Many professional football teams have found that

Question

Many professional football teams have found that  they are better served by selecting linemen in the college draft instead of selecting  skill position players, such as wide receivers and quarterbacks, who tend to demand higher salaries and who take longer to develop into quality players at the professional level.

(A) they are better served by selecting linemen in the college draft instead of selecting
(B) selecting linemen in the college draft better serves them than the selection of
(C) they are better served by selecting linemen in the college draft rather than by selecting
(D) the selection of linemen is better than
(E) they are better served by selecting linemen in the college draft than by selecting

Need help with this question

Source: Veritas SC Homework Question#74

abhimahna · Accepted Answer

Here I go,

(A) they are better served by selecting linemen in the college draft instead of selecting  --> Instead of + GERUND is always incorrect. 
(B) selecting linemen in the college draft better serves them than the selection of  --> Selecting vs selection. Parallelism error. 
(C) they are better served by selecting linemen in the college draft rather than by selecting  --> Rather THAN is redundant. 
(D) the selection of linemen is better than  --> Changes the meaning. + Parallelism error. 
(E) they are better served by selecting linemen in the college draft than by selecting.  --> BEST answer choice. -- Correct

souvik101990 · Answer

Except C and E, none of the options are parallel. In C, the use of rather is redundant. 
What issues are you facing with this question?

Abhishek009 · Answer

Many professional   football teams   have found that   they   are   better served by   selecting linemen in the college draft   than by   selecting skill position players, such as wide receivers and quarterbacks, who tend to demand higher salaries and who take longer to develop into quality players at the professional level.

Answer must be (E) for the highlighted errors in the options.

DeshDeepak · Answer

Is rather than always redundant? For e.g He is a weak man rather than a timid man. Here rather than compares two clauses which is fine.
In this sentence:
Many professional football teams have found that they are  better served by  selecting linemen in the college draft  than by  selecting skill position players, such as wide receivers and quarterbacks, who tend to demand higher salaries and who take longer to develop into quality players at the professional level.

Choice E Is more parallel than than choice C.

Madhavi1990 · Answer

What would be the correct expression of 'than' vs 'rather than'?
Also why is rather than redundant - its usually used to convey a tone of contrast. Ex: They selected xyz rather than abc as it helped serve their cause?
Was stuck b/w C and E and picked C (rather than). Would be glad to read any expert comment on this!

akshayk · Answer

Because of the use of the comparative form - X Better than Y or X More than Y
E.g. - Game of Thrones is better than Harry Potter. (Sorry if you are a Harry Potter Fan).
Try saying 'Game of Thrones is better rather than Harry Potter'. <- Makes no sense.

they are  better  served by selecting linemen in the college draft  than  by selecting
The structure here is 'Better Served by X Than by Y'.

Hope this helps!

rdx51 · Answer

WELL FIRST OF ALL,, all those who said that rather is redundant,, check your facts.
X rather than Y is appropriate when two noun/noun phrases are being compared but when we inserted by in their it just becommes some other case, hence than can be properly used to convey a comparison that includes clause like structured sentences..

AdityaHongunti · Answer

There is no such rule as "instead of +GERAND" is wrong.

Correct sentences -
1. Instead of improving, Destiny got steadily worse.

2.Instead of shifting with each step, the ground felt solid.

Choice A is wrong for wrong comparison markers - better...than... (Correct)

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Sidbendale1 · Answer

Hi,
Why is use of rather than redundant here? Would you please elaborate use of rather than in GMAT SC? As per my understanding, rather than is used in a sentence when a preference has to be shown. Eg: I would like to invite her rather than her husband. 
Thanks
Siddharth

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Many professional football teams have found that

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Many professional football teams have found that

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