. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
User avatar
L
ShankSouljaBoi
Director
Director
Joined: 21 Jun 2017
Posts: 638
Own Kudos [?]: 530 [0]
Given Kudos: 4092
Location: India
Concentration: Finance, Economics
Schools: Rotman '23 (D) IIMA PGPX'22 (D) Desautels '23 (D) Schulich Sept '23 (D) WBS (D) IIML IPMX'25 (A)
GMAT 1: 660 Q49 V31
GMAT 2: 620 Q47 V30
GMAT 3: 650 Q48 V31
GPA: 3.1
WE:Corporate Finance (Non-Profit and Government)
Send PM
Reviews Badge
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   06 Oct 2020, 02:13
Hi VeritasKarishma daagh

In option E, can a fact make it difficult to estimate something ???
User avatar
L
KarishmaB
Tutor
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Posts: 14816
Own Kudos [?]: 64886 [2]
Given Kudos: 426
Location: Pune, India
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   09 Oct 2020, 01:57
1
Bookmarks
Expert Reply
ShankSouljaBoi wrote:
Hi VeritasKarishma daagh

In option E, can a fact make it difficult to estimate something ???


Yes, no problem with that. A fact could make estimations difficult.

The universe is ever expanding, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate the number of stars at any given moment.
User avatar
D
Hoozan
Director
Director
Joined: 28 Sep 2018
Posts: 734
Own Kudos [?]: 558 [0]
Given Kudos: 248
GMAT 1: 660 Q48 V33 (Online)
GMAT 2: 700 Q49 V37
Send PM
Reviews Badge
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   11 Oct 2020, 04:49
Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.

Meaning Analysis: There is no linguistic census in France and hence it is difficult to estimate the number of speakers who speak Brento, a Celtic language. (note - in Britain there is a linguistic census)

Sentence structure:
Because there is not a linguistic census in France [The contextual word "because" indicates that there is some effect to this cause (of not having a linguistic census)]
, as there is for Britain, (comparison stating that Britain has a linguistic census) (notice this information is in a comma pair thus making it act as an additional information)
there is difficulty in estimating the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language. (effect of the previously stated cause)

Quote:
(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating
I believe the usage of the article "a" before "census" is incorrect as it makes the word "census" appear as singular. "Census" is a non-countable noun and hence cannot be stated as a singular word.

I believe the comparison out here is correct. By using "as there is for Britain" the author is comparing the fact that there is no census in France as there is a census in Britain.

Quote:
(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate
This could "sound" correct thus making this choice a trap answer (especially for native speakers) But I believe there is a big comparison error. The comparison marker "unlike" seems to compare a noun "Britain" to a fact that "there is no linguistic census in France. How can we compare a country to a fact of another country?!

Note - By placing the preposition "in" before "Britain" we get a clear comparison between "in France" and "in Britain"

Quote:
(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating
The same comparison error of (B) is repeated. Moreover, "makes for difficulty" makes this sentence structure inferior.

Note - We need to select an answer choice that conveys the intended meaning by using correct grammar as well as a sentence structure that doesn't make use of unnecessary words

Quote:
(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of
Like (A) I believe the comparison out here is correct. However, the latter part of this sentence makes this answer choice inferior. Check note of (C)

Quote:
(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate
There is a clear comparison between the fact that there is no linguistic census in France and the fact that there is a linguistic census in Britain .

I believe the pronoun "it" is acting as a placeholder pronoun. A placeholder pronoun is a pronoun that does not refer to any noun. It is the ONLY placeholder pronoun.

Correct Choice: (E)
User avatar
L
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Status: GMAT/GRE/LSAT tutors
Posts: 6917
Own Kudos [?]: 63649 [3]
Given Kudos: 1773
Location: United States (CO)
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V46
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170

GRE 2: Q170 V170
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   21 Oct 2020, 13:49
2
Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Expert Reply
AntrikshR wrote:
I chose E by eliminating other answer options, however I didn't understand the role of 'it' in the option E.
"There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate"
Can anyone explain it to me?GMATNinja

The "it" here is one of those "dummy" pronouns that don't have a referent in the sentence. They crop up occasionally, but they're rare enough that I wouldn't worry too much about them.

To see how the "it" works in a case like this, consider an example:

  • It is very difficult for Tim to juggle blowtorches while brushing his child's teeth.

Here, the "it" doesn't refer to any particular noun in the sentence. Rather, it functions as a kind of placeholder for the real subject, "to juggle blowtorches." In other words, the two sentences, "To juggle blowtorches is difficult" and "It is difficult to juggle blowtorches," are communicating more or less the same thing.

Same deal in this example. You could write, "To estimate the number of speakers is difficult," or "It is difficult to estimate the number of speakers." The GMAT problem happens to use the second construction in (E). All that matters is that the "it" doesn't refer to a single noun here and that the sentence still makes sense.

The takeaway: you do sometimes see an "it" without a referent, but this construction is rare enough that you don't really need to obsess over it. If you see an "it" and you suspect it might not have a referent, hold off on using the issue as a decision point. If the other four answer choices all have definitive errors, and the one remaining answer choices has a funky "it," you may well be looking at one of those rare cases. Otherwise, there's no need to worry about the issue.

I hope that helps!
avatar
B
bil999
Intern
Intern
Joined: 15 May 2021
Posts: 1
Own Kudos [?]: 0 [0]
Given Kudos: 3
Send PM
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink] New post   14 Jun 2021, 00:15
eybrj2 wrote:
Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.

(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating

(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate

(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating

(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of

(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate

SC54561.01

Show Spoiler
Initially, I couldn't decide between B and E, but eventually picked B, which was wrong.
I was thinking about why B wasn't the answer, and came up with a couple of reasons.

Reason 1) census is a countable noun.
Reason 2) "Unlike Britain" is awkward.

Are those right?



Hi,

Answer E says " A fact that makes it difficult"
I do not understand how a fact can make it difficult??

VeritasKarishma GMATNinja
GMAT Club Bot
gmatclubot
Re: Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br [#permalink]
14 Jun 2021, 00:15
 1   2   3   
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
6917 posts
GMATNinjaTwo
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
238 posts

Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group | Emoji artwork provided by EmojiOne
Main navigation
GMAT Resources
Partners
MBA Resources
www.gmac.com|www.mba.com | | GMAT Club Rules | Terms and Conditions