Not only did Christopher Columbus refuse to accept the conventional wi

Question

Not only did Christopher Columbus refuse to accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, he also pressed relentlessly for royal support for his westward voyage to Asia, finally receiving approval and financing from King Ferdinand of Spain in 1492 after several rejections.

a) Not only did Christopher Columbus refuse to accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, he also pressed relentlessly for royal support for his westward voyage to Asia, finally receiving
'not only..also (no but)...' Incorrect idiom...
b) Not only did Christopher Columbus refuse to accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, also pressing relentlessly for royal support for his westward voyage to Asia; he finally received
Same as A.
C) Christopher Columbus not only refused to accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, but he pressed relentlessly for royal support for his westward voyage to Asia, and finally receiving
Two errors here ... first one same as A/B (not only...also)
Second one:
The second part of the sentence introduces an independent clause (thanks to COMMA AND)...but the independent clause has no verb...

d)Christopher Columbus not only refused to accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat but pressed relentlessly for royal support for his westward voyage to Asia, finally receiving
'not only...but'....correct idiom... clauses correctly formed...

e) Not only refusing to accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat but pressing relentlessly for royal support for his westward voyage to Asia, Christopher Columbus, finally receiving
This clause has no verb

I thought that not only - but also is right without exceptions. Is there an official question with modified idiom? Pls let me know

TommyWallach · Accepted Answer

Hey All,

I see you complaining about the MGMAT guidelines. How dare you! : )

But seriously, this is NOT a definite idiom. You do NOT have to say "but also" when you say "not only". If you had it correct, it would have been preferable to this, but it's not a hard and fast rule. In fact, GMATPrep (the test that GMAT gives out) has featured a question that uses this variation on the idiom, which is how we KNOW it is not hard and fast:

By pressing a tiny amount of nitrogen between two diamonds to a pressure of 25 milliion pounds per square inch, scientists not only were able to transform the gas into a solid, but they also created a semiconductor similar to silicon

A. not only were able to transform the gas into a solid, but they also created
B. not only were able to transform the gas into a solid but also creating
C. were able not only to transform the gas into a solid but to create
D. were able not only to transform the gas into a solid but also creating
E. were able not only to transform the gas into a solid but they were also able to create

The correct answer is C, which uses "not only...but". This is another legit way to phrase it as is:

Not only X, but Y, too.

Not only do I want X, but so does Y.

Hope that helps!

-t

daagh · Answer

a) Not only did Christopher Columbus refuse to accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, he also pressed relentlessly for royal support for his westward voyage to Asia, finally receiving - misses the contrast conjunction  but   after  flat  and makes the sentence a run-on

b) Not only did Christopher Columbus refuse to accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, also pressing relentlessly for royal support for his westward voyage to Asia; he finally received - misses the contrast conjunction  but

C) Christopher Columbus not only refused to accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, but he pressed relentlessly for royal support for his westward voyage to Asia,  and  finally receiving - conjunction  and  is wrong usage, making the sentence non-parallel

d)Christopher Columbus not only refused to accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat  but  pressed relentlessly for royal support for his westward voyage to  Asia , finally receiving

correct version using  but  and dropping the  and   after  Asia

e) Not only refusing to accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat but pressing relentlessly for royal support for his westward voyage to Asia, Christopher Columbus, finally receiving

This sentence is a fragment just using some participles with out a proper verb for the subject Columbus

D is the choice

PTK · Answer

May I assume that if all answer choices are wrong, I have to choose the least wrong one?

the question is whther this is idiom may appear in GMAT or it is just a MGMAT's trick?

thanks

nusmavrik · Answer

Tailspin ! I don't know what should be done if GMAT answer itself breaks any idiom. Idioms are not suppose to be broken.
not only.....but ------> is still workable. D gets as far as this. 
not only ...... (no but) ----> is unacceptable. ---> A completely breaks the idiom.

But breaking idioms is like breaking the rules of English. I could as well write dictionary of my own than follow Oxford then.

temp33 · Answer

As per the MGMAT SC guide.. 
1. Not only but also
2. Not only, but also
3. Not only, but..

All are acceptable..

nusmavrik · Answer

Tommy

In the example you gave - E is wrong because of repetition? Correct?

thanks

PTK · Answer

no, in E " a solid  but   they were   also " - but also is interrupted by they were , but the idiom must be solid. 
Am I right Tommy?

yossarian84 · Answer

"Not only...but" is the idiom used in this case...

TehJay · Answer

I struggled with this one on the MGMAT practice test and still don't like the answer. Isn't D a run-on?

daagh · Answer

No D is not a run on; neither a punctuation nor a conjunction is missing.

mvictor · Answer

the correct forms of the idioms:
not only X but also Y
not only X but Y
X and Y should be parallel. only answer choice D maintains the parallelism.

narendran1990 · Answer

Hey all,

Clearly the answer choices can be shortlisted to Option A & Option D. There is one subtle mistake in option A. Look at the two verbs : 'Refuse' & 'Pressed'. The tenses differ and breaks the parallelism and changes the meaning of the sentence.

asdfghjklasdfghj · Answer

Hi  daagh

could you help me out on this one ? 
I narrowed the Answer Choices down to A and D. I wonder if A is wrong because it is a run one. Am I correct to say that ?

Hope to hear from you!

abhimahna · Answer

here are the three correct forms:

1. Not only..
2. Not only.. but
3. Not only.. but also.

In A, we have the form Not only.. Also, which is incorrect. Hence, A is incorrect.

NonPlus · Answer

All people in this answer have blindly rejected the answer choice based on idiom - "not only, but also"
What about the below sentence which has been marked correct by OG:

As criminal activity on the Internet becomes more and more sophisticated, not only are thieves able to divert cash from company bank accounts, they can also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and sell the data to competitors.

There is no 'but'. Hence, a sentence can't be rejected plainly because of idiom. That's why people choose the wrong choice in actual test by rejecting an answer choice based on idiom.

-NonPlus

Do give kudos!! If you find the aforementioned useful

Kinshook · Answer

Please explain what type of variations in NOT ONLY X, BUT ALSO Y are possible. I was confused between option A & D. Please explain why D is OA.

Kinshook · Answer

mrinal2100  Please explain your reasoning.
 Bunuel   bb  Please explain why this reply was considered "MOST HELPFUL COMMUNITY REPLY"?

Bunuel · Answer

___________________________
That post is removed. Thank you.

JonShukhrat · Answer

Marty Sir,
 
 MartyTargetTestPrep

I would appreciate if you could shed light upon the answer choice A. This MGMAT question is quite old and probably outdated. MGMAT experts wrote that A misses a conjunction  but  after the comma and therefore is run-on and incorrect. However, there is a structurally similar OA to another OG 2020 question that is correct without  but :

- As criminal activity on the Internet becomes more and more sophisticated, not only are thieves able to divert cash from company bank accounts, they can also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and sell the data to competitors.

So, do we actually need a conjunction here? If not, why A is incorrect?

Thank you very much for your response in advance.

(Hi  Bunuel , I'm posting the above second time. Let me ask: why did it get removed yesterday? Did I violate any forum rule?)

Not only did Christopher Columbus refuse to accept the conventional wi

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Not only did Christopher Columbus refuse to accept the conventional wi

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