Galileo was convinced that natural phenomena, as manifestations of the

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Comparisons + Pronouns + Grammatical Construction + Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• A comparison must always be made between similar things.
• "same + as" is the correct, idiomatic construction.

A: This answer choice incorrectly compares how natural phenomena would appear to someone on the deck of a ship moving smoothly and uniformly through the water to "a person standing on land"; remember, a comparison must always be made between similar things.

B: Correct. This answer choice avoids the pronoun error seen in Options C and D, as it uses no pronouns. Further, Option B correctly compares how natural phenomena would appear to someone on the deck of a ship moving smoothly and uniformly through the water with how natural phenomena would appear to a person standing on land. Additionally, Option B correctly uses the idiomatic construction "same + as". Besides, Option B is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

C: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun "phenomena" with the singular pronoun "it". Further, Option C incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "same + semicolon + just + as"; remember, "same + as" is the correct, idiomatic construction. Additionally, Option C uses the needlessly wordy phrase "it would to", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun "phenomena" with the singular pronoun "it". Further, Option D incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "same + comma + as"; remember, "same + as" is the correct, idiomatic construction. Additionally, Option D uses the needlessly wordy phrase "it would to", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

E: This answer choice incorrectly compares how natural phenomena would appear to someone on the deck of a ship moving smoothly and uniformly through the water to "the person standing on land"; remember, a comparison must always be made between similar things. Further, Option E incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "same + semicolon + just + as"; remember, "same + as" is the correct, idiomatic construction.

Hence, B is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

I will go for B.

C and D are out because of "it". E is out because of "just as".

There is no doubt that B is the answer but don't you guys think that in D a do(appear) is missing ?

natural phenomena would appear the same to X as it (natural phenomena) would do (appear) to Y.

D is wrong because the comma after water makes the comparison choppy and the "the person" is used in place of "a person". Completely different meanings.

A compares manifestation to person, C and D use wrong pronoun, and E is wordy, also use of semi colon is wrong as the words after semicolon dont make a full sentence.

I have chosen B for the answer:

A. This answer choice does not maintain parallelism with the comparison. The reason is because we are missing a "to."

You could look at the comparison like this:

Natural phenomena would appear the same:
- to someone on the deck of a ship moving smoothly and uniformly through the water AS
- to a someone (or person in this case) standing on land

B. This comparison is clear and maintains parallelism.

C. The semicolon creates a sentence fragment because we are left wondering where the other half of the comparison is. Also, the semicolon creates a break in logical meaning, but we want this to be continuous.

D. This answer does not maintain parallelism because of the addition of the word "would." I wasn't sure if the pronoun "it" was ambiguous, but this wasn't the deciding factor for me anyway.

E. Again, the semicolon creates a break in the comparison and it leaves the main clause as a fragment.

Why is It wrong in answer choice D, it clearly refers to natural phenomena

Issue in D is subject verb agreement. Phenomena (plural) would appear to X as IT would to Y. Additionally, I feel that the comma is unnecessary.

This question tested Idioms and Intended Meaning in the sentence.

Option A: Changes the intended meaning of the sentence.

Option B: The correct Usage

Option C: You do not need a semi colon usage as it is straight forward Comparison between two people on different lands watching the same scenario

Option D: The article 'the' changes the meaning of the sentence.

Option E: Same as option C.

Hence the correct answer is B.

As per eGmat rules, always focus on the intended meaning of the sentence.

Thanks and regards,

Also in (D) - "water, as it would to the"

--the THE is a bit too specific when generally defining a law of physics. So the meaning is a bit too specific when using THE -- really you should be using A.

So in addition to the IT issue, we also have a THE issue. The presence of the word TO is correct, but the other issues make (D) wrong.

You may see our video explanation here:

Hi Experts,

This is my understanding of the meaning of the sentence:
galileo was convinced that natural phenomenon like the manifestations of laws of physics would appear same to someone sailing on the boat as to a person standing on the land.


Galileo was convinced
- that natural phenomenon, as manisfestations of the laws of physics, would appear same to someone...ship moving smoothly and uniformly through the water as to a person standing on the land

I have highlighted subj-verb pairs in italics and parallel markers in bold.

I want to know what is the role of 'as' in 'natural phenomena, as manifestations of the laws of physics' ? Is it describing the role or is used for comparison ?

Galileo was convinced that natural phenomena, as manifestations of the laws of physics, would appear the same to someone on the deck of a ship moving smoothly and uniformly through the water as a person standing on land.

A. water as a

B. water as to a

C. water; just as it would to

D. water, as it would to the

E. water; just as to the

ANS :

CHOICE A:

Incorrect:
The sentence has the parallelism and the idiom errors

CHOICE B:

Correct:
The two objects compared here “to someone” and “to a person” are now parallel to each other. This also rectifies the idiom error.

CHOICE C

Incorrect:
1) Semi-colon joins an Independent Clause with a Dependent Clause.
2) Singular pronoun “it” has been used to refer to plural noun “phenomena”.

CHOICE D

Incorrect:
This choice repeats the pronoun error spotted in Choice C.

CHOICE E

Incorrect:
Semicolon should be used to join two independent clause. Here, what follows semicolon is a fragment as it does not have a subject-verb pair.

hope this helps .

In option D, can't we say that the two parts of the comparison used is " phenomena would appear the same to someone" and "as it would to the"
If yes, is the option D correct if "it" is replaced by "they"?

Hi Anuj,

Thanks for posting your query here.

In choice D, singular pronoun it has been used to refer to plural noun phenomena. Please note that the singular form of phenomena is phenomenon.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Galileo was convinced that natural phenomena, as manifestations of the laws of physics, would appear the same to someone on the deck of a ship moving smoothly and uniformly through the water as a person standing on land.

A) water as a
This means that someone is moving as a person standing on land, which makes no sense.
The comparison “would appear the same to someone… as to a” is not parallel. A “to” in the second part is missing.
B) water as to a
C) water; just as it would to a
The semi colon leaves the first sentence, which pretends to be a comparison, unfinished.
The pronoun “it” is singular, while the noun to which it refers “phenomena” is plural.
D) water, as it would to the
The comma breaks up the comparison.
The use of "the person" is not preferred to "a person".
The pronoun “it” is singular, while the noun to which it refers “phenomena” is plural.
E) water; just as to the
The semi colon leaves the first sentence, which pretends to be a comparison, unfinished.
The use of "the person" is not preferred to "a person".

Just remember idiom: the same for you as for me. In this idiom any preposition can be used. Two parts have to be //.

Hi egmat

I have two questions regarding your explanation above:

[1] Can we say that there is pronoun reference ambiguity in option C/D -- "it" may also refer to ship or deck? Because the comparison would then be (keeping ellipsis error aside)

Galileo was convinced that natural phenomena, as manifestations of the laws of physics, would appear the same

- to someone on the deck of a ship moving smoothly and uniformly through the water

as ship (or deck) would appear

- to a person standing on land.


[2] Do option C/D also have error w.r.t. ellipsis --- since my understanding is that we need to repeat the exact set of words that are dropped (as part of ellipsis) and option D/E fail to do so.