Just like the Internet today, often being called an “information super

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:

Just like the Internet today, often being called an “information superhighway,” the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought.”

A) Just like the Internet today, often being

B) Just as the Internet is today often

C) As with the Internet being today often

D) As is often the case today with the Internet,

E) Similar to the Internet today, often

With such a short underlined portion, there are really only 2 places we can focus on here:

1. Just like / Just as / As with / As / Similar to (Idioms & Comparisons)
2. today, often being / is today often / being today often / often the case today / today, often (Diction & Parallelism)

Let’s start with #1 on our list, which is mainly deciding between using “like” or “as” for this particular comparison. We understand that like vs. as can get confusing, but here is an easy way to think about it when comparing two things:

Like = used to compare two nouns; the word after “like” should be a noun
As = used to compare two actions or verbs; the work after “as” can be either a noun or verb

So what are we really comparing here? The Internet and the telegraph? NO! We’re comparing what the Internet is called to what the telegraph used to be called. That means we’re comparing two actions - not two nouns! Let’s see how our options break down:

A) Just like the Internet today, often being

B) Just as the Internet is today often

C) As with the Internet being today often

D) As is often the case today with the Internet,

E) Similar to the Internet today, often 
(Note: ”like” and “similar to” are the same thing, and follow the same rules)

We can eliminate options A & E because they use some version of “like” to compare two actions, which isn’t correct. Now that we have it narrowed down, let’s tackle #2 on our list. We mainly need to make sure the meaning is clear and logical, while also ensuring the two things being compared are parallel. (To make problems easier to spot, we’ve added in the non-underlined parts.)

B) Just as the Internet is today often called an “information superhighway,” the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought.”
This is our CORRECT choice! The two items being compared are parallel, and the way they’re worded is rather parallel too. It’s also clear and logical for readers.

C) As with the Internet being today often called an “information superhighway,” the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought.”
This is INCORRECT because “as with” is not an idiomatically correct way to talk about comparisons. Also, the phrase “being today often” is incredibly awkward and confusing!

D) As is often the case today with the Internet, called an “information superhighway,” the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought.”
This is INCORRECT because the comparison is no longer parallel! By making the phrase “called an ‘information highway’” a non-essential phrase, we’re now comparing the Internet (a noun) with “the telegraph was described in its day as an ‘instantaneous highway of thought’” (an action).

There you have it - option B is our winner!


Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Comparisons + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• A comparison must always be made between similar things.
• “like” is used for comparing nouns, “as” is used for comparing actions/clauses, and “such as” is used for giving examples.

A: This answer choice incorrectly uses "like" to compare the clauses "the Internet today, often being called an “information superhighway" and the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought”; remember, “like” is used for comparing nouns, “as” is used for comparing actions/clauses, and “such as” is used for giving examples.

B: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses “as” to compare the clauses “the Internet is today often called an “information superhighway,” and “the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought”. Further, Option B is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

C: This answer choice uses the passive voice construction “being today often”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D: This answer choice incorrectly compares “the Internet” to “the telegraph was described”; please remember, a comparison must always be made between similar things.

E: This answer choice incorrectly uses "Similar to" to compare the clauses "the Internet today, often called an “information superhighway" and "the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought”; remember, “like” is used for comparing nouns, “as” is used for comparing actions/clauses, and “such as” is used for giving examples.

Hence, B is the best answer choice.

Additional Note: Please note that "similar to" is a synonym for "like" in this context and functions accordingly.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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Just like the Internet today, often being called an “information superhighway,” the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought.”

A) Just like the Internet today, often being

B) Just as the Internet is today often

C) As with the Internet being today often

D) As is often the case today with the Internet,

E) Similar to the Internet today, often 

A. The comparison is correct, problem is being. Often called an information highway is sufficient, being does not add any value to the phrase, so it is not required and is redundant.
B. Correct. Clear, concise and correct comparison.
C. Wrong comparison, also being is unnecessary.
D. The case is compared with the telegraph.
E. What is similar> Both being called information highway is similar, it is not that internet is similar to the telegraph.
B is correct

Just like the Internet today, often being called an “information superhighway,” the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought.”

A) Just like the Internet today, often being

B) Just as the Internet is today often

C) As with the Internet being today often

D) As is often the case today with the Internet,

E) Similar to the Internet today, often


Let's start with meaning.
In the original, the trouble with the meaning is that we try to set up a comparison. "Just like the Internet today". We'd expect the subject of the comparison to follow immediately afterwards, as often happens with modifying phrases: Just like the Internet today, the telegraph...

Unfortunately, we don't have that. So let's avoid the comparison.

Now let's go to grammar.
There's no reason to shy away from our simple active verbs and turn to participles. The GMAT prefers simple active verbs like "is" or "was" to participles like "being", as it makes for simpler sentences.

So let's avoid the use of "being".

Now, to choose. A,C,E all do comparisons, so that's incorrect. D changes the meaning entirely: the telegraph is not a case of the Internet.

That leaves us with B, which is not a comparison and uses a simple verb.
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Source : The Economist

Just as the Internet is today often called an “information superhighway”, the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought”.
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Just like the Internet today, often being called an “information superhighway,” the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought.”

A) Just like the Internet today, often being

B) Just as the Internet is today often

C) As with the Internet being today often

D) As is often the case today with the Internet,

E) Similar to the Internet today, often 

We have comparison markers 'as' and 'like' preference of which depends on the sentence structure. If we note the non-underlined part 'the telegraph.. thought."', it is an IC. So, we need similar structure of sentence to make a proper comparison. Also, like can't be followed by a clause hence as is needed. Just as/like X, Y.
A is WRONG for using like and the structure of sentence in the first part.
B is CORRECT. Leave 'Just as' which is used for comparing. The first part left is a 'The internet...information highway,"' - IC.
C is WRONG. Approaching in a similar fashion we did for B, here 'being' spoils the party - specifically - being today often. Also together 'with' and 'being' nothing is clear how following part becomes modifier.
D is WRONG. As must be followed by a clause which we are missing here.
E is WRONG. 'Often.. highway' seems to modify today. 'Similar ... today' must be followed by the other thing being compared.

IMO Answer B.
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Just like the Internet today, often being called an “information superhighway,” the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought.”

2 Errors

- Usage of being creates an illogical meaning. It implies that some entity is causing Internet to be called information superhighway.
- Internet was called “instantaneous highway of thought" like the telegraph.

- Well no mechanical or meaning error so lets hold on to it.

-
2 errors
1. Usage of being is incorrect as it described in for answer choice B.
2. Usage of with is incorrect here.


No grammatical error, but this answer choice distorts the meaning of the sentence by saying that Internet is called “instantaneous highway of thought" as was the telegraph.

-
This is answer choice changes the meaning by saying that Internet today is similar to the telegraph. However, intended meaning is that there is similarity in connotation of the term used to call them down the timeline.

Answer choice B is out winner.

Any one plz explain why the usuage of being is incorrect. I agree that being not often use in GMAT sentence. Also i think use of like is preferable. Although we don't have any choice in which the usuage of like is correct. But still i am not able to understand how "as" is correct.

First please note that (comma-being, comma-having) are almost guaranteed to be incorrect in GMAT. More on 'being' from GMATNinja here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/experts-topic-of-the-week-6-4-17-being-is-not-the-enemy-242299.html

A) 'being' is the culprit. Either you can say that the word 'being' is wordy or redundant, or you can simply cross it off because it uses 'being' as a modifier as described above.

B) CORRECT

C) To quote official guide "The comparative phrase as with is an inappropriate form for comparing nouns and noun phrases.". Therefore, 'as with' is an inappropriate form for comparing 'the Internet being today often called an “information superhighway'.

D) 'case' is compared to 'telegraph'

E) 'Similar to the Internet today' is an opening noun modifier, so it should modify the main noun in the latter clause, which is 'the telegraph'. This is incorrect. 'the internet' is not similar to 'the telegraph'. Being called 'information superhighway' is similar to being described as 'instantaneous highway of thought.'

'Similar to' is not the same as 'like'. 'Similar to' means two items are similar in general whereas 'like' means two items are similar in specific ways. For example:
Like Sudikchya, I am passionate about biology. It means I and Sudikchya have similarity in this one aspect of being passionate about biology. There might be numerous other differences.

Similar to Sudikchya, I am passionate about biology. It means I and Sudikchya are similar in general, not just in terms of being passionate about biology.

It is unlikely that GMAT will use 'similar to' in correct sentence. Ron Purewal has explained it beautifully here: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/forums/similar-to-vs-like-t32239.html

COMPARISONS AND MODIFIERS


Just like the Internet today, often being called an “information superhighway,” the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought.”

A) Just like the Internet today, often being ----- "JUST LIKE" IS ALWAYS WRONG. ELIMINATE.

B) Just as the Internet is today often ------- CORRECT

C) As with the Internet being today often ----- "AS + PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE" is supposed to give an event, for example "As in the previous case". In this case it is not giving an event.

D) As is often the case today with the Internet, --------- "WITH THE INTERNET CALLED" makes no sense.

E) Similar to the Internet today, often ------ Misplaced modifier, breaks touching rule. "Often called..." is not touching "Internet".
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Cannot understand why B is better than E. Can somebody explain better please?

B is better than E because there are grammatical and logical errors in option E. In particular, there are two mistakes.

First, the modifier is misplaced. "often called..." is an non essential (non-restrictive) modifier (adjective). Adjectives follow a "touching rule", which basically requires the modifier to be next to the word it is modifying. In option E, the modifier is not next to the work "Internet" because the word "today" is interrupting. If you want to know more about the "touching rule", you can search here in GMAT Club. It is a very basic and essential theory for Sentence Correction.

Second, as others have said before, "Like" should always be preferred to "Similar to", because "Like" indicates a specific similarity, whereas "Similar to" indicates a general similarity, which often fails to convey the intended meaning.

On the other hand, Option B does not have any errors. It might not have the complete idiom JUST AS... SO (which we would have preferred), but as I've mentioned before this idiom is not strict. Grammatically it is fine because two clauses are being joined with "AS".


If you found my explanation helpful, LET ME KNOW.


Best,
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GMATNinja Could you please help with the confusion I'm having with the usage of "like" vs "as" in this sentence?
I'm aware that we should we use "as" when comparing actions and "like" when comparing nouns, but this example felt more likely to be comparing the nouns (internet and telegraph) than actions (what they were called).

A) Just like the Internet today, often being called an “information superhighway,” the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought.”

This, to me is comparing the nouns internet and telegraph rather than actions. It's similar to the below example which surely uses like instead of as.
"Amy, like John, is well built."
"Just like the internet today,called as "something", the telegraph was described in its day as "something else". "


B) Just as the Internet is today often called an “information superhighway,” the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought.”

Another reason why I preferred option A over B is the phrase "Internet is today often called". Is the placement of "is" carrying the same meaning as it would if it were "Internet today is often called" ? I guess, that wasn't main reason to ditch B, but I felt the sentence was comparing nouns vs actions and hence "as" would have been a misfit.

Thanks for your help !

Notice that we are NOT comparing what one noun (the internet) was called to what another noun (the telegraph) was called. Instead, we are comparing what the internet is called now to what the telegraph was described as in its day -- so what one noun IS CALLED to what another noun WAS DESCRIBED AS. Those are two separate (but comparable) actions.

Not convinced? Let's delve into the meaning issue.

• (1) "Like Tim, Mike spends his Saturday afternoons reviewing GMAT Club posts." - Notice that both Tim AND Mike spend their Saturday afternoons reviewing GMAT Club posts (they share a common action).
• (2) "Just as Tim kills brain cells by watching soap operas, Mike decompresses by reading celebrity gossip magazines." - Sure, we are comparing Tim and Mike (what they do), and the two actions are certainly comparable. But notice that, unlike in the last example, Tim and Mike do NOT do the same things: Tim does NOT read celebrity gossip magazines, and Mike does NOT watch soap operas.

Now here's a slightly streamlined version of (A):

"Like the Internet today, the telegraph was described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought.” - This looks a lot like example (1) above... so does that mean that, like the telegraph, the internet today [i]was[/i] described in its day as an “instantaneous highway of thought”??

• First of all, the use of the past tense (was described) with "today" doesn't make any sense.
• More importantly, we are not trying to say that BOTH the telegraph and the internet are/were described as an "instantaneous highway of thought." Instead, we are trying to say that the telegraph WAS described as an "instantaneous highway of thought" and that the internet IS called an “information superhighway.”

These two actions are comparable, but they are separate and distinct. So we really are comparing the distinct actions of the telegraph and the internet, not the nouns themselves.

I hope that helps a bit!
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Hi Everyone, I thought the idiom was Just as X so Y, I instantly crossed off B when I saw Just as without the so. Can anyone help me with this please?

Posted from my mobile device

Still can't understand the usage of "being"...
For choice C, would it be correct to use "being" if we say "As with the Internet today often being called..."?

Hi Michelle0043,

There are multiple issues in option C, but even if we focus on being, it is safe to say that the correct option is much better than option C (the Internet is today often called vs. the Internet being today often called). More generally though, we must keep in mind that something that is wrong may or may not be impossible. This is because the GMAT (in the verbal section) asks us to mark the best option.
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RossItaly
The basic idea is that we are comparing situations, not just nouns. The point is not just that the telegraph is like the Internet, but that what people said about the telegraph is similar to what people said about the Internet. The modifier in E, "Similar to the Internet," applies only to the following noun, "the telegraph." Meanwhile, the structure in B compares two complete clauses: what we say about the Internet today is similar to what people said about the telegraph in the past.
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Thank you, I understood your explanation well.

I can conclude that if we compare situation we should use construction "Just as", while we compare only the noun we should use construction "Like" or "Similar to"
Let me know if I am wrong.
Thanks!
Ross