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Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their
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15 Jun 2016, 11:36
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GMAT® Official Guide 2017
Practice Question Question No.: SC 738 Page: 696
Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their feeding with periods of rest that last between one and eight hours, a sperm whale could eat so much as a ton of squid a day.
(A) between one and eight hours, a sperm whale could eat so (B) between one and eight hours, sperm whales can eat as (C) between one and eight hours, sperm whales could eat as (D) from one to eight hours, sperm whales could eat so (E) from one to eight hours, a sperm whale can eat so
The answers begin with either between or from, indicating possible Parallelism or Idiom issues (since between signals the parallelism marker Between X and Y).
Issues
(1) Pronoun: a sperm whale
The original sentence correctly uses the parallelism marker Between X and Y, so look for something else to start. Before the underline, the sentence refers to their feeding. What noun goes with this plural pronoun?
Logically, the sperm whales are feeding, but the original sentence uses the singular whale. A plural pronoun can’t refer to a singular noun. Eliminate answers (A) and (E) for this error.
(2) Idiom: so much as
Some choices say so much as but others say as much as. Are both okay?
There are circumstances in which you can use so much as in a sentence (for example, I have not studied so much as one problem today). In this sentence, however, the so / as much as language is intended to convey the upper limit of something: Sperm whales are capable of eating up to a ton of squid a day. If this is the intended meaning, use as much as. Eliminate answers (A), (D), and (E) for this error.
(3) Parallelism: between X to Y
Proper parallelism markers include between X and Y or from X to Y. Between X to Y is not a proper construction. Eliminate choice (C).
The Correct Answer
Correct answer (B) uses a proper parallelism marker, between X and Y and correctly uses the plural noun whales to match the plural pronoun their. Finally, it employs the idiom as much as to indicate the upper limit of the amount that sperm whales can eat in a day.
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Re: Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their
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14 Aug 2016, 05:15
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Top Contributor
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Between –and / from-to are not such hair - splitting jargons; after all they mean the same thing almost. It is pointless to delve on that , since there are other clearly visible POEs in D and E. D says, 'could eat so much as' , while 'can eat as much as' is the correct expression. 'So much as' is used more in negative expressions as in: He doesn’t drink so much as his wife does. Note the negative connotation ‘doesn’t’. We would not write here, 'he doesn’t drink as much as his wife does'. In addition, 'could' is a problem vis-a-vis ‘can' in this context as can correctly indicates the whales' capacity, whether they do it or not. E is a downright subject-pronoun mismatch as in A. Therefore, B is the royal answer without hassle
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Re: Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their
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16 Jun 2016, 12:15
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AbdurRakib wrote:
Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their feeding with periods of rest that last between one and eight hours, a sperm whale could eat so much as a ton of squid a day.
A) between one and eight hours, a sperm whale could eat so B) between one and eight hours, sperm whales can eat as C) between one and eight hours, sperm whales could eat as D) from one to eight hours, sperm whales could eat so E) from one to eight hours, a sperm whale can eat so
Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing theirfeeding with periods of rest that last between one and eight hours, sperm whales can eatas much as a ton of squid a day.
Re: Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their
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15 Jun 2016, 22:49
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IMO B
D and E straight eliminated since from one to eight does not convey the intended meaning. Intended meaning is that the period of rest can be between one hour to eight( not complete eight hour as conveyed by "from").
A & C are are out as "could" does not convey fact, it conveys possibility.
Re: Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their
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17 Jun 2016, 07:54
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thangvietnam wrote:
why c is wrong? because could is used for past time.
we need to show a timeless action here, so , can is used
pls, help explain
Brother if you read closely, you will see that this sentence express a fact. Something that is true in current event. Therefore we have to use "can".
If intend of the sentence was to show any possibility i.e something expected to happened under some circumstances then "could" would be the right choice.
Re: Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their
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23 Jun 2016, 06:06
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Abhishek009 wrote:
AbdurRakib wrote:
Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their feeding with periods of rest that last between one and eight hours, a sperm whale could eat so much as a ton of squid a day.
A) between one and eight hours, a sperm whale could eat so B) between one and eight hours, sperm whales can eat as C) between one and eight hours, sperm whales could eat as D) from one to eight hours, sperm whales could eat so E) from one to eight hours, a sperm whale can eat so
Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing theirfeeding with periods of rest that last between one and eight hours, sperm whales can eatas much as a ton of squid a day.
Can we use From and Between split too ? Between A and B or From X to Y ?
WE: Corporate Finance (Pharmaceuticals and Biotech)
Re: Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their
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24 Jun 2016, 01:59
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atptennis15 wrote:
Abhishek009 wrote:
AbdurRakib wrote:
Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their feeding with periods of rest that last between one and eight hours, a sperm whale could eat so much as a ton of squid a day.
A) between one and eight hours, a sperm whale could eat so B) between one and eight hours, sperm whales can eat as C) between one and eight hours, sperm whales could eat as D) from one to eight hours, sperm whales could eat so E) from one to eight hours, a sperm whale can eat so
Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing theirfeeding with periods of rest that last between one and eight hours, sperm whales can eatas much as a ton of squid a day.
Can we use From and Between split too ? Between A and B or From X to Y ?
No, this split cannot be used to eliminate options. Both idioms are correct.
Re: Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their
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14 Aug 2016, 03:47
Whale can rest any hour between 1 and 8 hours, so “from one to eight hours” is wrong. Eliminate D, E Eliminate A as a sperm whale is wrong as we have “their feeding with” now, the intent of above sentence is to state a fact and not a possibility. So, “can” should be used instead of “could”. So, correct answer is B
Re: Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their
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07 Mar 2017, 09:17
Hello experts, Is my understanding correct?
We use Could in order to show a Future act in the Past with reference to some other activity in the past. As there is no such Past activity in this sentence, Could is wrong, therefore we need to show the sentence as A Fact.
WE: Corporate Finance (Pharmaceuticals and Biotech)
Re: Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their
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07 Mar 2017, 12:48
ravi19012015 wrote:
Hello experts, Is my understanding correct?
We use Could in order to show a Future act in the Past with reference to some other activity in the past. As there is no such Past activity in this sentence, Could is wrong, therefore we need to show the sentence as A Fact.
"Could" is the simple past tense of "can". Using past tense would imply that the whales could eat before (but may be now they can't). However this is a Universal truth and hence must be expressed in simple present.
(There is no need for reference to another verb in past - probably you mixed up "would" and "could".)
Re: Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their
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16 Sep 2017, 06:59
'Their' refers to sperm whales. Hence, A and E straight away out. Correct usage of idiom here is 'as much as' instead of 'so much as' since the former indicates the quantity. Hence, D out. 'Could' refers to possibility while 'Can' indicates be able to. Hence, C out. Correct option : B
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05 Dec 2017, 08:45
varundixitmro2512 wrote:
thangvietnam wrote:
why c is wrong? because could is used for past time.
we need to show a timeless action here, so , can is used
pls, help explain
Brother if you read closely, you will see that this sentence express a fact. Something that is true in current event. Therefore we have to use "can".
If intend of the sentence was to show any possibility i.e something expected to happened under some circumstances then "could" would be the right choice.
thank you "could" can be used to state a fact in past but this sentence is in present. so, "can" is correct. "could " can be used in present but to show possibility, not fact , so, "could" is wrong. is that correct?
Re: Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their
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14 May 2018, 00:34
AbdurRakib wrote:
Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their feeding with periods of rest that last between one and eight hours, a sperm whale could eat so much as a ton of squid a day.
A) between one and eight hours, a sperm whale could eat so B) between one and eight hours, sperm whales can eat as C) between one and eight hours, sperm whales could eat as D) from one to eight hours, sperm whales could eat so E) from one to eight hours, a sperm whale can eat so
You only get down to B & C by POE , then look at C , as it uses "could" that changes the verb tense of the sentence , as would , could -> shows a hypothetical scenario . Hence Option B , it is.
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Re: Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their &nbs
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69% (00:52) correct 
