Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were

Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were reatively simple and static, Barbara McClintock adhered to her own more complicated ideas about how genes might operate, and in 1983, at the age of 81, was awarded a Nobel Prize for her discovery that the genes in corn are capable of moving from one chromosomal site to another.

This question prompts to check the correct entities of comparison
The comparing entities are Many of her colleagues and Barbara McCllintoick

Meaning
Bm believes in her own ideas though its not believed by others. Her adherence in herself and ideas lead to win a noble prize.

(A) Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were
Comparing entities are wrong. the conviction is compared with Barabara.

(B) Although many of her colleagues were of the conviction of genes being
The comparing entries are correct but the usage of being is wrong

(C) Contrary to many of her colleagues being convinced that genes were
conviction is replaced with convinced but changes the intended meaning of the sentence as The usage of being is wrong.

(D) Even though many of her colleagues were convinced that genes were
The comparing entities are correct and so the meaning

(E) Even with many of her colleagues convinced of genes being
Meaning ambiguity

In this sentence, can conviction and convinced be used interchangeably?

Conviction is a noun and convinced is either an action verb or a past participle. How can two different parts of speech be interchanged?

Hello Shiv2016,

The sentence does not use conviction and convinced interchangeably. With the change in the structure of the answer choice, the noun conviction and the verb were convinced has been used to suit the structure so that the choice can express the intended meaning.

But yes, both these words have been used to the same effect.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

In addition to the beautiful explanations above

IDIOM USAGE HERE

convinced that…is right usage..even with conviction that..not conviction of..
Someone can be convinved of Noun/Noun Phrase or someone can be convinced that Sub+Verb…
Always eliminates ones which use..Convinced of Subj plus verb

Press Kudos if it helps!!

Hello Everyone!

This is a great example of a comparison/contrast sentence you might find on the GMAT! Let's tackle it, one problem at a time, to determine which option is the correct choice! First, here is the original sentence with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were relatively simple and static, Barbara McClintock adhered to her own more complicated ideas about how genes might operate, and in 1983, at the age of 81, was awarded a Nobel Prize for her discovery that the genes in corn are capable of moving from one chromosomal site to another.

(A) Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were
(B) Although many of her colleagues were of the conviction of genes being
(C) Contrary to many of her colleagues being convinced that genes were
(D) Even though many of her colleagues were convinced that genes were
(E) Even with many of her colleagues convinced of genes being

After a quick glance over the options, there are some things we can focus on:

1. What subordinate conjunction to begin with: Unlike/Although/Contrary to/Even though/Even with
2. Active vs. Passive Voice
3. Conciseness/Wordiness

Let's start with #1 on our list: subordinate conjunctions. Whenever we're using them to create a contrast, we need to check for 2 things:

1. The two things being contrasted are similar in wording/number/type
2. They are the right conjunction to show the intended meaning

Here is how our options break down when we focus on subordinate conjunctions:

(A) Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were
This is INCORRECT because it's creating a false comparison! It's comparing "conviction" to Barbara McClintock, rather than comparing her colleagues to her (both of which are people).

(B) Although many of her colleagues were of the conviction of genes being
This is OKAY for now, so let's keep it for later.

(C) Contrary to many of her colleagues being convinced that genes were
This is OKAY for now, so let's keep it for later.

(D) Even though many of her colleagues were convinced that genes were
This is OKAY, so let's save it for later.

(E) Even with many of her colleagues convinced of genes being
This is INCORRECT because "Even with" isn't a subordinate conjunction in English. Since this isn't idiomatically correct, let's rule it out.

We can rule out options A & E because they either create a non-parallel comparison or used a conjunction that doesn't exist in English.

Now that we're left with 3 options, let's tackle #2 & #3 on our list. There are two main things we need to focus on here:

1. Are the phrases written using active or passive voice? The GMAT always prefers active over passive voice, so try to rule out any that use passive voice.
2. Are they overly wordy or confusing? The GMAT doesn't like that either!

(B) Although many of her colleagues were of the conviction of genes being
This is INCORRECT because the phrase "of the conviction of genes being" is overly wordy and confusing for readers. It's also passive voice, so let's rule this out.

(C) Contrary to many of her colleagues being convinced that genes were
This is also INCORRECT because the wording is confusing. By adding in the word "being," it created a modifier that needed a comma before the word "being" to even work.

(D) Even though many of her colleagues were convinced that genes were
This is CORRECT! It's clear, concise, and doesn't create any grammatical problems!

There you have it - option D is the correct choice! It creates a strong, clear, and concise contrast between Barbara McClintock and her colleagues! If you pay close attention to trends in the GMAT exam (active vs. passive voice / conciseness vs. wordiness / parallelism), you can easily spot problems and rule out options quickly!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.

I eliminated A, C, and D on this question because of the "that genes were" construction. I reasoned the following: this must be incorrect because genes ARE relatively simple and static. Using the past tense were suggests that the genes used to be simple and static and now are something else?

Hi Experts
Can this trick for eliminating options containing being be used as a thumb rule in all SC questions?
I can recall Manhattan pointing out that when in doubt pick "Passive Construction" but often it's said that 9 out of 10 times "use of being" is incorrect!

This from the official guide 15th edition. The question number is 31.
There is a typo here. The first word after the underline should be "relatively"
current speeling is missing "L" in the middle, saying "reatively"
Is it okay if I find an unintentional typo on some official problem and tag you for editing? Bunuel

RashedVai , thank you for the notification. Edited. It is definitely okay to let us know about errors.

The best way to notify us of an error, though, is to use the "report a problem" option in the lower right hand corner of the post that contains the prompt.
You can look at this picture to see where that option is located.




RashedVai , the first of the two next statements does NOT apply to you. (In my experience, you are unfailingly and refreshingly gracious.)

To others: I speak only for myself about this first point: (1) a human being who works hard for the sake of everyone picks up the "report a post" notification and fixes the issue. Keep the "human being who works hard" part in mind.

And (2) please do not use that "report an error" option to report that a regular forum member's answer is incorrect.
If you want to point out that an answer is incorrect or that an important typo exists in a non-prompt post, please post on the thread.
Thanks.

thank you for your kind words. Your explanations are always crystal clear. I am a big fan.

Thanks for giving such a wonderful crisp explanation about the usage of 'being'.

May I please request you to site some GMAT examples to understand more ( In GMAT ‘being’ is acceptable only in cases where it is part of a noun phrase that acts as the subject or when it is part of a passive voice structure preceded by an auxiliary derivative of the base verb ‘be’ such as is, are, was or were etc.)...

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kudos are welcome if this question helps.

(A) Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were - cannot apply modifier to person

(B) Although many of her colleagues were of the conviction of genes being - too wordy

(C) Contrary to many of her colleagues being convinced that genes were - Modifier for the theory and not Barbara

(D) Even though many of her colleagues were convinced that genes were - CORRECT ANSWER

(E) Even with many of her colleagues convinced of genes being - AWKWARD and WORDY

[quote="skim"]Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were relatively simple and static, Barbara McClintock adhered to her own more complicated ideas about how genes might operate, and in 1983, at the age of 81, was awarded a Nobel Prize for her discovery that the genes in corn are capable of moving from one chromosomal site to another.

(A) Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were

(B) Although many of her colleagues were of the conviction of genes being

(C) Contrary to many of her colleagues being convinced that genes were

(D) Even though many of her colleagues were convinced that genes were

(E) Even with many of her colleagues convinced of genes being

A sentence that begins with the preposition ‘unlike’ conveys a comparison or contrast. In such a sentence, the noun immediately after the preposition ‘unlike’ and the noun after the comma are the ones that should be comparable. However, in this sentence the comparison is not parallel.
“Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were relatively simple and static, Barbara McClintock
Barbara McClintock cannot be compared to the conviction. So, Option A can be eliminated.

Option B has a bulky, wordy structure. The verb ‘were convinced’ is more concise than the phrase ‘of the conviction’. The participle ‘being’ at the end of the option is also not as clear as the verb form. So, Option B can also be eliminated.

Option C contains the same comparison error as Option A. This option begins with the phrase ‘contrary to’ instead of the preposition ‘unlike’. But the comparison is still not parallel. The comparison should be between ‘colleagues’ and ‘Barbara McClintock’ but because of the phrase “many of her colleagues being convinced”, the comparison seems to be between the phrase and the noun. Since this becomes wordy and lacks grace, Option C can also be eliminated.

When we compare Options D and E, we can see that Option D, which contains the verb form “were convinced”, is clearer than Option E, which contains the participles “convinced” and “being”. So, Option E can be eliminated.

Therefore, D is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

GMATNinja VeritasKarishma

Please explain usage of being in this question

Can't we say being used to say that they are convinced for temporary state but actually the scenario was different

Posted from my mobile device

Her colleagues were convinced... they were not being convinced.
"Being" shows a temporary state/action taking place.

"Being convinced" sounds as if someone was trying to convince them.

Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were relatively simple and static, Barbara McClintock adhered to her own more complicated ideas about how genes might operate, and in 1983, at the age of 81, was awarded a Nobel Prize for her discovery that the genes in corn are capable of moving from one chromosomal site to another.

(A) Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were -> Unlike gives a hint of comparison, now, we are comparing "conviction held" with "Barbara McClintock". It is incorrect.

(B) Although many of her colleagues were of the conviction of genes being -> "genes being relatively simple and static"..How can genes being simple and static...Incorrect.

(C) Contrary to many of her colleagues being convinced that genes were -> "being convinced" incorrect modifier.

(D) Even though many of her colleagues were convinced that genes were -> "many of her colleagues" is compared with "Barbara McClintock"....It makes sense. Let's keep it.

(E) Even with many of her colleagues convinced of genes being -> same as B.

So, I think D.