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

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 - The comparison is made between Halley's Comet and its return
(B) had its 1910–1911 return - Incorrect sentence structure
(C) in its return of 1910–1911 - Correct parallelism maintained between the historical sighting and the return
(D) its return of 1910–1911 did - Incorrect Parallelism
(E) its return in 1910–1911 - Incorrect Parallelism


Hence, C is the correct answer

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

There is so much confusion due to the convoluted manner in which the sentence has been drafted. If we re-write it,


(A) did its return in 1910-1911 ---- (its return did in 1910 -1911.) Here the subject is the Halley's Comet. 'Its' also dutifully represents the comet's. However, unfortunately, in the second leg, the comparison goes awry because we are comparing a comet with its return, namely its action, which is grammatically wrong. Therefore A is out.


(B) had its 1910-1911 return --- its 1910-1911 return had (caused) -- As in A, the comparison is faulty between the comet and its return.

(C) in its return of 1910-1911 -- The only choice in which the comet compares the sensation in the previous sightings to the sensation in its return in 1910-1911. The preposition 'in' is the cue to true parallelism.

(D) its return of 1910-1911 did -- the same problem as in B.

(E) its return in 1910-1911 -- comparison is between the comet and its return.

Hi,

I am still finding it difficult to understand why option E is wrong. Considering that the only difference between option C and E is the use of "in" at the start in option C (assuming that both, "of" in option C and "in" in option E can refer to the time period (1910-1911)), can someone explain why including "in" at the start is absolutely necessary, and why can't it be a part of the elliptical construction?

Thanks!

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.

A quick question here, guys.

Hypothetically, if the original sentence were something like:
No other historical sighting of Halley's comet caused such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.
would option A be correct then?

GMATNinja generis VeritasKarishma

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

[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 .

Dear experts,
mikemcgarry IanStewart VeritasKarishma daagh DmitryFarber GMATNinja
I have a doubt in the use of "as in its return of 1910-1911"

When "as" is used without a verb/comma --> then it acts as a adverbial/prepositional modifier.
In this case it acts as a prepositional modifier.
In such a case, "as" does not act as a comparison marker, instead "as" signifies role/function.

Can you please explain then how is use of "as" without verb/comma correct in this case then?

Ref: https://gmatclub.com/forum/linking-arra ... 94390.html

SC Cardinal Rule #1: Do not invent grammar rules! You can't determine how "as" is used by looking for the placement of nearby commas. You have to use context and logic.

1) For Halloween last year, Tim dressed as John Wayne Gacy, a decision that led to a lifetime ban from neighborhood children's parties.

Here "as" seems to mean "in the role of." In other words, Tim was impersonating John Wayne Gacy. Not good, Tim.

2) Tim attended as many parties in 2015 as he had in 2014.

Here, "as" compares clauses. How many parties Tim attended in 2015 vs how many parties he attended in 2014. The tipoff is the prepositional phrase: because "in 2015" is modifying when Tim attended parties, it stands to reason that "in 2014" is doing the same thing, and that these actions are being compared. (Note that the prepositional phrases aren't being compared directly. They're just used to describe the actions that are being compared.)

This is the same function "as" performs in the OA you linked to: "Linking arrangements between secondary schools and the workplace never evolved in the United States as they did in most other developed countries." Here, "as" doesn't compare the linking agreements themselves; it compares what linking arrangements between secondary schools and the workplace did in the United States to what they did in other developed countries.

And again, the prepositional phrases "in the United States" and "in other developed countries" are key to understanding both the usage of "as" and the comparison itself.

I hope this helps!

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.

Why the meaning of sentence as below is wrong as i get in option A?

Halley's comet cause such a worldwide sensation In no other historical sighting
as
its return caused sensation in 1910-11

Meaning:
Halley's comet cause a worldwide sensation in 1705, in 1835
but comet was returned in 1910-11 and that caused much sensation.


Shall i say that meaning is wrong because with A , meaning implies these 2 bodies: Halley's comet and its return body ( but actually it is same )
Please confirm GMATNinja AndrewN AjiteshArun

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

Hello friends,

Hope you all are doing good.


This official question may appear very complex, but with a sound approach, this sentence can be solved without much effort.

Here is the audio-visual solution in the "e-GMAT" way.



I hope you enjoy this solution and be completely sure what is going on in this sentence.

Happy Learning.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Video solution from Quant Reasoning starts at 00:19:10
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