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Nuclear fusion is the force that powers the Sun, the stars, and hydrogen bombs, merging the nuclei of atoms and not splitting them apart, as in nuclear reactors.
(A) merging the nuclei of atoms and not splitting them apart, as in nuclear reactors
(B) merging the nuclei of atoms instead of splitting them apart, like nuclear reactors
(C) merging the nuclei of atoms rather than splitting them apart, as nuclear reactors do
(D) and merges the nuclei of atoms but does not split them apart, as is done in nuclear reactors
(E) and merges the nuclei of atoms, unlike atomic reactors that split them apart
(A) merging the nuclei of atoms and not splitting them apart, as in nuclear reactors
(B) merging the nuclei of atoms instead of splitting them apart, like nuclear reactors
(C) merging the nuclei of atoms rather than splitting them apart, as nuclear reactors do
(D) and merges the nuclei of atoms but does not split them apart, as is done in nuclear reactors
(E) and merges the nuclei of atoms, unlike atomic reactors that split them apart
Updated on: 26 Jun 2019, 09:15
Originally posted by VeritasPrepErika on 26 Jun 2019, 09:06.
Last edited by VeritasPrepErika on 26 Jun 2019, 09:15, edited 2 times in total.
Last edited by VeritasPrepErika on 26 Jun 2019, 09:15, edited 2 times in total.
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Bishal123456789
Alright, this is kind of a weird one that 1) is easiest to solve if you know the basics of how nuclear reactors work and 2) gets into the weeds of some comparison grammar rules.
The sentence is trying to convey, in essence, that nuclear fusion merges atomic nuclei, whereas nuclear reactors use a process that splits atomic nuclei.
(A) Nuclear fusion is the force that powers the Sun, the stars, and hydrogen bombs, merging the nuclei of atoms and not splitting them apart, as in nuclear reactors.
In this answer choice, "and not" doesn't do a very good job creating the contrast we want to see — we're trying to contrast merging vs. splitting atomic nuclei, but all this sentence says is that nuclear fusion both 1) merges the nuclei and 2) doesn't split them. So this doesn't capture the intended meaning of the sentence.
A lot of folks in here are eliminating this one because "as" most commonly compares two verbs, and "in nuclear reactors" isn't a verb. HOWEVER, "as" can also be used to compare adverbs/adverbial phrases. "In nuclear reactors" is an adverbial phrase, so this is good to go. That said, there is no other adverbial phrase for "in nuclear reactors" to be parallel to, which ideally there would be.
(B) Nuclear fusion is the force that powers the Sun, the stars, and hydrogen bombs, merging the nuclei of atoms instead of splitting them apart, like nuclear reactors.
This answer choice nicely uses "instead of" to contrast "merging" and "splitting". This is fine.
Here we use "like", which is used to compare two nouns. "Nuclear reactors" is a noun, but what noun are we comparing it to? Are "nuclear reactors" like "nuclear fusion"? Are they like "the Sun, the stars, and hydrogen bombs"? No! In fact, they're very different from them, as they're doing basically the opposite process (splitting instead of merging). There's no noun to logically compare "nuclear reactors" to and keep the meaning of the sentence intact.
(C) Nuclear fusion is the force that powers the Sun, the stars, and hydrogen bombs, merging the nuclei of atoms rather than splitting them apart, as nuclear reactors do.
Similar to answer choice B, this answer choice uses "rather than" to contrast "merging" and "splitting". This is also fine.
Here we use "as" to compare two verbs: "splitting" and "do". "Do" implies the verb "split", so the comparison really conveys "... splitting them apart, as nuclear reactors do [split them apart]".
In most cases, the implied verb after helper verbs like "to be" (is, are, was, were, will be, have been, etc.) and "to do" (does, do, did, will do, have done, etc.) should be in a form that already exists in the sentence (e.g. "... splits atomic nuclei, as nuclear reactors do [split]" or "... splitting atomic nuclei, as nuclear reactors are [splitting]"). But it isn't strictly necessary. So this is fine, even if it isn't the absolute clearest and most parallel way to get the point across. If we had an answer where the implied verb mirrored an existing verb, it would be a better choice, provided all of the other meaning and grammar issues were correctly resolved.
Overall, this question is really rough, and I frankly wouldn't agonize over it. In most problems, you should be able to suss out intended meaning even if you don't remember much from high school physics/haven't recently watched Chernobyl. Similarly, comparisons will usually be more exactly parallel in correct answers.
Let me know if you want me to break down answer choices D and E as well.
19 Jan 2020, 06:18
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hero_with_1000_faces
Quote:
Hi Hero,
Let’s dissect the correct answer choice and see how “comma + merging rather than splitting” works over there.
C. Nuclear fusion is the force that powers the Sun, the stars, and hydrogen bombs, merging the nuclei of atoms rather than splitting them apart, as nuclear reactors do.
The skeleton of the sentence is as below:
The main sentence + modifier 1 + modifier 2
Here:
The main sentence -> Nuclear fusion is the force that powers the Sun, the stars, and hydrogen bombs
Modifier 1 -> merging the nuclei of atoms rather than splitting them apart
Modifier 2 -> as nuclear reactors do
Modifier 1 modifies the main sentence, or to be more precise, the closest action (powers) in that sentence. So, “comma + merging rather than splitting” describes how nuclear fusion powers the Sun. How does nuclear fusion power the Sun? It powers the Sun by merging the nuclei rather than splitting it apart. Now, you know that nuclear fusion mergers the nuclei, not splits it apart.
Modifier 2 modifies the closest action (splitting apart) in the Modifier 1. That’s because Modifier 2 is an adverbial modifier and thus should modify actions, not nouns.
Quote:
Basically, your question is: Why “like” in B is incorrect? Both “like” and “as” are used to make comparisons. So, why do we prefer “as” to “like” here?
Answer: Let’s first clarify what the sentence is trying to say, and then check whether “like” can deliver that exact meaning. The sentence talks about two types of power sources (nuclear fusion and nuclear reactor) and how differently they generate the power. Nuclear fusion mergers the nuclei. On the contrary, nuclear reactor splits apart the nuclei. I hope meaning is clear now. Next, you need to know how “like”, “comma + like”, “as”, and “comma + as” work. Examples:
1. Alex intends to quit football rather than become a champion like Ronaldo.
Alex intends not to become a champion WHO IS LIKE Ronaldo (similar to Ronaldo). “like without comma” refers to the nearest noun “champion”.
2. Alex intends to quit football rather than become a champion, like Ronaldo.
Both Ronaldo and Alex intend to quit football rather than become a champion. “comma + like” refers to the subject “Alex”. Therefore, the following two sentences have the same meaning:
- Alex intends to quit football rather than become a champion, like Ronaldo.
- Like Ronaldo, Alex intends to quit football rather than become a champion.
3. Alex intends to quit football rather than become a champion as Ronaldo does.
Both Ronaldo and Alex intend to quit football rather than become a champion. “as without comma” compares the whole actions of two subjects.
4. Alex intends to quit football rather than become a champion, as Ronaldo does.
Alex intends to quit football, but Ronaldo doesn’t do so and instead becomes a champion. “comma + as” modifies the closest action “become”. That’s how most adverbial modifiers coming at the end and cut off with comma work – they modify the closest logical action.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Finally, let’s look at B:
B. Nuclear fusion is the force that powers the Sun, merging the nuclei of atoms instead of splitting them apart, like nuclear reactors.
As in the example 2 above, “comma + like” refers to the subject “nuclear fusion”. So, you can read B as below:
- Like nuclear reactors, nuclear fusion is the force that powers the Sun, merging the nuclei of atoms instead of splitting them apart.
Now (as in the example 2) the resultant meaning is completely opposite to the original one. Now both nuclear reactor and nuclear fusion merger the nuclei rather than split apart. You can see how “like” fails to deliver the original meaning. However, C succeeds to do so:
C. Nuclear fusion is the force that powers the Sun, merging the nuclei of atoms rather than splitting them apart, as nuclear reactors do.
As in the example 4, “comma + as” modifies the closest action “splitting apart”. Hence, "do" stands in for "split apart", not "merger". So, the implication is that nuclear fusion mergers the nuclei. On the contrary, nuclear reactors split apart the nuclei. That’s what we wanted to say and what makes C correct.
