Unlike the United States, where farmers can usually depend on rain or

Interesting question! I think it's fair to say that when we see "those of" in the context of a comparison, we're talking about two different entities. Consider a simplified version of the usage:

Unlike Tim's groceries, those of Dana contain items other than Twinkies and Nutella.

Not the world's most elegant sentence, but it seems to compare Tim's groceries to the groceries of Dana, rather than, say, comparing Tim's groceries to Tim's groceries of Dana. In other words, "those" is a clue that we're going to reference someone else's groceries, so I wouldn't say this usage is wrong.

However, the answer choice you've referenced contains a much more conspicuous error. Even if we argue that "those" simply refers to "parts of," the comparison seems to be between "parts of the United States" and "parts of Sri Lanka's rains." What could that possibly mean? Comparing the Rocky Mountains to a fragment of some raindrops in Sri Lanka? That would be illogical, to say the least.

So we don't have to worry about whether "those" is correct in isolation. There's no way to interpret this sentence in a way that makes sense, so it's out.

I hope that helps!

finding this difficult please help

Hi riyaagarwal,

Have you gone through this post?

Hi,
GMATNinja daagh

If the answer choice C looked like "Unlike those of the United States, where farmers can usually depend on rain or snow all year long, Sri Lanka's rains ~," would it be considered a right comparison form?

It's obviously okay to modify "United States" with a "where" clause. And it's okay to say, "Unlike those of the United States, Sri Lanka's rains..."

You might argue that your example is a bit confusing, because at first glance it's not clear whether the "where" clause is meant to modify "those" or "United States." Luckily, it's not an official answer choice, so we don't have to worry about whether it's "wrong" or "right." As long as you understand why (E) is the best choice out of the five available options, you've done your job.

I hope that helps a bit!

Does this look ok to you?

Unlike rains of the United States, where farmers can usually depend on rain....

GMATNinjaTwo
I think, the highlighted part is not perfect at all because 'Sri Lanka does not possess rains-the rains are not the property of Sri Lanka'! Could you share how does 'Sri Lanka's rains' make sense?
I'm a bit confused here in this case!
Thanks in advance..

GMATNinja
Hello sir,
I don't know how does Sri Lanka's rains make sense? Sri Lanka's rains means Sri Lanka possess the rains! Is it possible in real life, sir?
I am expecting your cordial response.

F) In the Unlike United States, where farmers can usually depend on rain or snow all year long, but in most parts of Sri Lanka the rains
Request Expert Reply:
Hi honorable experts,
MartyTargetTestPrep, GMATNinja, GMATGuruNY, AjiteshArun, VeritasPrepHailey, BrightOutlookJenn,
I'm in dilemma with the use of 'where' in the modifier part in choice F (modified version). Can you share your thought for choice F?
Thanks in advance.

I'm eagerly expecting feedback from my honorable experts! Appreciating your help, experts.

Unlike the United States, where farmers can usually depend on rain or snow all year long , the rains in most parts of Sri Lanka are concentrated in the monsoon months, June to September, and the skies are generally clear for the rest of the year.


(A) Unlike the United States, where farmers can usually depend on rain or snow all year long, the rains in most parts of Sri Lanka X

(B) Unlike the United States farmers who can usually depend on rain or snow all year long, the rains in most parts of Sri Lanka X

(C) Unlike those of the United States, where farmers can usually depend on rain or snow all year long, most parts of Sri Lanka's rains X

(D) In comparison with the United States, whose farmers can usually depend on rain or snow all year long, the rains in most parts of Sri Lanka X

(E) In the United States, farmers can usually depend on rain or snow all year long, but in most parts of Sri Lanka the rains CORRECT

Comparsion Rule 1: Comparison must be apple to apple

(A) the United States compared with the rains in most parts of Sri Lanka - wrong
(B) The United States farmers compared with the rains in most parts of Sri Lanka - wrong
(C) Unlike those of the United States compated with parts of Sri Lanka's rains - wrong
(D) the United States compared with the rains - wrong
(E) In the United States Compared with In most parts of Sri Lanka - Correct comparison

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