Quote:
Etiquette might seem a trivial concept without much relevance in the modern world, but the way in which we communicate with each other is as important in international affairs as it is in personal relationships.
(A) as important in international affairs as it is in personal relationships.
(B) as important in international affairs as personal relationships.
(C) as important in international affairs as they are important in personal relationships.
(D) as important in international affairs as it is for personal relationships.
(E) important for international affairs, as it is for personal relationships.
The key point to note with this question is that it is a test of comparisons, with a bit of parallelism/idiomatic use thrown in. We are
comparing importance of etiquette in international relations and personal relationships, and saying that they are roughly equal.
A - Does not make any apparent mistakes,
the pronoun 'it' correctly replaces the singular concept "way we communicate" . This option is
CORRECTB - The comparison is incorrect, it
compares the way we communicate to personal relationships themselves, not the importance of etiquette in them.
OUTC - Unlike in A,
the pronoun 'they' cannot replace the singular "way we communicate".
OUTD - "as important
in" and "as it is
for" are not parallel constructions.
E - As has been pointed out before, this is incorrect idiomatic usage. It should ideally be "important for international affairs as well as for personal relationships".
OUTQuote:
P.S. : What if B were structured as - as important in international affairs as IN personal relationships. What it have been correct??
This is a good question, I suspect it would be correct, as 'it is' can be dropped as per rules of ellipsis.
- Matoo