In no other historical sighting did Halley's comet cause such a worldw

[quote="mymba99"]In no other historical sighting did Halley's comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.


(A) did its return in 1910-1911

(B) had its 1910-1911 return

(C) in its return of 1910-1911

(D) its return of 1910-1911 did

(E) its return in 1910-1911



Another way to get to the answer is

In no other historical sighting did Halley's comet cause SUCH a worldwide sensation AS in its return of 1910-1911

option C - SUCH AS IN ITS RETURN OF 1910-1911 .

Hi Tanchat,

To add to the response you've already received:

1. Noun(s) [{example} or {similar entity}] after as
1a. {group} such as {example}, {example}, {example}...: "exams such as the GMAT and the GRE"
1b. such {group} as {example}, {example}, {example}...: "such exams as the GMAT and the GRE"

2. Clause after as
2a. a question such as I've never seen before

stm579 boilingblood


Exactly! We're comparing different times when the comet caused different levels of sensation, so we need the IN to make that comparison make sense. Adding those implied words back in certainly makes the intended meaning easier to see!

In no other historical sighting did Halley’s Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.

(A) did its return in 1910–1911
(B) had its 1910–1911 return
(C) in its return of 1910–1911
(D) its return of 1910–1911 did
(E) its return in 1910–1911

parallelism in comparison

In no other historical sighting .... as in its return of 1910–1911

Though,

In no other historical sighting did Halley’s Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as it did in its return of 1910-1911.

would also be correct, I think.

Hello Scorpi0n,


Yes, your analysis of this rather difficult official is absolutely correct.

In no other historical sighting did Halley’s Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as it did in its return of 1910-1911.


The above-mentioned statement is just the extended form of the sentence with the correct answer choice. The SV pair it did is actually understood in Choice C. It is so because the subject Halley's Comet and the verb did cause are already mentioned in the sentence once.



Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

In no other historical sighting did Halley???s Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.

(A) did its return in 1910???1911
(B) had its 1910???1911 return
(C) in its return of 1910???1911
(D) its return of 1910???1911 did
(E) its return in 1910???1911

I understand the parallelism rule for option C. However is "...its return of 1910-1911." CORRECT?

Should it be return in

Yes, 'sighting' is parallel to 'its return' here.

Please explain why "of" is correct in (C) "in its return of 1910-1911."
I was left with C and E, but finally I went for E because I thought "of" was incorrect.
Please enlighten
Thanks

Hi Thanh

Couple of points can be made about this:

i) The sentence starts as: "In no other historical sighting did..." followed by "such a...". Therefore, the "as" portion must be followed by "in...", since it is required to state the date of the sighting which caused a worldwide sensation. For this reason, option (E) is incorrect.

ii) In option (C) is the only option which beings with "in", as required. Additionally, by using "return of 1910-11", we are drawing attention to one specific return, among several others. This is a valid usage - for more details, you could refer to the official spoiler posted.

Hope this helps.

Hello, imSKR. The issue is one of comparison, since as is being used in that capacity in the sentence. Remember, the GMAT™ is quite strict, downright Draconian, about comparisons and ensuring that like is compared with like. In the non-underlined portion of the sentence, we already encounter our verb did, so we do not need to use it again. We simply need to focus on what is being compared, and that information comes before did:

(A) In no other historical sighting did [something happen] as did its return in 1910-1911.
(D) In no other historical sighting did [something happen] as its return of 1910-1911 did.

Meanwhile, notice that the correct answer appropriately compares the in phrase:

(C) In no other historical sighting did [something happen] as in its return of 1910-1911.

The option also avoids the needless repetition of did. That is, even if you rearrange (A) to better fit the comparison, you still get ... did [something happen] as in its 1910-1911 return did.

If nothing else, I hope the question serves as a check against going by the sound of the sentence. I could see many people saying (A) or (D), but on a grammar test as nuanced as the GMAT™, you have to have a more compelling reason to get behind an answer choice, and both (A) and (D) fail to draw a proper comparison while also incorporating an extraneous element in did.

I hope that helps. I wanted to reply earlier, but the timing just did not work out with my schedule.

- Andrew

Video solution from Quant Reasoning starts at 00:19:10
Subscribe for more: https://www.youtube.com/QuantReasoning? ... irmation=1

First, take another look at (C):


We can argue about what's happening here: are we comparing the prepositional phrases themselves, or using those phrases to compare what happened in one time period to what happened in another? I don't think it really matters: either way, the comparison makes perfect sense, right?

Now go back to (E):


Now, we get the noun phrase "its return" after the comparison trigger, "as." Now the comparison is at best more confusing. It doesn't seem quite right to compare a prepositional phrase to a noun phrase. And it doesn't seem quite right to compare what happened in one time period to the return itself.

In a side-by-side comparison, (C) is the clearer, more logical comparison. So even if you can't find a definite error in (E), you've got enough evidence to pick (C) here.

I hope that helps!

Yes, there should be a noun after "such"—but that noun can have adjectives and/or modifiers attached to it. In this sentence, the noun following "such" is sensation, which has the adjective worldwide attached to it.

Is this question right? I am not able to understand the meaning of sentence. It seems words 'sighting' and 'did' are misplaced.

For those who love GMATNinja 's explanations, head to the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsa-RaX765o and start at 47:14

Is "return of 1910-1911" a correct idiom? Shouldn't it be "return in 1910-1911" ?

Return of is fine. Here it is used to specify which "return" (of the comet) the sentence is referring to.