Archeological excavations of Roman ruins on the Greek island of Crete

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



THE PROMPT


• LIKE and AS

Like is a preposition that must be followed by a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase.
Like must not be followed by a clause (with a verb) or a prepositional phrase.
As must be followed by a noun and verb (a clause).

Like means "similar to."
Use like to compare nouns.
Do not use "like" to compare clauses. Clauses have verbs!
That is, the word like means "similar to" and must be followed by a noun or a noun phrase.
(Substitute "similar to" in place of "like"; you may "hear" the need for a noun.)

As means "in the same way that."
Use as to compare clauses. Look for verbs!
→ In comparisons, as should be followed by a subject and a verb (a clause).

If "in the same WAY that" works, then you need AS and you should not use LIKE.
Use a mnemonic, note the A's: sAme wAy thAt → → As

For examples, see Notes

• Options D and E are nearly identical, and if you ever saw both on the GMAT, you would strike both immediately because they are essentially the same sentence. The words are just rearranged.
We can move the verb did without changing the meaning of the clause at all.
These two options should be eliminated immediately because they are nearly identical:
D) . . . as the Greeks did in previous centuries.
E) . . . just as did the Greeks in previous centuries.

THE OPTIONS (in a shortened sentence)


• I do not see any errors

• it correctly refers to securing control [over the maritime trade routes of the Eastern Mediterranean].

→ securing is a gerund—a noun created from a verb. The pronoun it correctly refers to the singular noun securing.

• as is used correctly to signal "in the same way that."
In comparisons, the word as should be followed by a clause (a subject and a verb).
(By contrast, a phrase that contains like should not contain a verb.)

• The two parts of the comparison are parallel
→ Securing trade routes was a goal of the Romans, [in the same way that] securing trade routes was [a goal] of the Greeks in previous centuries.
KEEP



• improper usage of like
→ like should not be followed by the verb were.

• nonsensical: The Greeks were also a primary goal of the Romans? Huh?
→ People, Greek or otherwise, cannot be a "goal."

→ Alternatively, what follows were?
[As] the Greeks were? Were what?
The option is not logically connected to the sentence.
The prompt does not talk about what the Romans were but rather about what securing control over trade routes was [namely, a goal of the Romans].

• not parallel
→ we must compare similar and parallel things; that is, we compare apples to apples, not apples to oranges
The first and second parts of the comparison are not parallel.
In the first part, we learn that securing trade routes was a goal of the Romans. Securing trade routes is the subject.
In this version of the second part, Greeks are the subject. Wrong.
Eliminate B


• AS should be followed by a clause with a verb

• In other words, AS should be LIKE

→ Suppose that this option stated "like that of the Greeks in preceding centuries."
In that corrected case,
-- that would "make a different copy" of and thus mean goal.
-- we would know that the goal of the Romans and Greeks (to secure trade routes) was similar, albeit in different time periods.

→ Here is the sentence, corrected by inserting the word like, which means similar to, and with the pronoun spelled out:
Securing control over the maritime trade routes of the Eastern Mediterranean was a primary goal of the Romans, like a primary goal of the Greeks in preceding centuries.

(The correct answer, A, uses an AS construction. In this option, by changing the incorrect option, I am showing you a correct LIKE construction.)

Eliminate C


• See analysis under option E, which I wrote first.
Option D = option E
Just as the Greeks did = as did the Greeks
Eliminate option D


• nonsensical: did what? The Greeks did what?

→ If the sentence stated in active voice that the Romans secured control over trade routes, it would make sense to compare what the Romans and Greeks did by saying "as did the Greeks," (or, in D, "just as the Greeks did")
in which did would = secured control over trade routes

→ But the Romans did not actively do anything in this sentence.
As did the Greeks and Just as the Greeks did are babble; the clause not logically connected to the sentence in any way.

→ Some form of the verb DO (does, do, did) can substitute for almost any verb in the English language—except two.
One is any form of a to be verb such as the was in this sentence.
(The other is have when have is a helping verb and not a main verb that means "to possess or experience.")

-- That is, did cannot substitute for was.
Wrong: I was shocked as he did.
Wrong: I was shocked as did he. [Same sentence. You can invert the subject and verb.]
Correct: I was shocked, as was he.
Correct: I was shocked, just as he was [shocked].

• Not parallel
→ As is the case in option B, the first and second parts of the comparison are not parallel.

Part 1: Securing control over trade routes was a goal of the Romans.
XYZ = a goal of ABC

Part 2: [As] the Greeks did in previous centuries.
PQR did something.
The subjects are not comparable; the passive and active verbs are not comparable; did cannot substitute for was; and the second part of the sentence is nonsensical.
Eliminate E

The answer is A.


NOTES

• LIKE/AS
I pulled out my MGMAT Sentence Correction 6th Edition because I recalled that it contained three effective examples.
About 70 percent of the text in this bullet point is verbatim.

(1) "Like" is used to compare nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases.
Never put a clause or a prepositional phrase after "like"!
(Remember, a clause contains a working verb, [my emphasis] one that can be the main verb in a sentence.)

Take a look at this example:

Right: LIKE her brother, Ava aced the test.
→ Here, like is followed by the noun phrase her brother.
The whole phrase Like her brother indicates a comparison between Ava and her brother (two nouns).
[In the phrase Like her brother, there is no verb.]

(2) On the other hand, as can be used to compare two clauses [i.e., WITH verbs].
Wrong: LIKE her brother DID, Ava aced the test.
Right: AS her brother DID, Ava aced the test.

["Like" cannot be used because like should not be followed by verbs and] [t]he words her brother did form a clause (did is a working verb).
Therefore, use as to make the comparison between the two clauses Ana aced the test and her brother did, too.

On the GMAT, these two sentences mean the same thing:
Like her brother, Ava aced the test
and
As her brother did, Ava aced the test.

In one sentence, you compare Ava and her brother directly [using like followed by only a noun].
In the other sentence, you compare what Ava did and what her brother did [using as followed by a verb].

In this question, constructions similar to those above would be
(1) Securing control over the maritime trade routes of the Eastern Mediterranean was a primary goal of the Romans, like that of the Greeks in preceding centuries.
(2) Securing control over the maritime trade routes of the Eastern Mediterranean was a primary goal of the Romans, as it was of the Greeks in preceding centuries. (Option A.)

COMMENTS

In hindsight, this question can be solved fairly easily.
Two options are identical, a fact that means neither can be correct. (D and E.)
One option incorrectly uses like with a verb. (B)
One option incorrectly uses as without a verb. (C)
Boom. You're done.
(Alternatively, read for meaning, and eliminate B, D, and E, all of which make no sense, and take a 50/50 shot.)

If only the matter were so simple. It is not.

The writer of this question takes advantage of understandable uncertainties about the usage of like and as; increases the difficulty by messing around with both the comparison words and the comparison structure; and throws off the reader with three options that make no sense but seem as if they should.

I am back on the "don't worry about mistakes" bandwagon.

Who cares whether you make a mistake?
If you try to reason through an explanation but take a wrong turn, so what?

You cannot learn if you do not push yourself, an endeavor that will inevitably lead to mistakes.

I understand that quite a few people behave condescendingly and are critical of mistakes.
Ignore them. For heaven's sake, don't buckle. (And, I hope, do not emulate.)
A critic is just a person with an opinion.

You are hard at work with people from all over the world who aspire to learn.
That fact itself is a job well done.