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KarishmaB
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 14 Jun 2021, 22:35
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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

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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
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From what I can gather, your problem is not with the grammatical construct but with the meaning.

A fact could be such that it makes making an estimation difficult such as
Fans of Roger Federer are found all over the world, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate the number of people who watch his matches.

The fact that his followers are across the world and not in one or two countries (which would make it easier to estimate using channel viewership etc) makes it difficult to estimate the number of people who follow him.
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 17 Jun 2021, 09:50
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I have a different question here.

In option E, how do we know 'a fact' is referring to 'there is no linguistic census in France' and not to 'as there is (linguistic census) in Britain' ? Does not it make error in meaning in that case?

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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 17 Jun 2021, 22:40
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BhaveshGMAT
I have a different question here.

In option E, how do we know 'a fact' is referring to 'there is no linguistic census in France' and not to 'as there is (linguistic census) in Britain' ? Does not it make error in meaning in that case?

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Actually this is difference between Qs and V question. We can not be stringent on absolute answers to get the correct answer.

For this SC, when we want to identify what is fact, we need to get the meaning what could be possible facts in this given statements?

There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain,

there is only 1 information that can be discussed here and has one meaning so we are sure a fact refers to this statement

You can try to solve this question and see if you find any ambiguity in finding out what else could be fact?

I hope it helps.
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 12 Jul 2021, 12:00
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In option E aren’t both the clauses are independent so there should be a semicolon
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 13 Jul 2021, 05:56
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In option E aren’t both the clauses are independent so there should be a semicolon
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(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.
There is no linguistic census in France
As
as there is (no linguistic census) in Britain
a fact that makes it difficult to estimate the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language. ==>>

a fact that makes it difficult to estimate the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.==absolute phrase --> Noun + Noun modifier

structure
Clause Conjuction (as) Clause , absolute phrase


I hope it helps.
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 24 Jul 2021, 06:26
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EMPOWERgmatVerbal
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.
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But can you please let me know what is "it" referring to in the chocie E?

Thanks a lot
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 24 Jul 2021, 12:22
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kittle
Quote:
(E) a fact that makes it difficult to estimate
But can you please let me know what is "it" referring to in the chocie E?

Thanks a lot
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Hello, kittle. The it in question is known as a placeholder, and as such, the word has no referent. This usage is quite common in English:

1) What time is it? It is 4 o'clock.
2) It is going to be windy later today.
3) It is a long journey through the Mines of Moria.

I hope this information may prove useful to you. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 24 Jul 2021, 12:42
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kittle
Quote:
(E) a fact that makes it difficult to estimate
But can you please let me know what is "it" referring to in the chocie E?

Thanks a lot
Hello, kittle. The it in question is known as a placeholder, and as such, the word has no referent. This usage is quite common in English:

1) What time is it? It is 4 o'clock.
2) It is going to be windy later today.
3) It is a long journey through the Mines of Moria.

I hope this information may prove useful to you. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
Show more

Thanks but could you help me find a way to spot such construction? I mean how can I figure out that the "it" is basically acting as a placeholder in some sentence? Appreciate if you provide me your thoughts on this.
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 24 Jul 2021, 13:13
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kittle
Thanks but could you help me find a way to spot such construction? I mean how can I figure out that the "it" is basically acting as a placeholder in some sentence? Appreciate if you provide me your thoughts on this.
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You were on the right track to begin with: look to qualify the it with a referent. If you have trouble finding one, then ask yourself whether it could be this alternative usage that is simply less familiar. Two points, though: 1) language does not operate exactly like mathematics—rules are much more flexible, more like conventions in many cases; 2) pronoun ambiguity is not an absolute death mark against an answer choice—on occasion, a correct answer to an official question will have an ambiguous pronoun.

Just use your best judgment within the given context. That may sound like hollow advice, but trust me, it is the key to SC. Rules can only get you so far, and harder questions often rely more on meaning than on grammar.

- Andrew
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 24 Jul 2021, 13:22
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kittle
Thanks but could you help me find a way to spot such construction? I mean how can I figure out that the "it" is basically acting as a placeholder in some sentence? Appreciate if you provide me your thoughts on this.
You were on the right track to begin with: look to qualify the it with a referent. If you have trouble finding one, then ask yourself whether it could be this alternative usage that is simply less familiar. Two points, though: 1) language does not operate exactly like mathematics—rules are much more flexible, more like conventions in many cases; 2) pronoun ambiguity is not an absolute death mark against an answer choice—on occasion, a correct answer to an official question will have an ambiguous pronoun.

Just use your best judgment within the given context. That may sound like hollow advice, but trust me, it is the key to SC. Rules can only get you so far, and harder questions often rely more on meaning than on grammar.

- Andrew
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Hi Andrew. This is slightly irrelevant to the thread, but do you approve of the quality of SC questions posted by generis here? Since most of those questions are of unspecified source. Thanks!

Posted from my mobile device
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 24 Jul 2021, 14:45
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Hi Andrew. This is slightly irrelevant to the thread, but do you approve of the quality of SC questions posted by generis here? Since most of those questions are of unspecified source. Thanks!

Posted from my mobile device
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Hello, Shikhar22. To answer your question, I think generis works his heart out, so to speak, to provide fresh questions for Project SC Butler, whether those questions are self-created or sourced. I take anything that is not official with a grain of salt, an exercise for entertainment purposes more than exam prep, but I also know that when I have seen some of those SC Butler questions, I have immediately recognized an official question in disguise. In short, I applaud generis for continuing to provide questions day after day, and I think those questions are fine to practice as long as you center your studies on official material. (Perhaps you will recognize a few veiled OG questions, too.)

- Andrew
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 24 Jul 2021, 16:21
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kittle
Thanks but could you help me find a way to spot such construction? I mean how can I figure out that the "it" is basically acting as a placeholder in some sentence? Appreciate if you provide me your thoughts on this.
You were on the right track to begin with: look to qualify the it with a referent. If you have trouble finding one, then ask yourself whether it could be this alternative usage that is simply less familiar. Two points, though: 1) language does not operate exactly like mathematics—rules are much more flexible, more like conventions in many cases; 2) pronoun ambiguity is not an absolute death mark against an answer choice—on occasion, a correct answer to an official question will have an ambiguous pronoun.

Just use your best judgment within the given context. That may sound like hollow advice, but trust me, it is the key to SC. Rules can only get you so far, and harder questions often rely more on meaning than on grammar.

- Andrew
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Thanks a ton Andrew- that was a valuable piece of advice
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 24 Sep 2021, 08:18
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EMPOWERgmatVerbal
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.
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Can you please explain the antecedent of "it" in "a fact that makes it...."
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 25 Sep 2021, 10:25
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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 -> "not a linguistic census" is incorrect.

(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate -> We can't compare APPLE with ORANGE. "a linguistic census" is compared with "Britain". Incorrect.

(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating -> Same error as B. Incorrect.

(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of -> Same error as A. Incorrect.

(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate -> Now, we have Parallelism error corrected and used "no linguistic census in...". Let's keep it.

So, I think E. :)
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 06 Jan 2022, 05:53
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EMPOWERgmatVerbal
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.
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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:
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 06 Jan 2022, 06:17
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EMPOWERgmatVerbal
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.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal @VeritasKarishma GMATNinja 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:
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Hello Will2020,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt.

"there is difficulty in estimating" and "it is difficult to estimate" are independent clauses that can correctly be used with the dependent clause "Because there is no linguistic census in France" to convey the intended meaning, however, "there is difficulty in estimating" is needlessly indirect and wordy.

"a fact that makes it difficult to estimate" and "fact making for difficulty in the estimation of" are modifiers that refer to the clause "There is no linguistic census in France". However, the use of the present participle ("verb+ing" - "making" in this case) to refer to a statement of fact is incorrect, as statements of fact are best conveyed through the simple present tense. Further, "fact making for difficulty in the estimation of" is also inferior to " a fact that makes it difficult to estimate" because "difficulty in the estimation of" is needlessly wordy and indirect.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 06 Jan 2022, 21:48
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Will2020
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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.

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:
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Will2020

"there is difficulty in estimating" is a round about way of saying "it is difficult to estimate". The adjective form "difficult" and the verb form "estimate" are natural.
I will not say that "difficulty in estimating" is incorrect, but it is indirect. A cleaner, more straight forward way is to say "it is difficult to estimate" and that is given by one of the options which has no other error. Hence, (E) is the best.
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 11 Jan 2022, 06:54
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The only element that gives me pause is the "it," but, as the always-wise AndrewN notes in a previous post [...]
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If only it were so. Nevertheless, I appreciate the compliment. Such sentiments spur me to make meaningful contributions to the site.

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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 07 Apr 2022, 03:35
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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!
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GMATCoachBen GMATNinja @VeritasKarishma ChiranjeevSingh

Can one of you please clarify below doubt , I rejected A and B thinking that after the "because" part, we should have the subject of the sentence. Is that correct approach ?

Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Br 07 Apr 2022, 05:40
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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!


GMATCoachBen GMATNinja @VeritasKarishma ChiranjeevSingh

Can one of you please clarify below doubt , I rejected A and B thinking that after the "because" part, we should have the subject of the sentence. Is that correct approach ?

Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating
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Hello KARISHMA315,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, your reasoning is not really accurate; there is no such rule that "Because" must be followed by the subject of a sentence; as seen here, it can just as easily be followed by a placeholder pronoun or the object of the sentence.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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