OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



Sidebar: you know, I always thought that this whole Ben Franklin-electricity debacle involved a kite string and a key tied to the end of the string.
I wonder whether he was really cooking a turkey. Okay, it's late.

HIGHLIGHTS

• LIKE v AS
-- Like is a preposition that should be followed by a noun or noun phrase. When used in comparisons, like usually means resemble
-- As is a conjunction that should be followed by a clause.
-- Ben Franklin's Christmas dinner did not go LIKE he planned or AS he planned?
-- One quick, usually foolproof test:
Replace like with the way.
Does the way work?
Then the word should be as, not like.

• Past perfect? Called "the past of the past"
If we have two past events and one precedes the other, often we use past perfect to describe the earlier-in-time events.
At least one event must be rendered in simple past tense OR a time marker that marks off time in the same way as a simple past tense verb.
To construct past perfect,

1) active voice, use HAD + PAST PARTICIPLE
2) passive voice, use HAD + BEEN + PAST PARTICIPLE

If sequence words also exist, see whether one good option does not contain sequence words
The verb tense itself tells us that we are hearing about the earlier of two in-the-past events.
Sequence words such as before, after, previously, and subsequently often make the use of past perfect unnecessary.
We can use the sequence words and simple past tense.

THE PROMPT

Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned: instead of killing the turkey he delivered a severe shock to himself, which caused his whole body to go numb for the evening.

THE OPTIONS


• like is a preposition that should be followed by a noun, not a clause (
• See above: substitute "the way" for "like."
. . . his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go THE WAY he planned
That construction works. If "the way" works, we need AS
Eliminate A


• VERB ERROR. The disaster is later in time. The verb tenses should be this way:
B Franklin had previously experiemented with XYZ, but his first formal experiment did not go as he planned
• LIKE is incorrect. See Option A notes
Reject B

Two nouns, one verb. That setup won't work. Ben Franklin needs a verb.
Eliminate C

[/quote]
This option looks fine. Check E.

E) Although he had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, Ben Franklin's first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned
• LIKE is incorrect

The correct answer is D

COMMENTS

snoep , welcome to SC Butler.

I am glad to see you all. I am even more glad to see dialogue.
Arvind42 , thanks for asking a question, and Doer01 thanks for helping to answer. +1 to both
No questions = no learning.
Thanks, too, to warrior1991 (I am almost finished with that RC passage, which is really hard, and the Japan question) and snoep for feedback. +1 to both

In order to get kudos, you have to explain your choices.
People in this very good group give different kinds of answers, although the critical reasoning in the explanations is similar.
These are very good topic threads.

Explanations range from very good to excellent.
Kudos to all who explained!

IMO D

Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned: instead of killing the turkey he delivered a severe shock to himself, which caused his whole body to go numb for the evening.

A) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned
"Like he planned" is wrong, prefer "As he planned"

B) Ben Franklin previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he had planned
"Like he planned is wrong", prefer "As he planned"

C) Ben Franklin, after previously experimenting with cooking live turkeys with electricity, his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned
The subject "Ben Franklin" has no verb

D) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned
Looks ok

E) Although he had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, Ben Franklin's first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned
"Like he planned is wrong", prefer "As he planned"

Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned: instead of killing the turkey he delivered a severe shock to himself, which caused his whole body to go numb for the evening.

A) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned - should be as (like we use only with nouns)

B) Ben Franklin previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he had planned - should be as (like we use only with nouns)

C) Ben Franklin, after previously experimenting with cooking live turkeys with electricity, his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned - double subject mistake

D) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned - correct answer

E) Although he had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, Ben Franklin's first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned- should be as (like we use only with nouns)

Sentence Structure
Subject - Verb

Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity,
but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned:

instead of killing the turkey he delivered a severe shock to himself,
which( a severe shock) caused his whole body to go numb for the evening.

Issues:

Like vs As
Like -----> Similar to
As -------> Reason, Parallel/Simultaneous events, Comparison, Role/Function of a person or a thing.

Reason:

Roger Federer will win the tournament AS he has practiced enormously.

Parallel/Simultaneous events:

The tourists saw the candescent lights flickering AS the metro was traveling through the dungeon.

Comparison:

AS the toddlers walk, my 5-year-old nephew does.

Role/Function of a person or a thing:

AS an acting president of the company, the CEO took tough decisions to rejuvenate the brand of the company.

Here the usage of As maps to Comparison, listing the formal experiment did not go AS he had planned the formal experiment to go.
A, B and E Incorrect usage of Like; As is preferred

Answer choice analysis:

A) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned

Incorrect usage of Like; As is preferred

B) Ben Franklin previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he had planned

Incorrect usage of Like; As is preferred

C) Ben Franklin, after previously experimenting with cooking live turkeys with electricity, his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned

No verb for subject - Ben Franklin

D) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned

Nice and easy. D is the champ!

E) Although he had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, Ben Franklin's first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned

Incorrect usage of Like; As is preferred

_________________

Hi Folks,
Its a case of like vs as. Like is used to compare two noun entities. So use of like here is incorrect. This rules A, B, and E out.

A) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned

B) Ben Franklin previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he had planned

C) Ben Franklin, after previously experimenting with cooking live turkeys with electricity, his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned: use of past perfect is way better than 'after previously' as we have a sequence of events here that have happened in past.

D) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned : Correct

E) Although he had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, Ben Franklin's first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned
_________________

Splits - Like Vs As - "As" must be used when comparing clauses
generis - Can you please touch upon verb tenses in this question as part of OE. Option D, which I believe is correct uses Past perfect "Ben Franklin had previously experimented" + "he had planned" - without the use of past before the colon

A) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned - "Like" Incorrect

B) Ben Franklin previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he had planned "Like" Incorrect

C) Ben Franklin, after previously experimenting with cooking live turkeys with electricity, his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned - Ben Franklin+ Modifier+ His - No verb for Ben franklin

D) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned - Correct

E) Although he had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, Ben Franklin's first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned - "Like" Incorrect

Hi Arvind42 ,
Sequence of events in past:
Experiments (had experimented, thinking he is going to dazzle everyone!)...........Plans to cook for guests(had planned).........SHOCK!! (DID not go).....
_________________

IMO Correct option is D;

Clear split between the usage of "Like" Vs "As";

"Like" is used to compare between nouns or noun phrases whereas "As" is used to compare actions, precisely two complete clauses.

Straight away we discard option A, B & E;
Remaining options are C & D, where "as" is used to compare two actions.

But in C, "Ben Franklin" is missing action verb, hence, incorrect

1. As planned is not a noun, we need 'as' instead of 'like', so A,B & E are out
2. C has a missing verb for subject 'Ben Franklin'

A) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned - 1

B) Ben Franklin previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he had planned - 1

C) Ben Franklin, after previously experimenting with cooking live turkeys with electricity, his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned - 2

D) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned - Correct

E) Although he had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, Ben Franklin's first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned - 1

Hence D

Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned: instead of killing the turkey he delivered a severe shock to himself, which caused his whole body to go numb for the evening.

A) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned
The main challenge with A is -> like he planned. it should be as he planned. because we are comparing the action of 'not going well' .

B) Ben Franklin previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he had planned
same as A , it should be as he planned

C) Ben Franklin, after previously experimenting with cooking live turkeys with electricity, his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned
sequence of events is -> after experimenting, did not go well, he had planned... looks like planning happened even before experimenting . also after experimenting seems to suggests his previous experiment is still going on.

D) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he had planned
had experimented, did not go , he had planned... here planning and experiment happened before the formal experiment. this does not suggest his previous experiment is on-going. this is better than C.

E) Although he had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, Ben Franklin's first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned
same as A , it should be as he planned

D is the answer!

Arvind42 : *facepalm* And +1 to you, both for catching the error and for accepting the best of five.

I did not type option D in correctly despite my best efforts (e.g. reading each typed option 2-3 inches from the screen to compare each to that in the book )

My "real" work, high season on the forum, and many PMs from worried aspirants made my eyes blurry last night.

I will amend answer D in a separate post and edit it in the prompt.

D) Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go as he planned
The typo does not affect the correct answer.
Of two viable options, the other one has a fatal flaw—a flaw that is wrong 100% of the time, no exceptions.

I will see whether I can extend answer time.
_________________

that helps! as long as previous experiment is shown to have happened before.

UPDATE: I have edited option D. It contained a typo.
That typo, however, should not have affected the answer you chose as long as you understood that four answers contained errors that have either no wiggle room or very little wiggle room (with respect to the latter, on the GMAT, so far there has been no wiggle room and I do not expect any, but gossip abounds . . .)

I may extend the time that the OA is released.
_________________

snoep , Arvind42 , or any aspirant, I could use your help.

I am seeing variations on a rule about the usage of past perfect.
I have yet to see the rule articulated fully or consistently.
I have never seen a source for this rule.

I suspect that some book, test prep company, or expert is teaching a rule about past perfect and simple past.

The rule seems to be something such as, "If one event in the past occurs before another event in the past, we may use past perfect only if the earlier-in-time and later-in-time events are . . ._____?
Are what?
Are in the same independent clause? Are not separated by a semicolon? Are not separated by a semicolon, colon, or em dash?

If this post is confusing, ignore it entirely.

generis
i evaluate past perfect based on logical sequence of events that would happen, if those events are related to logical entity talked about. I am not fully aware rule with semi-colon or colon for limiting the usage of past perfect.

Ben Franklin had previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he planned: instead of killing the turkey he delivered a severe shock to himself, which caused his whole body to go numb for the evening.


Understand how the events are connected and what is the time frame.
1. Ben Frank experimented with cooking live turkeys.
2. He planned to cook in front of Christmas dinner guests.
3. His first formal experiment didn't go as planned.
4. He got a shock and result of that shock.

So event 1 and 2 took place before event 3. As Ben Frank already did his initial experiment and planned to do a formal experiment in front of Christmas guests.
So we need a 'had planned'.

Also the usage of like vs As.
like planned --> meaning--> it compares the formal experiment with planned which illogical.
So, to represent function we will use 'as' to correct this logical fallacy.

Note: as accompanied by noun --> Denotes function
as accompanied by clause --> denotes comparison
Like accompanied by noun --> denotes comparison

Also As can be used for simultaneous action. So, note what role as/like play whenever you encounter them.

IMHO D

I have never heard about this-->
"Are in the same independent clause? Are not separated by a semicolon? Are not separated by a semicolon, colon, or em dash? "

All I know is that the earlier event should be written in past perfect form and the later event in simple past.
_________________

I have posted the official explanation HERE]

B) Ben Franklin previously experimented with cooking live turkeys with electricity, but his first formal experiment in front of Christmas dinner guests did not go like he had planned



In this option I understood that it can be eliminated on basis of like vs as, But in the first part of the option "Benfranklin previously experimented" is using the right verb tense considering the fact that when we use time markers such as after, before,later...etc.,we need not to use had with previously..

How can we use had with previously in option D?
please explain generis