Compared to alligators, crocodiles are better able to tolerate high sa

Question

Compared to alligators, crocodiles are better able to tolerate high salinity, because, unlike alligators, the glands on crocodiles' tongues can expel salt .

A. Compared to alligators, crocodiles are better able to tolerate high salinity, because, unlike alligators, the glands on crocodiles' tongues can expel salt

B. Unlike alligators' tongues, salt can be expelled through the glands on crocodiles' tongues, making crocodiles better than alligators at tolerating high salinity

C. Salt can be expelled through the glands on crocodiles' tongues and not through those on alligators' tongues; therefore, compared to alligators, crocodiles are more tolerant of high salinity

D. Unlike alligators, crocodiles can expel salt through the glands on their tongues; crocodiles are thus more tolerant of high salinity than are alligators

E. Compared with alligators, crocodiles are better at tolerating high salinity, because they can expel salt through the glands on their tongues while alligators' tongues cannot

MGMAT

daagh · Accepted Answer

I do not think that there is ambiguity about  those  in C. Logic demands that we choose  glands   over tongues in this choice. To verify this, let us put the word tongues replacing those and see.

C. Salt can be expelled through the glands on crocodiles' tongues and not through the  tongues  on alligators' tongues; therefore, compared to alligators, crocodiles are more tolerant of high salinity--- tongues on allegators’ tongues --- does it stand reason? Therefore, C is not ruled out due to ambiguity.

IMO, the reason why C is not preferred is that the first sentence does not bring out the contrast that the passage intends. though implicitly. It simply uses  and  for the conjunction between crocodiles' tongues and the alligator’s tongues, which is a corroborative signal rather than a contrast. We must rather use  but  to distinguish between the glands on the tongue of the crocodiles and the glands on the tongues of alligators. Hence C is not as much acceptable as D.

gomennassai · Answer

This was interesting and I was able to zero in on C and D as possible answers.

However I picked C (even though C sounds awkward) over D for the following reason:

Clauses separated by a semi-colon should be able to stand on their own.

In option D the second clause after the semi-colon uses the word "thus" implying there had to be a cause/reason preceding it. Hence, the second clause on itself, though grammatically correct, would not make meaning.

In option C, the two clauses are independent and can stand on their own. Therefore I chose C over D.

Are there reasons to eliminate C? Please teach me.

Thanks!

gomennassai · Answer

Aha!!! I read C again -- "compared to alligators crocodiles are MORE tolerant of high salinity". Correct form should be -- "compared to alligators crocodiles are tolerant of salinity.". That should rule out C. And based on elimination I would pick D. But, still if someone can throw light on the semi-colon issue, that will be fantastic.....

learning it, one step at a time.

jagdeepsingh1983 · Answer

Compared to alligators, crocodiles are better able to tolerate high salinity, because, unlike alligators, the glands on crocodiles' tongues can expel salt.

A. Compared to alligators, crocodiles are better able to tolerate high salinity, because, the glands on crocodiles' tongues can expel salt-  Alligators Vs Tongues not acceptable 
B. Unlike alligators' tongues, salt can be expelled through the glands on crocodiles' tongues, making crocodiles better than alligators at tolerating high salinity- Tongues Vs Salt comparison  
C. Salt can be expelled through the glands on crocodiles' tongues and not through those on alligators' tongues; therefore, compared to alligators, crocodiles are more tolerant of high salinity- Redundant long sentence and passive voice-rejected 
D. Unlike  alligators, crocodiles  can expel salt through the glands on  tongues;  crocodiles are  thus more tolerant of high salinity than  are  alligators -Logical Comparison- Accepted
 E. Compared with alligators, crocodiles are better at tolerating high salinity, because they can expel salt through the glands on their tongues while alligators' tongues cannot

Bluelagoon · Answer

Compared to alligators, crocodiles are better able to tolerate high salinity, because, unlike alligators, the glands on crocodiles' tongues can expel salt.

A. Compared to alligators, crocodiles are better able to tolerate high salinity, because,  unlike alligators, the glands on crocodiles' tongues  can expel salt - Incorrect comparison.
B.  Unlike alligators' tongues, salt  can be expelled through the glands on crocodiles' tongues, making crocodiles better than alligators at tolerating high salinity - Incorrect comparison.
C. Salt can be expelled through the glands on crocodiles' tongues and not through those on alligators' tongues; therefore, compared to alligators, crocodiles are more tolerant of high salinity - Change the meaning.
D.  Unlike alligators, crocodiles  can expel salt through the glands on their tongues; crocodiles are thus more tolerant of high salinity than are alligators - Awesome.
E. Compared with alligators, crocodiles are better at tolerating high salinity, because they can expel salt through the glands on their tongues while alligators' tongues cannot - compare to/compare with are generally used with quantities/statistics.

Arpitkumar · Answer

Can someone help me understand the problem with option "E" here ?

Sreyoshi007 · Answer

Arpitkumar In option E, " they can expel salt through the glands on their tongues while alligators' tongues cannot", the comparison is incorrect and neither does it make sense logically when you read the italicized portion. The option is saying - crocodiles can expel salt.... while alligators' tongues cannot. Not the right comparison. Hope I was clear.

LIBERTYRodP · Answer

COMPARISONS, PRONOUNS

A. Compared to alligators, crocodiles are better able to tolerate high salinity, because, unlike alligators, the glands on crocodiles' tongues can expel salt   ----------- second comparison is not parallel: "unlike alligators" is incorrectly being compared to "the glands".

B. Unlike alligators' tongues, salt can be expelled through the glands on crocodiles' tongues, making crocodiles better than alligators at tolerating high salinity  ---------- wrong comparisons: "alligator's tongues" is being compared to "salt".

C. Salt can be expelled through the glands on crocodiles' tongues and not through those on alligators' tongues; therefore, compared to alligators, crocodiles are more tolerant of high salinity   ---------- Pronoun "those" is ambiguous, as it could refer either to "glands" or to "tongues".

D. Unlike alligators, crocodiles can expel salt through the glands on their tongues; crocodiles are thus more tolerant of high salinity than are alligators    ------ CORRECT

E. Compared with alligators, crocodiles are better at tolerating high salinity, because they can expel salt through the glands on their tongues while alligators' tongues cannot  -------- Pronoun "they" is ambiguous, as it could refer either to "alligators" or to "crocodiles".

svd11 · Answer

Option D

Tolerant of or Tolerant to ?

Idiomatically ?

Posted from my mobile device

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

I am not too sure about  tolerant to  but  tolerant of  is correct.

It may not be the best strategy to rely heavily on idioms for GMAT SC.

LIBERTYRodP · Answer

Always TOLERANT + OF , never TOLERANT + TO

However, when using the word   tolerance  , both TOLERANCE + OF and TOLERANCE + FOR is accepted.

I second what the previous poster mentioned. Idioms are complementary in SC, so if you can work your sentence with other splits, do so. There are few questions in which  idioms  play a decisive role.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

svd11  "Tolerant of" is a fairly standard expression. "Tolerant to" is not, but more to the point, it's not offered in any of the choices. One can build up a tolerance to a medication, but that's a somewhat different meaning.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Compared to alligators, crocodiles are better able to tolerate high sa

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Compared to alligators, crocodiles are better able to tolerate high sa

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