Project SC Butler: Day 52 Sentence Correction (SC1)
For SC butler Questions Click HereMen are at greater risk
of developing any of asthma, diabetes, hypertension, or pulmonary disorder, four chronic physical health problems, than women, harmful to quality of life and longevity unless treated on time.
A) of developing any of asthma, diabetes, hypertension, or pulmonary disorder, four chronic physical health problems, than women, harmful
B) for the development of asthma, diabetes, hypertension, or pulmonary disorder — four chronic physical health problems — than women, harmful
C) that one of four chronic physical health problems — asthma, diabetes, hypertension, or pulmonary disorder — will be harmful to them more than women
D) that asthma, diabetes, hypertension, or pulmonary disorder, chronic physical health problems, developed to be more harmful than women
E) than are women of developing one of four chronic physical health problems — asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and pulmonary disorder — which are harmful[/quote]
OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONMy annotations are in blue typeface.According to examPAL ,
this question is best answered using a Logical Approach because there's a double meaning that we can easily correct.
• Logical: There must not be any double meaning. The sentence must be clear and logical.
•
[One way to make sure that "logical predication" is sound: Remember that a] modifier (or a
modifying clause)
that describes a noun (/pronoun) must be
[as close as possible] to that noun (/pronoun)
• Double meaning that is easily corrected, starting with (A)
". . . women, harmful to the qualify of life"?!** The
health problems are harmful.
"than women" should come earlier:
"Men are at greater risk than are women [of developing . . .]"
• Answer E is correct
*Putting a question mark and exclamation point together
after the example was a smart move. You will
never need to know what that coupling means for the GMAT:
"Huh? That statement is outrageous!" "That's crazy!" "WTH?"COMMENTSIronMaiden97 , welcome!
As is often the case with many OEs, official GMAT guide included, this explanation
could be clearer. (That said, the explanation uses a shorthand reference to a proprietary
method, so we have to fill in the analysis.)
This problem presents a lot of issues and various ways to solve.
Darshi04 wrote
Meaning Analysis Men are at greater risk (than women are at risk) of developing any of 4 chronic physical health problems.
These problems are asthma, diabetes, hypertension, or pulmonary disorder.
These health problems are harmful to quality of life and longevity unless treated on time.
• Comparisons: as
IronMaiden97 notes, "the first thing to look for is what is compared."
@GKomuko explains,
"X at greater risk than Y"All of the posters identified the issue:
men and
women are being compared.
More specifically, men's risk of developing harmful ABC is compared to women's risk.
-- Comparison markers:
greater . . . than-- RHS of comparison?
-- LHS of comparison?
What should come after THAN, on the "right hand side" of the comparison?
In this instance, the LHS is easier: what comes BEFORE "than"
Strip and "parcel" the original sentence; bracket items in question, then rearrange
Men are at greater risk
of developing any of asthma, diabetes, hypertension, or pulmonary disorder, four chronic physical health problems, than women, harmful to quality of life and longevity unless treated on time.
Men are at greater risk (of developing 4 bad things) [THAN] [women,] things that are harmful (to quality of life)
LHS: Men are at greater risk
RHS: [than] WOMEN (ARE)
Focusing solely on the placement of the comparison elements:A) incorrectly states that men are at greater risk of developing health problems than men are at risk of developing women.
That statement is both nonsensical and a powder keg.
[Men's risk of developing]
health problems cannot be compared to [men's risk of developing]
womenB) is hard to follow, but B
incorrectly compares either the
specific health problems or just health problems to women, as in A
C) that one of four chronic physical health problems — asthma, diabetes, hypertension, or pulmonary disorder — will be harmful to them more than women [will be harmful to them/men]
In this version, it is impossible to tell what is going on.
Men have a higher risk of being harmed by health problems than men have of being harmed by women?
Whatever is the case, the construction does not compare men's risk of health problems to women's risk of health problems
D) Like (C), Option D fails to use the correct structure:
X have a greater risk than YE)
than are women of developing one of four chronic physical health problems — asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and pulmonary disorder — which are harmful
Men are at greater risk
than are women of developing [one of four chronic physical health problems — asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and pulmonary disorder] ABC — [which are harmful to quality of life and longevity unless treated on time.] ELIMINATE. The which-clause is a non-essential modifier.
Men are at greater risk than are women of developing ABC. EllipsisEllipsis in comparison may be the single hardest topic on the GMAT.
My advice? Read correct examples, as many as you can.
Even the best native-English-speaking
writers often have a hard time with this kind of structure.
(E) just happens to be the obvious choice because the other four answers are incorrect
Ellipsis omits or leaves out words that should be obvious.
When ellipsis or elliptical construction is used, sometimes the subject and verb get switched.
Items to keep in mind:• GMAT writers rarely switch subject/verb order, but the instances in which writers
do switch subject and verb order are
usually:
1) Subordinate clauses, e.g., a which clause:
Correct: Latin is the language from which many other languages have developed.
Also correct (and very challenging): Latin is the language from which HAVE DEVELOPED many other languages.
2) Main clauses that begin with prepositions
Beneath the canopy of trees still stands an old cabin, painted white.
Flipped: An old cabin, painted white, still stands beneath the canopy of trees.
3) Comparisons with ellipsis: if we have a verb that is repeated (in which the repeated verb
is almost always a helping or auxiliary verb),
the verb can be placed
before or after the subject
Correct: Dogs are usually more attached to their owners than cats are.
Correct: Dogs are usually more attached to their owners than are cats.
Without seeing the two constructions side by side,
how do we know whether the second construction is correct?
This rule is hard for almost everyone.
-- Flip the subject and verb whose construction seems strange.
Men are at greater risk than are women of developing ABC. Flipped, correct: Men are at greater risk than
women are of developing ABC.
-- Or rearrange AND flip
If that construction still bothers you, see whether you can take a whole piece of the sentence
as I did here by writing "of developing ABC," and move that piece, too.
Men are at greater risk OF developing ABC than women are [at risk of developing ABC].
That sentence is correct. It is a bit awkward because we have a long prepositional phrase
"at greater risk of developing ABC" between the subjects that are being compared.
And if that sentence is correct, so is this one:
Men are at greater risk of developing ABC than are women.
Then move the two subjects being compared closer together, a move that results in E:
Men are at greater risk than are women of developing ABC.
HERE is an official question
that uses ellipsis in the same way as (E) does.
HERE is a good post on ellipsis and helping verbs that contains examples of inverted structure.
There are a lot of good answers, an excellent answer (a little off on the comparison) by
GKomoku (who gets a smiley face because I have to designate something as "second place")
And a best answer by
Darshi04 (who gets kudos)
Nice work!