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705-805 Level|   Comparisons|         
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 25 Aug 2018, 14:37
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warbler are very difficult to tell apart.

(A) Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warbler are very difficult to tell apart.

(B) Unlike most warbler species, the gender of the blue-winged warbler is very difficult to distinguish.

(C) Unlike those in most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warblers are very difficult to distinguish.

(D) It is very difficult, unlike in most warbler species, to tell the male and female blue-winged warbler apart.

(E) Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.

Source : GMAT Paper Test Test Code 52 Q22

i chose C. My approach was

Unlike "Male and female" in most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged are very difficult to distinguish....I thought "THOSE" in C refers to "MALE AND FEMALE Warblers"

Can anyone please explain why C is wrong. I went thru thread but i couldn't get much help.

I rejected E because of "IN THAT" word. I found E awkward. I know awkward is not any approach but still i couldn't understand/feel that E is right.
Excellent question! You're right that because the subject of the first clause, "those," is plural, it should logically refer to the plural subject of the subsequent clause, "the male and female blue-winged warblers." But if we substitute the referent in place of "those," we get, "Unlike the male and female blue-winged warblers in most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warblers are very difficult to distinguish.

How can male and female blue-winged warblers be unlike themselves??? That's just nutty. So (C) is out.

Here's (E) again:

  • Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.

While "in that" sounds a little goofy to my ear, we never want to eliminate answer choices simply because they sound a little off. Otherwise the question writer can seduce us into selecting the wrong answer every single time by having the OA sound a funny.

In this case, "in that" is used to introduce a supporting example. How are blue-winged warblers unlike most species of warbler? In that it's difficult to tell the sexes apart. Makes sense to me.

Most importantly, don't waste brain space obsessing over esoteric constructions, such as "in that." Instead, just know that on difficult SC questions, the correct answer will sometimes sound a little strange to your ear, and this is intentional. It's why we want to use logic, meaning, and grammar to eliminate incorrect options, rather than relying on our ear.

I hope that helps!
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GMATNinja , daagh

Could you please elaborate why D is incorrect?
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 25 Aug 2018, 23:53
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In any higher species, the male and female are two different genders although there may be hermaphrodites in lower organisms. Only when it is a hermaphrodite, can we call it a male and female warbler (similar to the she-males we have in humans). Then the purpose of the comparison itself becomes silly because there is now no need to tell apart the male from the female.
D is wrong for using the singular 'warbler' rather than the plural 'warblers.'
'
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 26 Aug 2018, 00:10
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daagh
In any higher species, the male and female are two different genders although there may be hermaphrodites in lower organisms. Only when it is a hermaphrodite, can we call it a male and female warbler (similar to the she-males we have in humans). Then the purpose of the comparison itself becomes silly because there is now no need to tell apart the male from the female.
D is wrong for using the singular 'warbler' rather than the plural 'warblers.'
'
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daagh sir

Based on the philosophy that "male and female warbler" represents hermaphrodites, wouldn't E be wrong as well?

(E) Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 26 Aug 2018, 00:32
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Where is the single word 'male and female blue-winged warbler' in E?
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 26 Aug 2018, 03:46
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GMATNinja daagh egmat Mikemcgarry sayantanc2k chetan2u

In option E.

"in that" follows most other species.
I took a few seconds there to see if the placement of in that is right.
There is another similar OFFICIAL QUESTION where in that is placed right after the noun it is supposed to modify " the blue diamonds".
Here "in that" follows most other species. Isn't this misleading?

Though I went for E. I want to clarify my doubts.

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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 26 Aug 2018, 08:38
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E) Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.

'In that' means in as much as, because etc. and wants explain the previous statement. Therefore, it just refers to the blue-winged warblers and not the most other species. It is a connector.

If it were to refer to 'most other species,' what follows 'in that' is antithetical.
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa Updated on: 26 Jun 2020, 00:45
Originally posted by kornn on 08 May 2020, 21:24.
Last edited by kornn on 26 Jun 2020, 00:45, edited 1 time in total.
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Dear GMATGuruNY MartyTargetTestPrep AjiteshArun,

Is S-V agreement in choice A. wrong? (no one talks about it at all)

the male and female blue-winged warbler are very difficult to tell apart.

I'm not sure whether the X and Y warbler is considered plural?
(just as "police" "the American" "the French" and "the English" are all considered plural)
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 08 May 2020, 21:58
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Dear GMATGuruNY MartyTargetTestPrep AjiteshArun,

Is S-V agreement in choice A. wrong? (no one talks about it at all)

the male and female blue-winged warbler are very difficult to tell apart.

I'm not sure whether the X and Y warbler is considered plural?
(just as "police" "the American" "the French" and "the English" are all considered plural)
Show more
Hi varotkorn,

This is a pattern in English where the author assumes the reader will understand that there are two (distinct) elements. This can lead to problems, but usually doesn't as long as we're working with non-overlapping sets.

1. A new and inexperienced employee is being assigned to you. ← It is possible (perhaps even common?) for an employee to be both new and inexperienced, so this sentence is fine.

2. An experienced and inexperienced employee is being assigned to you. ← Although there is nothing structurally wrong with this sentence, it is still unacceptable, because it is not possible for one employee to be both experienced and inexperienced.

3. An experienced and inexperienced employee are being assigned to you. ← This sentence is meant to be read as "an experienced employee and an inexperienced employee are being assigned to you".
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 08 May 2020, 22:03
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Dear GMATGuruNY MartyTargetTestPrep AjiteshArun IanStewart DmitryFarber VeritasPrepBrian VeritasPrepHailey,

Why isn't OTHER needed in the correct choice E.?

Blue-winged warblers are unlike most [OTHER] species of warbler...

We are not comparing blue-winged warblers to itself. Hence, I think OTHER should be inserted.
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 26 Jun 2020, 01:15
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varotkorn


Why isn't OTHER needed in the correct choice E.?

Blue-winged warblers are unlike most [OTHER] species of warbler...

We are not comparing blue-winged warblers to itself. Hence, I think OTHER should be inserted.
Show more

Inserting "other" would be fine, but it's not necessary. Blue-winged warblers are not necessarily included among "most species of warbler", so you aren't comparing blue-winged warblers with themselves (as the rest of the sentence makes clear). If instead the sentence said "all species of warbler", the word "other" would be required, for the reason you mention.
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 31 Oct 2020, 03:15
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warbler are very difficult to tell apart.

(A) Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warbler are very difficult to tell apart.

(B) Unlike most warbler species, the gender of the blue-winged warbler is very difficult to distinguish.

(C) Unlike those in most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warblers are very difficult to distinguish.

(D) It is very difficult, unlike in most warbler species, to tell the male and female blue-winged warbler apart.

(E) Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.

Source : GMAT Paper Test Test Code 52 Q22

i chose C. My approach was

Unlike "Male and female" in most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged are very difficult to distinguish....I thought "THOSE" in C refers to "MALE AND FEMALE Warblers"

Can anyone please explain why C is wrong. I went thru thread but i couldn't get much help.

I rejected E because of "IN THAT" word. I found E awkward. I know awkward is not any approach but still i couldn't understand/feel that E is right.
Excellent question! You're right that because the subject of the first clause, "those," is plural, it should logically refer to the plural subject of the subsequent clause, "the male and female blue-winged warblers." But if we substitute the referent in place of "those," we get, "Unlike the male and female blue-winged warblers in most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warblers are very difficult to distinguish.

How can male and female blue-winged warblers be unlike themselves??? That's just nutty. So (C) is out.

Here's (E) again:

  • Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.

While "in that" sounds a little goofy to my ear, we never want to eliminate answer choices simply because they sound a little off. Otherwise the question writer can seduce us into selecting the wrong answer every single time by having the OA sound a funny.

In this case, "in that" is used to introduce a supporting example. How are blue-winged warblers unlike most species of warbler? In that it's difficult to tell the sexes apart. Makes sense to me.

Most importantly, don't waste brain space obsessing over esoteric constructions, such as "in that." Instead, just know that on difficult SC questions, the correct answer will sometimes sound a little strange to your ear, and this is intentional. It's why we want to use logic, meaning, and grammar to eliminate incorrect options, rather than relying on our ear.

I hope that helps!
Show more

"Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart."
I understand "in that" works like "because" & it is limiting the difference between two species. But how we are certain from this sentence that "diffiy to tell apart" is applying to blue-winged warblers & not most species of warbler.
Charles GMATNinja need ur help on this one.

Posted from my mobile device
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 06 Dec 2020, 17:42
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varotkorn
Dear GMATGuruNY MartyTargetTestPrep AjiteshArun,

Is S-V agreement in choice A. wrong? (no one talks about it at all)

the male and female blue-winged warbler are very difficult to tell apart.

I'm not sure whether the X and Y warbler is considered plural?
(just as "police" "the American" "the French" and "the English" are all considered plural)
Hi varotkorn,

This is a pattern in English where the author assumes the reader will understand that there are two (distinct) elements. This can lead to problems, but usually doesn't as long as we're working with non-overlapping sets.

1. A new and inexperienced employee is being assigned to you. ← It is possible (perhaps even common?) for an employee to be both new and inexperienced, so this sentence is fine.

2. An experienced and inexperienced employee is being assigned to you. ← Although there is nothing structurally wrong with this sentence, it is still unacceptable, because it is not possible for one employee to be both experienced and inexperienced.

3. An experienced and inexperienced employee are being assigned to you. ← This sentence is meant to be read as "an experienced employee and an inexperienced employee are being assigned to you".
Show more

AjiteshArun,

In your example, A new and inexperienced employee is being assigned to you. employee is both NEW and INEXPERIENCED.It means sentence is talking about one specific single employee. Does it mean when we say "male and female warbler", single warbler is both male & female ?
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 06 Dec 2020, 21:52
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AliciaSierra
AjiteshArun,

In your example, A new and inexperienced employee is being assigned to you. employee is both NEW and INEXPERIENCED.It means sentence is talking about one specific single employee. Does it mean when we say "male and female warbler", single warbler is both male & female ?
Show more
Hi AliciaSierra,

There's a small difference:
1. "New and inexperienced employee": a single employee can be both new and inexperienced.
2. "Male and female warbler": we must assume that it is not possible for a warbler to be both male and female, so "male and female warbler" ~ "male {warbler} and female warbler".
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 14 Jan 2021, 12:25
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ammuseeru

i chose C. My approach was

Unlike "Male and female" in most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged are very difficult to distinguish....I thought "THOSE" in C refers to "MALE AND FEMALE Warblers"

Can anyone please explain why C is wrong. I went thru thread but i couldn't get much help.

I rejected E because of "IN THAT" word. I found E awkward. I know awkward is not any approach but still i couldn't understand/feel that E is right.
Excellent question! You're right that because the subject of the first clause, "those," is plural, it should logically refer to the plural subject of the subsequent clause, "the male and female blue-winged warblers." But if we substitute the referent in place of "those," we get, "Unlike the male and female blue-winged warblers in most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warblers are very difficult to distinguish.

How can male and female blue-winged warblers be unlike themselves??? That's just nutty. So (C) is out.

Here's (E) again:

  • Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.

While "in that" sounds a little goofy to my ear, we never want to eliminate answer choices simply because they sound a little off. Otherwise the question writer can seduce us into selecting the wrong answer every single time by having the OA sound a funny.

In this case, "in that" is used to introduce a supporting example. How are blue-winged warblers unlike most species of warbler? In that it's difficult to tell the sexes apart. Makes sense to me.

Most importantly, don't waste brain space obsessing over esoteric constructions, such as "in that." Instead, just know that on difficult SC questions, the correct answer will sometimes sound a little strange to your ear, and this is intentional. It's why we want to use logic, meaning, and grammar to eliminate incorrect options, rather than relying on our ear.

I hope that helps!

"Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart."
I understand "in that" works like "because" & it is limiting the difference between two species. But how we are certain from this sentence that "diffiy to tell apart" is applying to blue-winged warblers & not most species of warbler.
Charles GMATNinja need ur help on this one.

Posted from my mobile device
Show more
Context! Consider a sentence with a similar construction:

    Mike is a better chef than Tim because his entrees do not taste like gasoline.

You could argue that there's some ambiguity here. After all, couldn't "his" refer to either Mike or Tim? But if you think about it, the logic is far more coherent if we're talking about Mike. The first clause tells us that Mike is a better chef than Tim, and the second clause tells us why Mike is better. In other words, we're learning about the Mike the whole time.

Same deal in (E). The first clause tells us that blue-winged warblers are different from most species of warbler. The second clause tells us how these blue-winged warblers are different, namely, that it's hard to differentiate between the males and females.

I hope that clears things up a bit!
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 15 Jan 2021, 02:33
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Quote:
(E) Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.
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Hi Sir,

Can you give some more examples of using "in that ". My ears tends to hear in those.
Please shed some more light.
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 15 Jan 2021, 05:47
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imSKR
Hi Sir,

Can you give some more examples of using "in that ". My ears tends to hear in those.
Please shed some more light.
AjiteshArun GMATNinja
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Hi imSKR,

Here are a couple of examples:
1. This research is important in that it confirms the link between aggression and alcohol. (from here)
2. The new system is better in that it provides faster access to the Internet. (from here)

In that is its own thing, and the key here is not to think that the that refers to the noun after it. For example, in something like (in that warblers...), the that does not refer to warblers. If it did, we'd need the plural those (those warblers are...).
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 16 Jan 2021, 03:40
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imSKR
Hi Sir,

Can you give some more examples of using "in that ". My ears tends to hear in those.
Please shed some more light.
AjiteshArun GMATNinja
Hi imSKR,

Here are a couple of examples:
1. This research is important in that it confirms the link between aggression and alcohol. (from here)
2. The new system is better in that it provides faster access to the Internet. (from here)

In that is its own thing, and the key here is not to think that the that refers to the noun after it. For example, in something like (in that warblers...), the that does not refer to warblers. If it did, we'd need the plural those (those warblers are...).
Show more

So if I understand correctly, in that refers to the subject ( refers to previous noun)
1. This research is important in that( in research) it confirms the link between aggression and alcohol. (from here)
2. The new system is better in that(in new system) it provides faster access to the Internet. (from here)
3. The new systemS is better in that(in new systemS) it provides faster access to the Internet. (from here)

hence,
Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that ( most species of warbler) it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.



1. Am I right?


can the below sentence be correct?
Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler such that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart in that ( most species of warbler).
or
Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler such that in that( most species of warbler) it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.

2. please confirm
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AjiteshArun
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 17 Jan 2021, 02:23
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imSKR
So if I understand correctly, in that refers to the subject ( refers to previous noun)
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Hi imSKR,

That's not quite what I was trying to get at. The that in in that does not refer to any noun. It just introduces the reason for or explanation of the clause on the left.

Let's go with what the Cambridge Dictionary entry says ("in that" = "because"):

The new system is better in that it provides faster access to the Internet. ~ The new system is better because the new system provides faster access to the Internet.
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 06 May 2021, 05:58
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warbler are very difficult to tell apart.

(A) Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warbler are very difficult to tell apart.

(B) Unlike most warbler species, the gender of the blue-winged warbler is very difficult to distinguish.

(C) Unlike those in most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warblers are very difficult to distinguish.

(D) It is very difficult, unlike in most warbler species, to tell the male and female blue-winged warbler apart.

(E) Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.

Source : GMAT Paper Test Test Code 52 Q22

i chose C. My approach was

Unlike "Male and female" in most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged are very difficult to distinguish....I thought "THOSE" in C refers to "MALE AND FEMALE Warblers"

Can anyone please explain why C is wrong. I went thru thread but i couldn't get much help.

I rejected E because of "IN THAT" word. I found E awkward. I know awkward is not any approach but still i couldn't understand/feel that E is right.
Excellent question! You're right that because the subject of the first clause, "those," is plural, it should logically refer to the plural subject of the subsequent clause, "the male and female blue-winged warblers." But if we substitute the referent in place of "those," we get, "Unlike the male and female blue-winged warblers in most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warblers are very difficult to distinguish.

How can male and female blue-winged warblers be unlike themselves??? That's just nutty. So (C) is out.

Here's (E) again:

  • Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.

While "in that" sounds a little goofy to my ear, we never want to eliminate answer choices simply because they sound a little off. Otherwise the question writer can seduce us into selecting the wrong answer every single time by having the OA sound a funny.

In this case, "in that" is used to introduce a supporting example. How are blue-winged warblers unlike most species of warbler? In that it's difficult to tell the sexes apart. Makes sense to me.

Most importantly, don't waste brain space obsessing over esoteric constructions, such as "in that." Instead, just know that on difficult SC questions, the correct answer will sometimes sound a little strange to your ear, and this is intentional. It's why we want to use logic, meaning, and grammar to eliminate incorrect options, rather than relying on our ear.

I hope that helps!
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HI! In E, aint the comparison wrong? Warblers are being compared to an entire species. Please guide
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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged wa 06 May 2021, 21:12
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pk6969
HI! In E, aint the comparison wrong? Warblers are being compared to an entire species. Please guide
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Hi pk6969,

The point the author is trying to make is that "blue-winged warbler" is itself a species of warbler.
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