fameatop wrote:
Why these examples are Correct or Incorrect:-
(1) CORRECT BUT Wordy: I have never seen an aardvark, but my father has seen an aardvark.
(2) CORRECT: I have never seen an aardvark, but my father HAS.
(3) CORRECT: I have never seen an aardvark, but last year my father did
(4) Wrong: Our cars were designed to inspire envy, and they are
(5) Right: Our cars were designed to inspire envy, and they do
(7) CORRECT: Megumi speaks Japanese better than I do.
(8) CORRECT: Megumi has visited more countries than I have.
(9) CORRECT: Megumi has more skirts than I do.
(10) CORRECT: Megumi has more skirts than I have.
Notice, on those last two, 9 & 10 --- both are correct. I believe both would be acceptable on the GMAT --- if there's any difference between then, this is far too picayune to constitute anything the GMAT would test. In the second term of a comparison, you can repeat the original verb, or you can substitute the verb "to do". Either is correct.
Notice, we can substitute an auxiliary verb (i.e. a "helping" verb) for the entire verb --- that is precisely what takes place in #2. See:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/auxiliary- ... -the-gmat/Notice, when we need to replace a general predicate, we use the verb "to do", as in #3, #5, #7, and #9. See
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/repeating- ... -the-gmat/fameatop wrote:
OG13, SC #139: In no other historical sighting did Halley’s Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910–1911.
(A) did its return in 1910–1911
(B) had its 1910–1911 return
(C) in its return of 1910–1911
(D) its return of 1910–1911 did
(E) its return in 1910–1911
First of all, let's think about the wordiest possible version
In no other historical sighting did Halley’s Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as the worldwide sensation Halley’s Comet caused in its return of 1910–1911.
Now, in orange, I have marked the repeated words ....
In no other historical sighting did Halley’s Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as the worldwide sensation Halley’s Comet caused in its return of 1910–1911.
The subject & verb are the same, so we don't need to repeat them. We always need to repeat a preposition if the change is the object of prepositional phrase --- that's why the "in" is required and must stay there. Notice, when we drop the orange, we are left with
(C), the OA.
fameatop wrote:
SUBSTITUTION
The guiding principles of the tax plan released by the Treasury Department could have even a greater significance for the economy than the particulars of the plan.
(A) even a greater significance for the economy than
(B) a significance that is even greater for the economy than
(C) even greater significance for the economy than have
(D) even greater significance for the economy than do
(E) a significance even greater for the economy than have
First of all, the first term of the comparison is a clause with a subject and verb ---- "
principles .... have" ---- so the second term, after the word "
than", must also have a subject & verb. Of course, the new subject is "
the particulars", after the underlined section. The question is, what should the verb be? Notice, (A) & (B) are right out, because they don't have any verb at all.
The question is --- should the verb after the "
than" be "
have" or "
do"? Well, this involves a very subtle but important distinction. If the first use of the word "have" were as an auxiliary verb, then we could substitute this auxiliary verb in the second term ----
"
...the principles .... have made an impact .... more than have the particulars ...."
Notice, though, in this sentence, in the first half of the sentence, the word "have" does
not appear as an auxiliary verb but rather as the
main verb. Because it's a main verb, we could do one of two things:
(a) we could substitute this main verb with "do" --- that's what choice (D) does --- this sounds very nature
(b) we could repeat the main verb ---- but we would typically do that after the subject --- "even greater significance for the economy than the particulars of the plan have" ---- (C) has an unusual word order that is not 100% natural, but it is not out-and-out wrong.
I won't name the source of this questions, but quite frankly, I don't hold this source in high regard and I think this particular question is not worth its weight in donkey muffins. I would say that (D) sounds a little more natural, but so far as I can tell, there is nothing definitively "wrong" with (C), so this question is asking us to make a distinction on some hyperfine basis that this source has in mind, something that is not grounded in general grammar and something that is certainly not going to be tested on the GMAT. This is most definitely not a GMAT-like question.
Low quality questions generate confusion & questions & discussions that don't necessarily help anyone prepare for the GMAT. In selecting GMAT questions with which to study, I would suggest that quality is much more important than quantity.
That's my 2¢
Mike
_________________
Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test PrepEducation is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)