OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONProject SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)
Quote:
Film studies, an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to movie-making, is less concerned with advancing proficiency in film production than to explore the cultural, economic, and political implications of the cinema.
A) than to explore
B) than in the exploring of
C) than with the exploration of
D) than it is with exploring
E) than in the exploration of
• SHORT ANSWERThe word pair
less . . . than requires that the two things under comparison be parallel.
Thing ABC is less concerned with X than [it is concerned] with Y X and Y must be parallel
The X element =
with advancingSo for the Y element
→ we need an ___ING word. This requirement is not negotiable.
→ we may also see the preposition WITH repeated
→ in addition to the parallelism between things X and Y, we may also see the subject repeated in a pronoun (it) and the verb repeated (is)
Advancing is a gerund (a verbING).
Hence we need an option that contains
exploring or
with exploring.Split #1: exploration and advancing are not parallelEliminate C and E (both incorrectly use
the exploration of)
(I discuss option C more thoroughly below.)
Split #2: to explore and advancing are not parallelEliminate A, which incorrectly uses
to explore.
Split #3: Compare B with DOption B states:
than in the exploring ofOption D states:
than it is with exploringWhich one maintains parallelism with the phrase
with advancing?
You could decide this issue right now, without thinking too much about B.
Option D is better than option B.
In D,
with exploring is spot-on parallel to
with advancing. In addition, Option B contains clear errors:
(1) Option B uses IN rather than WITH
Correct: I am less concerned with finding a perfect sentence than I am with eliminating the four worst answers.
Wrong: I am less concerned with finding a perfect sentence than I am in the eliminating of the four worst answers.
--
concerned in is almost never idiomatic, and on the GMAT,
concerned in has never been idiomatic
(2) Option B uses
the eliminating of rather than
eliminating.
The first phrase is unnecessarily wordy, hella awkward, and not grammatical (a simple gerund such as
advancing cannot be paired with a complex gerund such as
the exploring of).
We
do not have to decide whether B is grammatical. Compared to the brevity and clarity of D, option B is inferior.
Eliminate B.
The correct answer is D.• ANALYSISTHE PROMPTQuote:
Film studies, an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to movie-making, is less concerned with advancing proficiency in film production than to explore the cultural, economic, and political implications of the cinema.
• The keys to understanding this question are
(1) to recognize a very common word pairing:
less . . . than AND
(2) to understand that parallelism requires that the items be similar parts of speech and that they play the same logical role AND
(3) to understand that parallelism does
not require that words be phrased in identical order
A gerund (verbING) such as
advancing and a dedicated noun such as
exploration are not parallel.
See my Notes, below, for more discussion of gerunds and dedicated nouns.
In English, the placement of "less" in
is less concerned with X than with Y is common.
We could also say: Film studies is concerned less with Xing than it is with Ying.
We could also say: Film studies is concerned less with Xing than with Ying.
• Parallelism matters. The most important items are the things being compared.
→ You cannot simply decide that
advancing is parallel to
exploration.
Advancing and
exploring are the two things being compared.
IF this sentence were to state, "Film studies is less concerned with
the advancement of proficiency in PQR than [it is] with the exploration of XYZ," then of course we would choose
exploration over
exploring.
But this sentence does not say what I just wrote.
Other things to know: → Repeating a preposition is okay. This sentence is long. Using
with a second time clearly signals where the Y element begins.
→ Repeating a subject (pronoun) and a helping verb (
it is in option D) is not wrong.
Such usage may be rare on the GMAT, but the repetition is not wrong, and that repetition is certainly not more wrong than the comparison of two
not parallel entities.
Breaking down this sentence→ Film studies is less
concerned with Xing than film studies is
concerned with Ying.→ Film studies is less concerned with Xing than it is [concerned] with Ying
→ Film studies is less concerned with Xing than it is with Ying
• Watch for traps.
→ Do not always choose dedicated nouns.
True, in many cases, a dedicated noun such as
exploration is preferred to a gerund (verbING) noun such as
exploring.--
Many cases does not equal
all cases.
-- The non-underlined portion of the sentence uses
with advancing after
less.
Consequently, we are constrained.
We must find a similar part of speech to serve as the preposition and object attached to
less concerned, i.e., less concerned with Xing . . . than . . . with Ying.
• Eliminate the four worst answers and compare different answers to one another if need be.
-- Stop looking for the perfect sentence.
-- Look at the five choices: which four are the worst?
Which four have the clearest error?
An awkward or stylistically clumsy answer is always better than an answer in which parallelism is lacking.
• Often, it helps to strip sentences of distracting material and to use shorthand for phrases.
Film studies , an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to movie-making, is less concerned with advancing proficiency in [ABC] film production than to explore the cultural, economic, and political implications of [XYZ] the cinema.
• Our sentence is now:
Film studies . . . is less concerned with advancing proficiency in [ABC] . . . than to explore . . . the implications of [XYZ].→
with advancing = WITH + GERUND (verbING)
The Y element that follows
than: -- must include an ___ING word that is parallel to
advancing.
-- may include the repeated preposition
with, especially in a dense sentence similar to this one
-- may include a repeated subject and verb
THE OPTIONSQuote:
A) than to explore
•
to explore is not parallel with
advancing• in English we cannot say "than
with to explore"
-- so in option A, whether
with should be included is irrelevant.
ELIMINATE A
Quote:
B) than in the exploring of
• concerned IN is not idiomatic.
• we can be
concerned with something (interested in, attending to, focused on)
Correct: I am more concerned with getting people to think critically than I am with teaching them to obey rules blindly.
→ This idiomatic error is fatal.
•
the exploring of, a complex gerund, is
-- not parallel with the simple gerund
advancing-- needlessly wordy compared to the simple word
exploring-- a stylistic disaster
ELIMINATE B
Quote:
C) than with the exploration of
•
exploration and
advancing are not parallel
→
the advancement of XYZ and
the exploration of ABC would be parallel
→ We cannot just decide to ignore parallelism between the two items under comparison (
advancing proficiency in film production and
exploring the cultural, economic, and political implications of the cinema.)ELIMINATE C
Quote:
D) than it is with exploring
• I see no error
→
with advancing and
with exploring are parallel
→ as I mentioned above, we can repeat prepositions, subjects, and verbs when necessary.
We can certainly do any or all of those things when this option is the only one whose noun is parallel to
advancing.
KEEP
Quote:
E) than in the exploration of
•
the exploration of and
advancing are not parallel, just as in option C
ELIMINATE E
The best answer is D.NOTESTakeaway: never sacrifice parallelism between
the actual items being compared.Start with the items being compared, and use logic
before word order to determine what to focus on.
• common phrases→ these phrases are
very common in English:
less concerned with X than with Y (or "than Y")Modernist art is less concerned with representing reality than it is with defying tradition.more concerned with X than with Y (or "than Y")Recent executive orders are more concerned with inflicting pain than they are with responding to a political base.less afraid of X than of Y (or just "Y")I am much less afraid of gun laws than I am of gun violence.→ some ____ING nouns have no "dedicated" or "regular" noun and thus
can be parallel to a dedicated noun.
Correct: The
sinking of the passenger ship
Lusitania and the
deaths of hundreds propelled the U.S. into WWI.
Sinking is the only noun in English that means the act of causing something to sink.
Advancing, by contrast, has a dedicated noun—namely,
advancement.
This author chose to use
advancing. We look for noun similarity first.
COMMENTSI have spent a long time trying to figure out from what source a few of you decided that
it is was not allowed.
"Possibly unnecessary" or "probably unnecessary" is not the same as clear error.
I am glad that people gave the question a shot (posted an answer).
I am always glad to see all of you.
HouseStark , welcome to SC Butler.
Kudos go to
sanjayparihar16 , who posted the correct answer.
Smiley faces go to wrong answers that were explained rather than asserted.
I am heartened by the enthusiasm or expressiveness that many of you bring to the forum.
close
09 Jul 2020, 22:37
45%
(medium)
46%
(01:17)
wrong 
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