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E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
25%
(medium)
Question Stats:
69% (01:15) correct
31%
(01:21)
wrong
based on 5636
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Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.
(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating
(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate
(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating
(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of
(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate
SC54561.01
(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating
(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate
(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating
(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of
(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate
SC54561.01
Initially, I couldn't decide between B and E, but eventually picked B, which was wrong.
I was thinking about why B wasn't the answer, and came up with a couple of reasons.
Reason 1) census is a countable noun.
Reason 2) "Unlike Britain" is awkward.
Are those right?
I was thinking about why B wasn't the answer, and came up with a couple of reasons.
Reason 1) census is a countable noun.
Reason 2) "Unlike Britain" is awkward.
Are those right?
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Updated on: 17 Apr 2020, 16:22
Originally posted by EMPOWERgmatVerbal on 17 Feb 2020, 13:18.
Last edited by EMPOWERgmatVerbal on 17 Apr 2020, 16:22, edited 1 time in total.
Last edited by EMPOWERgmatVerbal on 17 Apr 2020, 16:22, edited 1 time in total.
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Hello Everyone!
Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:
Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.
(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating
(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate
(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating
(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of
(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate
There are a few key differences we can focus on here to eliminate wrong choices:
1. there is not a linguistic census / there is no linguistic census (countable vs. non-countable nouns)
2. as there is for Britain / unlike Britain / as there is in Britain (parallelism)
3. their endings (wordiness)
Let's take a slightly different path than many of the previous comments and start with #1 on our list: "there is not a linguistic census" versus "there is no linguistic census." It's a fairly simple "either/or" split that will eliminate 2-3 options quickly.
The term "census" here is a non-countable noun, meaning there is only one and no possibility for there to be more than one. This means we cannot use "a linguistic census" here because that would suggest there could be more than one type of census we could be talking about. Let's eliminate any options that treat the word "census" as though it's a countable noun:
(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating
(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate
(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating
(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of
(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate
We can eliminate options A & D because they treat the non-countable noun "census" as though it is countable. Now that we have it narrowed down to 3 options, let's tackle #2 on our list: parallelism. We need to make sure that France and Britain are discussed using parallel wording and structure:
(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate
This is INCORRECT because it's not parallel. This sentence is trying to compare the fact that there is no linguistic census in France with the entire country of Britain, which are not parallel items.
(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating
This is also INCORRECT because it's not parallel. It's trying to compare Britain the country with the lack of a linguistic census in France, which are not parallel items.
(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate
This is CORRECT because it's completely parallel! It is comparing the fact that there is no census in France with the fact that there is (a census) in Britain.
There you have it - option E is our correct choice! By focusing on the "either/or" splits first, we were able to eliminate enough wrong options to make finding the correct one easier!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:
Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating the number of speakers of Brento, a Celtic language.
(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating
(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate
(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating
(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of
(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate
There are a few key differences we can focus on here to eliminate wrong choices:
1. there is not a linguistic census / there is no linguistic census (countable vs. non-countable nouns)
2. as there is for Britain / unlike Britain / as there is in Britain (parallelism)
3. their endings (wordiness)
Let's take a slightly different path than many of the previous comments and start with #1 on our list: "there is not a linguistic census" versus "there is no linguistic census." It's a fairly simple "either/or" split that will eliminate 2-3 options quickly.
The term "census" here is a non-countable noun, meaning there is only one and no possibility for there to be more than one. This means we cannot use "a linguistic census" here because that would suggest there could be more than one type of census we could be talking about. Let's eliminate any options that treat the word "census" as though it's a countable noun:
(A) Because there is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, there is difficulty in estimating
(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate
(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating
(D) There is not a linguistic census in France, as there is for Britain, a fact making for difficulty in the estimation of
(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate
We can eliminate options A & D because they treat the non-countable noun "census" as though it is countable. Now that we have it narrowed down to 3 options, let's tackle #2 on our list: parallelism. We need to make sure that France and Britain are discussed using parallel wording and structure:
(B) Because there is no linguistic census in France, unlike Britain, it is difficult to estimate
This is INCORRECT because it's not parallel. This sentence is trying to compare the fact that there is no linguistic census in France with the entire country of Britain, which are not parallel items.
(C) Unlike Britain, there is no linguistic census in France, and that fact makes for difficulty in estimating
This is also INCORRECT because it's not parallel. It's trying to compare Britain the country with the lack of a linguistic census in France, which are not parallel items.
(E) There is no linguistic census in France, as there is in Britain, a fact that makes it difficult to estimate
This is CORRECT because it's completely parallel! It is comparing the fact that there is no census in France with the fact that there is (a census) in Britain.
There you have it - option E is our correct choice! By focusing on the "either/or" splits first, we were able to eliminate enough wrong options to make finding the correct one easier!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
10 Jan 2022, 10:06
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Quote:
Beware of tunnel vision! Sometimes if you focus too much on one part of the sentence, you miss other issues, particularly in a question like this where the errors are unusually subtle. Take another look:
Quote:
First, the phrase "for Britain" is odd. Why would we compare a census in France to a census for Britain? Was a census taken somewhere other than Britain, but then delivered to the Brits for analysis?
I also don't like "difficulty in estimating." If there's trouble in Denmark, Denmark is the location of the trouble. But "estimating" clearly isn't a location. I'd much rather see the clearer "difficult to estimate." Still, I know what the writer means, and this isn't a grammar error, so I'm not 100% comfortable eliminating this choice yet.
For now I'll hang on to (A), but everything else is going to have be a complete mess for me to really consider this.
Quote:
"Like" must compare nouns. Here, it seems to compare the prepositional phrase, "in France" to the noun "Britain." That's a problem. (B) is out.
Quote:
Another comparison problem. Either we're comparing "Britain" to "there" or we're again comparing "Britain" to "in France." Either way, (C) is no good.
Quote:
This is like (A), but worse. Again, we have the illogical phrase, "for Britain."
And then the phrase "a fact making for difficulty in the estimation" is a dumpster fire. At first I read "fact making" the way I might have read "fact-finding," an interpretation that makes no sense. And I see no reason to write "difficulty in the estimation" when I could just say "difficult to estimate."
Again, no real grammar issue, but the meaning issues here are even more problematic than they are in (A), so I'm happy to give (D) the boot.
Quote:
I don't love this, but it's less terrible than the others. Now we're comparing the census in France to the one in Britain. And we have the cleaner, more logical, "difficult to estimate." Both of these constructions are improvement over what we saw in (A).
The only element that gives me pause is the "it," but, as the always-wise AndrewN notes in a previous post, this seems to be a rare instance of a pronoun that doesn't really refer to anything. The sentiment is clear enough. What is difficult? To estimate is difficult. Makes sense.
I may not love (E), but it's the best of the bunch.
I hope that helps!
22 Sep 2019, 09:30
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eybrj2
Official Explanation
Logical predication; Rhetorical construction; Parallelism
The sentence suggests that because France, unlike Britain, has no linguistic census, it is difficult to estimate how many people in France speak Breton.
A. This choice is incorrect because in France is not parallel with for Britain. Furthermore, this choice uses the wordy construction not a linguistic census as opposed to the clearer no linguistic census as in choice E.
B. This choice is incorrect because in France is not parallel with unlike Britain.
C. This choice is incorrect because in France is not parallel with unlike Britain.
D. This choice is incorrect because in France is not parallel with for Britain. Furthermore, this choice uses the wordy construction not a linguistic census as opposed to the clearer no linguistic census as in choice E. Furthermore, the construction making for difficulty in the estimation of unnecessarily turns the adjective difficult and the verb estimate into nouns.
E. Correct. This choice uses the parallel in France and in Britain and correctly uses the comparison structure there is no X as there is Y.
The correct answer is E.
