Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is : Sentence Correction (EA only)

Originally posted by Vercules on 28 Mar 2013, 04:31.
Last edited by Bunuel on 16 Nov 2018, 03:11, edited 2 times in total.

Edited the question.

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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

17 Jul 2017, 14:03

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Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is largely symbolic, more a tool for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill a real military need.

The parallel structure can take either of the below forms.

1. For manipulating ........... for fulfilling
2. To manipulate ------------ to fulfill

A) for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill ===> Missing Parallelism
B) for manipulating people's perceptions than for fulfilling - CORRECT
C) to manipulate people's perceptions rather than that it fulfills ===> Missing Parallelism
D) to manipulate people's perceptions rather than fulfilling ===> Missing Parallelism
E) to manipulate people's perceptions than for fulfilling ===> Missing Parallelism

Hence, Answer is B

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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

28 Mar 2013, 09:08

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Vercules wrote:

Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is largely symbolic, more a tool for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill a real military need.

A) for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill
B) for manipulating people's perceptions than for fulfilling
C) to manipulate people's perceptions rather than that it fulfills
D) to manipulate people's perceptions rather than fulfilling
E) to manipulate people's perceptions than for fulfilling

for manipulating ... than for fulfilling - adheres to //ism.
Only B fits the bill.

Cheers
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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

25 Jul 2015, 10:47

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Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon
whose importance is largely symbolic,
more a tool for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill a real military need.

I agree we can straightly go for Option B simply based on Parallelism.
But since both the actions are intentional, I feel to is comparably better option than for(if available).
manipulating people's perceptions
fulfilling a real military need

I feel it should be something like
Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is largely symbolic, more a tool to manipulate people's perceptions than to fulfill a real military need.

Can someone explain?

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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

Updated on: 11 Dec 2015, 12:38

Vercules wrote:

Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is largely symbolic, more a tool for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill a real military need.

A) for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill
B) for manipulating people's perceptions than for fulfilling
C) to manipulate people's perceptions rather than that it fulfills
D) to manipulate people's perceptions rather than fulfilling
E) to manipulate people's perceptions than for fulfilling

This is an easy one - However, my question is for the usage of more X rather than Y - is it a correct usage?

Originally posted by sa2222 on 11 Dec 2015, 12:34.
Last edited by sa2222 on 11 Dec 2015, 12:38, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

11 Dec 2015, 12:38

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Mechmeera wrote:

Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon
whose importance is largely symbolic,
more a tool for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill a real military need.

I agree we can straightly go for Option B simply based on Parallelism.
But since both the actions are intentional, I feel to is comparably better option than for(if available).
manipulating people's perceptions
fulfilling a real military need

I feel it should be something like
Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is largely symbolic, more a tool to manipulate people's perceptions than to fulfill a real military need.

Can someone explain?

OG explanation states both the usage are correct - for and to, as you mentioned. I dont see a reason why not?

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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

15 Dec 2015, 10:51

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Mechmeera wrote:

Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon
whose importance is largely symbolic,
more a tool for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill a real military need.

I agree we can straightly go for Option B simply based on Parallelism.
But since both the actions are intentional, I feel to is comparably better option than for(if available).
manipulating people's perceptions
fulfilling a real military need

I feel it should be something like
Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is largely symbolic, more a tool to manipulate people's perceptions than to fulfill a real military need.

Can someone explain?

Hi Mechmeera,
According to my understanding, l feel if the sentence conveyed the meaning - the missile should have been made with the intention of fulfilling real military need-
then "to" would have made sense
But the sentence above talks about only the role of missile, Hence the role of missile(according to critics) is for manipulating people's perceptions and not for fulfilling real military need .

Hope I was able to help
Regards
Teja

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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

15 Dec 2015, 20:29

Nevernevergiveup wrote:

Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon
whose importance is largely symbolic,
more a tool for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill a real military need.

I agree we can straightly go for Option B simply based on Parallelism.
But since both the actions are intentional, I feel to is comparably better option than for(if available).
manipulating people's perceptions
fulfilling a real military need

I feel it should be something like
Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is largely symbolic, more a tool to manipulate people's perceptions than to fulfill a real military need.

Can someone explain?

abstract nouns:
a plan to do..
a strategy to do ..
an idea to do..

Concrete nouns:
a tool that ....
a machine that...

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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

16 Dec 2015, 00:47

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Regarding an alternate choice that has been suggested by a poster using two infinitives in preference to two gerunds, my suggestion would be not to attempt it in an OG question, a practice that is not going to be of any avail. Perhaps choosing the best of the options would be more rewarding since there is no choice as – none of the above – or --state a better choice – in GMAT.
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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

02 Mar 2016, 23:48

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sa2222 wrote:

This is an easy one - However, my question is for the usage of more X rather than Y - is it a correct usage?

It can be either more x than y or x rather than y

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thangvietname

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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

03 Mar 2016, 09:40

for doing can modify a noun. so,
noun for doing
exist in english

but
noun to do
is idiom with some noun

here we do not need to know tool for doing or tool to do is better. we need to know
paralelism

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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

23 Sep 2017, 11:16

"B" is the correct choice - Clearly parallelism used. (manipulating ... fulfilling)

Choices A, C, D and E are out as they are not parallel (manipulate... fulfils/manipulate...fulfilling)
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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

03 Oct 2017, 11:57

daagh wrote:

Regarding an alternate choice that has been suggested by a poster using two infinitives in preference to two gerunds, my suggestion would be not to attempt it in an OG question, a practice that is not going to be of any avail. Perhaps choosing the best of the options would be more rewarding since there is no choice as – none of the above – or --state a better choice – in GMAT.

you are right
B is the best option and the only correct option
but OG says: both to and for are correct if they were parallel, although we know "TO" is for "purpose"
in the E_GMAT article, even in Manhattan books, it is clearly mentioned.
am I wrong?

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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

20 Dec 2018, 07:27

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B is the correct answer as it correctly obeys parallelism within the idiom 'more than'.
In B it is the correct construction as 'more...for.......than for' .
In other options the elements within idiom are not parallel .

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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

20 Dec 2018, 08:22

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It is just not the idiomatic correctness of both 'to fulfill' and 'for fulfilling'. You must see it in combination with the structural parallelism of 'for manipulating' and 'to manipulate'
That is where B overtakes other choices
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Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

Updated on: 15 Feb 2021, 05:03

we dont need to know the diference between noun +to do and noun+for doing to solve this problem. but knowing the difference is also good.
sometimes, noun + to do or noun+for doing is a matter of idiom.
other times, both noun+to do and noun+for doing can be used, I am not sure about this.

Originally posted by thangvietnam on 06 Jan 2019, 01:18.
Last edited by thangvietnam on 15 Feb 2021, 05:03, edited 1 time in total.

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Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

21 Feb 2019, 21:12

daagh mikemcgarry egmat
Isnt the parallelism incorrect here.

More X than Y idiom demands that X and Y be parallel.
Here X is a tool for manipulating people's perceptions and Y is for fulfilling a real military need.

Shouldnt the correct answer be like this?
Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is largely symbolic, ~~more~~ a tool more for manipulating people's perceptions than for fulfilling a real military need.

I understand that it is highly frowned upon to modify OG questions or to try to make it better. But isnt //ism an oversight?
What am i missing here?

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Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

21 Feb 2019, 23:53

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Quote:

Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is largely symbolic, more a tool for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill a real military need.

A) for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill
B) for manipulating people's perceptions than for fulfilling
C) to manipulate people's perceptions rather than that it fulfills
D) to manipulate people's perceptions rather than fulfilling
E) to manipulate people's perceptions than for fulfilling

Darshak wrote

Quote:

More X than Y idiom demands that X and Y be parallel.
Here X is a tool for manipulating people's perceptions and Y is for fulfilling a real military need.

Shouldnt the correct answer be like this?
Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is largely symbolic, more a tool more for manipulating people's perceptions than for fulfilling a real military need.

I understand that it is highly frowned upon to modify OG questions or to try to make it better. But isnt //ism an oversight?
What am i missing here?

It is not something about the kind of parallelism. If you meddle with the un-underlined portion, you are getting into an unnecessary land, which is not the real intent of SC. We must get into the habit of avoiding time-wasters.

However, to clarify whether there is a breach of parallelism, it must be said that we should not get confused the 'more …. than' parallelism with the correlative conjunctions parallelism, where the right of side the two correlative words should be parallel.
Ex: Both Jack and Jill sang the song

Neither the novel nor the cinema was interesting'

Here the parsing works out like this.

B. Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is largely symbolic, more a tool (for manipulating people's perceptions) than (for fulfilling a real military need.)

Since there is only one tool that is being applied for both the arms, the 'tool' is elided in the second arm. It is a perfectly accepted parallelism practice.

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Re: Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is [#permalink]

30 May 2020, 05:24

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Vercules wrote:

Critics contend that the new missile is a weapon whose importance is largely symbolic, more a tool for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill a real military need.

(A) for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill

(B) for manipulating people's perceptions than for fulfilling

(C) to manipulate people's perceptions rather than that it fulfills

(D) to manipulate people's perceptions rather than fulfilling

(E) to manipulate people's perceptions than for fulfilling

(A) for manipulating people's perceptions than to fulfill - Wrong: 1) Parallelism

(B) for manipulating people's perceptions than for fulfilling - Correct

(C) to manipulate people's perceptions rather than that it fulfills - Wrong: 1) Parallelism 2) Idiom

(D) to manipulate people's perceptions rather than fulfilling - Wrong: 1) Parallelism 2) Idiom

(E) to manipulate people's perceptions than for fulfilling - Wrong: 1) Parallelism