Researchers are using computer images to help surgeons plan difficult

Hello SidJainGMAT,

I would like to help you out with this one.


Your analysis is correct. The expressions in the same way and as both present comparison. Hence, using both the expressions together does lead to redundancy in Choices B and D.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Let's talk about like a bit first. Like can be used two ways. First, as a preposition, which is how we use it in comparisons.

That coat is like this one.
It is often like this on Sundays.

Some rules for that version of like. You CANNOT use it before a clause. In other words, you cannot say:

Dave lives in a stucco house, like Nancy does.

You can't say that because "does" is a verb, so the part after the "like" is a clause. You must use AS before a clause.

Researchers are using computer images to help surgeons plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses in the same way that flight simulators do for pilots, letting medical personnel practice their techniques and test their reflexes before they ever see a patient.

C.to plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses like flight simulators
PROBLEM: The reason "like" is wrong here is that it's unclear what the heck we're comparing. The meaning we want is that the program will work must as flight simulators WORK ("do" would also work). But if we don't repeat the verb, it sounds like this thing works for a particular kind of nurse, the kind of nurse WHO IS like a flight simulator. I know that doesn't make any sense, but that's how this reads. This is why we would prefer "as" in this sentence ("in the same way AS"). We want to compare the action work to work (do), not nurses to flight simulators.

E.to plan difficult operations and developing programs that will work for doctors and nurses like flight simulators do
PROBLEM: Once you have the verb "do," you need AS, not like (it's a clause).


Clearer?

-t

Option C is wrong because the comparison is not correct.
"that will work for doctors and nurses" is being compared with "flight simulators ". How some thing will work is being compared with a noun i.e "flight simulators " . This is illogical and incorrect.

Also the correct idiom is like x , y. X and Y are both nouns. Here " that will work for doctors and nurses " is a noun clause and "flight simulators " is a noun. So "like" can not be used for comparison.

Is my understanding correct ? VeritasKarishma GMATNinja mikemcgarry chetan2u egmat

Hi,
Option C is wrong for two reasons..
(I) Usage of LIKE..
what we have after LIKE is flight simulators do for pilots..
We cannot use like to compare an action, so AS is the better way to compare
(II) Parallelism.
to plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses..
to help surgeons to plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses.
So, to help surgeons to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses IS illogical..
We are looking for parallelism
So, computer images to help surgeons plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses in the same way that flight simulators do for pilots IS the correct way.

We are trying to compare the way programs will help doctors and nurses to how flight simulators help pilots.

(A) plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses in the same way that flight simulators do [for pilots]

(B) plan difficult operations and develop programs to work for doctors and nurses the same way as with flight simulators [for pilots]
Wrong use of "as with" for comparison. We are trying to compare the manner in which the programs and flight simulators help.

(C) to plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses like flight simulators [for pilots]
Wrong use of "like" for comparison.

(D) plan difficult operations and in developing programs to work for doctors and nurses the same way as flight simulators [for pilots]
Wrong use of "the same was as" for comparison.

(E) to plan difficult operations and developing programs that will work for doctors and nurses like flight simulators do
-ing and infinitive should not be mixed in a comparison.

I chose A but still have a question about the non-underlying part: "personnel" is a collective noun and almost always should be treated as singular on GMAT, is that correct?
Here "their" pronoun used to refer to personnel...

Researchers are using computer images to help surgeons plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses in the same way that flight simulators do for pilots, letting medical personnel practice their techniques and test their reflexes before they ever see a patient.


(A) plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses in the same way that flight simulators do

(B) plan difficult operations and develop programs to work for doctors and nurses the same way as with flight simulators

(C) to plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses like flight simulators

(D) plan difficult operations and in developing programs to work for doctors and nurses the same way as flight simulators

(E) to plan difficult operations and developing programs that will work for doctors and nurses like flight simulators do

Parallelism : Researchers are using computer images - 1. to help surgeons plan... 2. to develop programs that will work..

C is wrong because nurses like flight simulators conveys an incorrect comparison.

Hi ankaua,

A little late, but personnel is always plural.

I agree with the answer choice A for this question because the parallelism is correct only in the original sentence and other options meddle up the parallelism or the meaning

Researchers are using computer images to help surgeons plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses in the same way that flight simulators do for pilots, letting medical personnel practice their techniques and test their reflexes before they ever see a patient

I have a query about the use of 'that' (I have made it bold and red)
What purpose is that 'that' serving in the sentence?

I feel its redundant and can be eliminated and the sentence would still make sense!

egmat daagh GMATNinja @EMPOWERgmat mikemcgarry

(A) plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses in the same way that flight simulators do: Correct

(B) plan difficult operations and develop programs to work for doctors and nurses the same way as with flight simulators: apart from the parallelism error, the middle part of the sentence makes the meaning of the sentence 'messy '

(C) to plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses like flight simulators: use of 'like' is wrong here as there is comparison b/w actions

(D) plan difficult operations and in developing programs to work for doctors and nurses the same way as flight simulators: parallelism error

(E) to plan difficult operations and developing programs that will work for doctors and nurses like flight simulators do: same error as that of Option C

Experts, can someone please confirm which of the following are right?

- in the same way as
- in the same way that
- in the same place as
- in the same place that
- at the same place as
- at the same place that

sssanskaar
All of the above, potentially. It's all about what we're trying to say. "In/at the same __ as" should be followed by a noun or modifier. (In/at depends on the place. We might meet IN a store or park, or AT a particular spot.)

Meet me in the same cafe as before.
Meet me at the same corner as Marc. (This could mean that you and Marc will also meet at that corner, or that Marc will also meet me at the corner. We'd need more context to be clear.)

I bake bread in the same way as my grandparents.
I dealt with the problem in the same way as last week.

"In/at the same __ that" should be followed by a clause.

Meet me in the same place that I told you about before.
I dealt with the problem in the same way that I did last week.

Thank you DmitryFarber for again coming to the rescue! I was not clear of such intricacies and hence, eliminated option A on this basis, although I knew in my hindsight that the elements are parallel in option A, and so this should be the correct answer.

Thank you again for clearing this up so quickly! Respect.

I may be alone on this one, but this is a lousy question.

[Researchers are using computer images to help surgeons] plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work

"to help to develop" is blasphemy. I read a post above saying this is a correct idiom. Is it really?

Either way, it's non-contestable that "and [researchers are using computer images to help surgeons] develop" is crisp and clean.

is '' letting medical personnel practice their techniques and test their reflexes before they ever see a patient.'' modifying the preceding clause- 'flight simulators do'

which is absurd. How to understand the usage of comma ing here?

Hello mansianand1234,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, "in the same way that flight simulators do" is a modifier acting upon "will work for doctors and nurses", which is in turn, modifying the noun "programs" within the main clause "Researchers are using computer images...to develop programs".

''letting medical personnel practice their techniques and test their reflexes before they ever see a patient" modifies the main clause - "Researchers are using computer images...to develop programs", conveying the meaning that researchers are developing certain programs, and as a result, they will allow medical personnel practice their techniques and test their reflexes before they ever see a patient.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

This is a lousy question.

Researchers are using computer images to help surgeons plan difficult operations and to develop programs that will work for doctors and nurses in the same way that flight simulators do for pilots, letting medical personnel practice their techniques and test their reflexes before they ever see a patient.

I dismissed A) for this reason. How can you use computer images to develop programs? People develop programs, but i never heard meaning wise that you can use computer images to develop programs. Maybe you can use computer images to get an Idea and furthemore develope a program based on that idea. Whatever. That doesn´t make sense.