More than 30 years ago, Dr. Barbara McClintock, the Nobel Prize winner

(A) as pearls moving mysteriously from one necklace to another
AS PEARLS MOVE would have been a correct usage of AS
but here a noun PEARLS is being compared to GENES and hence LIKE is correct
MOVING MYSTERIOUSLY FROM .... participle phrase for an analogy of the way the genes move around
(B) like pearls moving mysteriously from one necklace to another
CORRECT
(C) as pearls do that move mysteriously from one necklace to others
AS PEARLS DO is correct but THAT is incorrect because THAT cannot restrict
the action DO of pearls
(D) like pearls do that move mysteriously from one necklace to others
LIKE PEARLS DO is incorrect since LIKE cannot modify a clause "pearls do"
(E) as do pearls that move mysteriously from one necklace to some other one

AS has to be followed by the noun/pronoun performing the clause

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-



Choice A: In Option A the word "as" is used to draw a comparison between the nouns "genes" and "pearls"; this is an inappropriate use of the word "as" because "as" can only be used to compare clauses. Thus, Option A is incorrect.

Choice B: Option B correctly uses "like" to refer to a noun, avoids pronoun ambiguity, conveys the intended meaning of the sentence, and is quite concise. Thus, Option B is correct.

Choice C: Option C suffers from a case of pronoun ambiguity, due to the use of the pronoun "others”; in this sentence, it is not clear what "others" refers to. The meaning of this clause, a comparison to pearls moving mysteriously between different necklaces, is obscured. Moreover, in Option C, "that" is incorrectly modifying "do" rather than "pearls". Thus, Option C is incorrect.

Choice D: Option D repeats the errors found in Option C and uses "like" to refer to a clause. Thus, Option D is incorrect.

Choice E: In Option E, the use of the phrase "to some other one" is unidiomatic and awkward’; ”some other one” uses three words to convey the same information that “another” conveys in just one word. Thus, Option E is incorrect.

One important thing to note here is that the phrase "pearls moving mysteriously from one necklace to another" is not a full clause, as it cannot stand on its own as a sentence. "moving mysteriously" is not an acting verb; it is a participle. The full phrase does not depict a noun taking an action; rather it shows a noun that is modified by the description of an action. As an example, consider the phrase "The new car, driven recklessly by Mike"; this phrase is not a full clause, as there is no acting verb. "driven recklessly by Mike", simply describes an attribute of "the new car". Now, let us extend the phrase a little. "The new car, driven recklessly by Mike, soon began to fall apart." Now we have a full clause, as we have a verb that refers to action taken by the subject of the sentence.

Additionally, this sentence is a good example of the type of complexity that one often finds in the English language. The intended meaning of this sentence is to compare the actions of two things, the "jumping" of the genes and the mysterious movement of the hypothetical pearls. However, from a strictly grammatical point of view, what we are actually comparing are the two nouns, themselves.

Hence, B is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Like v/s As on GMAT”, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of “Avoiding Pronoun Ambiguity on GMAT”, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

I do have a question whether we are comparing genes with pearls or we are comparing the action of jumping
of genes with action of pearls movement.

It's funny --- that question doesn't have a clear precise mathematical answer. In the big picture, in the overall logic of the sentence and of the larger argument, we are drawing an analogy between genes jumping and pearls moving, between the two actions, but when we use the construction "...like pearls ...", as in the correct answer (B), then the literal grammatical comparison is between genes and pearls, the two nouns.

Does that make sense?

Mike

as-vs-like-correct-and-incorrect-usages-133950.html

To state comparisons:
LIKE + NOUN
AS + CLAUSE

More than thirty years ago Dr. Barbara McClintock, the Nobel Prize winner, reported that genes can “jump,” as
pearls moving mysteriously from one necklace to another.

A. as pearls moving mysteriously from one necklace to another
B. like pearls moving mysteriously from one necklace to another
C. as pearls do that move mysteriously from one necklace to others
D. like pearls do that move mysteriously from one necklace to others
E. as do pearls that move mysteriously from one necklace to some other one

Than you can eliminate C and E because they are unidiomatic.
one necklace to another
one necklace to others

(A) "as" requires a clause after it. A clause requires a verb, but we don't have one here. "moving" is a participle (i.e. a type of adjective).
(B) CORRECT!
(C) This answer choice does use "as" correctly. Unfortunately, the word "that" is a relative pronoun, and it modifies whatever it touches. In this case, it's touching a verb ("do"), which it cannot modify. "One necklace to others" is slightly weird; a single pearl can't move to multiple necklaces at once.
(D) "like" cannot have a clause after it. The word "do" signals this as a clause, so the "like" is wrong.
(E) This answer choice does use "as" correctly. However, it makes a meaning error. This implies that pearls actually move from one necklace to another, which they don't. Also, "one necklace to some other one" is awkward

A. "As" must be followed by a clause. Means "As + verb" is the correct structure. For this reason A is out.

B. "Like" is correctly used to compare nouns.

C. We need "to another" and not "to others". Also "that" is wrong. Here "That" refers to "jump", creating a nonsensical meaning.

D. "Like" must be followed by a noun only and not by a clause. Therefore, the use of "do that" is wrong.

E. Incorrect structure " as do pearls that"


(A) as pearls moving mysteriously from one necklace to another

(B) like pearls moving mysteriously from one necklace to another

(C) as pearls do that move mysteriously from one necklace to others

(D) like pearls do that move mysteriously from one necklace to others

(E) as do pearls that move mysteriously from one necklace to some other

It's B. Like used for comparing nouns.

GMATNinja Hey! Can you please explain why each of the four options is incorrect?

Here two nouns are not actually compared but correlated. As per my knowledge correlation is depicted by "like" to bring out a relation or similarity between two nouns. Genes like pearls...

B is the correct choice.

Sent from my Lenovo K53a48 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

A : Do is missing
B: Another is correct: From one (Singular) to Another (for singular )...to maintain From..To idiom
C,D,& E : Idiom error.

There's a great explanation here from GMAT Club legend mikemcgarry. Let me know if that doesn't clear up your doubts?

Hey GMATNinja

If the intended meaning was to compare jump of genes with movement of Pearl, then E would be correct option?

Here's the sentence again, with (E) plugged in:


There are still a few problems with (E). First, it doesn't make sense to say that the pearls "move mysteriously from one necklace to some other." To "another" necklace would be fine, but "some other" is an odd construction in this case. (And for whatever it's worth, I very strongly doubt that you'll ever see this particular issue again on an official question.)

The other problem is that the phrase "as do pearls that move mysteriously from one necklace to another" seems to imply that pearls actually move from one necklace to another. And unless you're living someplace with very interesting laws of physics, that simply can't be the case. In (B), "genes" are compared to to "pearls moving mysteriously...", and that phrase does not imply that pearls actually move from one necklace to another.

Finally, you could also argue that (B) does a better job of cutting to the heart of the comparison. We're trying to compare two nouns ("genes" and "pearls moving mysteriously..."), and there's no need to reconstruct the sentence so that we're comparing two verb phrases ("genes jump..." and "as do pearls that move...").

I hope this helps!

Genes can jump is not noun so how can we use like that is used to compare noun

Posted from my mobile device

"To another" and "to some others" are awkward in construction, so C,D and E are out

Between A and B "Pearls moving" is a noun, so using "as" to compare is wrong, A is out

B is the answer

"Jump" is enclosed in quotes means it is hypothetical

hence use of "Like" is justifies here.

Like cannot be followed by a verb, hence (D) is wrong

in option (B) ---> like pearls moving mysteriously from one necklace to another

We should not miss that "moving" here is working as a modifier not verb

Dear mikemcgarry sir

would option C been correct , had one to others been replaced with one another?

Thanks & Regards