OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONProject SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)
THE PROMPTQuote:
Few events have electrified the origin-of-life community so much as the early 1980s discovery of RNA ribozymes, strands of RNA that not only carries genetic information – in the form of DNA – but also act as catalysts.
The correct idiomatic expression in context of the sentence is
as much as.In addition, the idiom Not Only X But Also Y requires strict parallelism.
The X element (which comes after "not only") and the Y element (which comes after "not also") must be parallel.
In particular, in order to maintain parallel structure, whatever comes after
not only must be the same part of speech that plays the same logical role as what comes after
but also.
Stated differently, whatever comes attached to the X element does
not automatically "carry over" to the Y element.
THE OPTIONS (in a slightly shortened sentence) Quote:
A)Few events have electrified the origin-of-life community so much as the early 1980s discovery of RNA ribozymes, strands of RNA that not only carries genetic information but also act as catalysts.
• subject verb disagreement
→ In the that-clause, the plural subject
strands does not agree with the singular verb
carries.
• comparative idiom error
→ The correct idiom is AS MUCH AS. You will hear "so much as" in informal speech. Don't choose it on the GMAT.
ELIMINATE A
B) Few events have electrified the origin-of-life community
as much as the early 1980s discovery of RNA ribozymes, strands of RNA that not only carry genetic information but also act as catalysts.
• I do not see any errors
• correct idiom is used:
as much as• parallelism is correct
→ X = not only carry
→ Y = but also act
Carry and act are both verbs. The parallel structure is intact.
KEEP
Quote:
C) Few events have electrified the origin-of-life community more than did the early 1980s discovery of RNA ribozymes, strands of RNA that carry not only genetic information but also act as catalysts.
EDIT: the original post contained a typo that I just caught and that made this option easy to eliminate. I have fixed the typo.
•
more than did is probably fine from a meaning perspective, but a subtle parallelism problem exists.
→ Meaning: In this context, that phrase means the same thing as, or something very similar to, the phrase
as much as.
Both mean that the discovery of RNA ribozymes was one of the most exciting events in the history of a particular scientific community.
• DID parallelism?
→ Although they are both past tense verbs,
did cannot substitute for
have electrified because did cannot substitute for
have when
have is a helping verb.
Some form of the verb TO DO (did, does, do) can substitute for almost
any verb in the English language, with two significant exceptions.
→ DO cannot substitute for TO BE verbs.
Wrong: I was hungry and she did, too. ["did" cannot substitute for "was."]
→ DO cannot substitute for
have when have is a helping (auxiliary) verb. If
have is a main verb (i.e. that means possess, own, experience), DO can substitute.
Correct: Henri has a concert ticket, and Rohan does, too [= Rohan has/owns/possesses a concert ticket].
Wrong: I
had finished eating and he
did, too.
Correct: I had finished eating and he had [finished eating], too.
• parallelism error
→
act (a verb) follows "not only" and is not parallel to
genetic information (a noun), which follows "but also."
→ Find the parallelism marker, in this case,
not only. Look to the right of that phrase.
You could also start with
but also, because it's usually easier to work from right to left when you investigate parallelism.
To most native speakers, nothing sounds wrong with this sentence.
→ For the X and Y elements to be parallel, though, the verb
carry should
follow the words
not only. Then we would have two verb phrases.
We do not.
ELIMINATE C
Quote:
D) Few events have electrified the origin-of-life community as much than the early 1980s discovery of RNA ribozymes, strands of RNA that carry not only genetic information but also act as catalysts.
• idiom error
Use
as much as.NEVER use
as much than. Those words don't make sense in English.
The word
than must accompany comparative words such as more, great, less, fewer, taller, etc—but must never be coupled with AS in this context.
• parallelism error
→ Same problem as that in option C.
The X element = genetic information. The Y element = act. The first is a noun, whereas the second is a verb. Not parallel.
ELIMINATE D
Quote:
E) Few events have electrified the origin-of-life community as much as the early 1980s discovery of RNA ribozymes, strands of RNA that not only carries genetic information but also act as catalysts.
• subject/verb agreement
The singular verb
carries does not agree with the plural subject
strands.
ELIMINATE E
The correct answer is B.
COMMENTS
rocky620 and
animagreborn , welcome to SC Butler.
What a nice cross-section of forum members!
These answers range from very good to excellent.
I want to bump someone, but I have at least four posts—probably more—that qualify.
You've done well. Nice work.