In no other historical sighting did Halley's comet cause such a worldw

I'd like to point out that I got this one wrong while taking a practice exam--and again while taking a repeat practice exam!

So this is a great opportunity to remind everyone that you should NOT go into the test room expecting to feel 100% comfortable with every question you see. Learning to let go without getting flustered is often half the battle .

First, take another look at (C):


We can argue about what's happening here: are we comparing the prepositional phrases themselves, or using those phrases to compare what happened in one time period to what happened in another? I don't think it really matters: either way, the comparison makes perfect sense, right?

Now go back to (E):


Now, we get the noun phrase "its return" after the comparison trigger, "as." Now the comparison is at best more confusing. It doesn't seem quite right to compare a prepositional phrase to a noun phrase. And it doesn't seem quite right to compare what happened in one time period to the return itself.

In a side-by-side comparison, (C) is the clearer, more logical comparison. So even if you can't find a definite error in (E), you've got enough evidence to pick (C) here.

I hope that helps!

Wow. This was so helpful! Thank you !

Hi experts,

Does such.. as not always follow by noun?

I love to eat such Japanese food as Sushi, Sashimi and etc.

Yes, there should be a noun after "such"—but that noun can have adjectives and/or modifiers attached to it. In this sentence, the noun following "such" is sensation, which has the adjective worldwide attached to it.

RonTargetTestPrep Thank you for your response, but I am still confused.

The list of examples should be after "(such) as" ? I have never seen a sentence like this : I love to eat Japanese food such Sushi, Sashimi and Udon as in Japanese Restaurant.

All I want to say is that why the key of this question is to try to parallel "In no other historical sighting" with "in its return". I understand that we have to be literal and select the most appropriate choice that conveys the right meaning. However, it is still grammatically correct. If noun needs to follow "such..as", why is (E) incorrect?

Hi Tanchat,

To add to the response you've already received:

1. Noun(s) [{example} or {similar entity}] after as
1a. {group} such as {example}, {example}, {example}...: "exams such as the GMAT and the GRE"
1b. such {group} as {example}, {example}, {example}...: "such exams as the GMAT and the GRE"

2. Clause after as
2a. a question such as I've never seen before

Sorry, still not much convinced in Haley’s comet question.

The star shone brighter in 1901 than did in 2001.

Use of did seems correct.

Hope my comparison is right 🙂

Posted from my mobile device

Not sure if anyone else thought of it this way, but I think the answer becomes clear if you rewrite the original sentence like this: “In no other historical sighting did Halley’s Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as IT DID IN its return in 1910-1911”.

IT = the comet, DID = caused

Now when you remove the IN, it sounds very wrong. So the IN is compulsory…

Right?

Posted from my mobile device

Not very sure if ‘it’ is required.
Use of ‘in’ is correct.
Seems like no answer choice is correct.

stm579 boilingblood


Exactly! We're comparing different times when the comet caused different levels of sensation, so we need the IN to make that comparison make sense. Adding those implied words back in certainly makes the intended meaning easier to see!

analogy of SC question.

The key is to understand what is being compared.

You are not comparing "hailey comet" to "return of haileys comet"

In fact, you are comparing "historical sighting" to other "Historical sightings"

The moment you figure that out, (A), (b), (D) and (E) are out in one go.

example




you are not comparing Triple H’s return to his return in wrestlemania 7/ return in wrestlemania 10 / return in wrestlemania 15

hence (A), (B), (d) and (e) are out

(c) is the only one that compares "in no other wrestle-mania" to "wrestemania 10"

Hi DmitryFarber - if i understand, you are saying in (C) -- "IT DID" is implied.

IT = Hailey's comet
DID = Caused

If that is the case - then, i dont see any difference in the structure of (A), (c) AND (D) because all 3 answer choices have "IT DID" (implicitly or explicitly)

In (A) and (D) - the "IT DID" is explicit.

vs

(C) has "IT DID" which is implicit / implied / hidden

Then i dont see any difference between (A), (C) and (D) - except just re-arrangement.

In the case of (a) - arrangement is verb first followed by subject
in the case of (D) - arrangement is subject followed by verb
in case of (c) - arrangement is "it did" is just hidden

If i tried to create a simple analogy

GMATNinja KarishmaB @rmartytargettestprep avigutman 9. How do we choose between meanings ?

haileys comet caused sensation in no other sighting than in its return of 1910

Vs

Haileys comet caused sensation in no other sighting than its return caused in 1910

Posted from my mobile device

Great little question likely to upset people but not hard at all.

In case of comparisons, we can follow ‘as’ with prepositional phrases when the comparison is quite clear.

For example:
As for adults, for many children too, short attention span is a problem.
The comparison is between ‘adults’ and ‘many children.’

Then what are we comparing in our original question? 'that one particular sighting' with 'the many sightings.'
The non-underlined part has the many sightings in a prepositional phrase.

Consider the non-underlined part:
In no other historical sighting did the comet cause such a sensation as …

If we were to complete this sentence as clearly and properly as possible, we would write:

In no other historical sighting did the comet cause such a sensation as it did in its return of 1910-1911.

We will follow ‘as’ with a clause. But when the comparison is clear, we can follow ‘as’ with just the prepositional phrase:
In no other historical sighting did the comet cause such a sensation as in its return of 1910-1911.

This we know is correct and this is given in option (C). Hence, option (C) is certainly correct. Now let’s focus on why other options are not as good.

(A) did its return in 1910-1911

This would make sense if the sentence were: No other sighting of Halley’s comet caused such a sensation as did its return in 1910-1911
‘did’ would stand for ‘caused’ here. ‘No other sighting’ is compared with ‘its return in 1910-1911’
But this is not what we have and hence this option is not correct.

(B) had its 1910-1911 return

We know that we replace verbs with do/did, not had. Hence, this is not correct.

(D) its return of 1910-1911 did

Same problem as in option (A). The only difference is that here, ‘did’ is placed later rather than before. It doesn’t materially change the sentence though we usually prefer to put ‘did’ before.

(E) its return in 1910-1911

The preposition ‘in’ is missing. Since it is there in the non-underlined part, we need it for parallelism.

Answer (C)

to simplify this question, let me break it into two parts.
Hailey's comet did cause such a worldwide destruction " In no other historical sighting" AS " IN ............."
only option C looks parallel

In no other historical sighting did Halley's comet cause such a worldwide sensation as in its return of 1910-1911
So, we got ''worldwide sensation'' as a group like 1b, but where to get 'example' of that group in 1b? Thanks__