Pack 12 Q5: Morgan Neville, the filmmaker of both Won't You Be My...

Question

Pack 12, Question 5 of 5:

Morgan Neville, the filmmaker of both Won’t You Be My Neighbor, a historic work on the life of Mr. Rogers, and  also of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on  directing and producing documentaries

A. also of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on

B. also 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority about

C. of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is an authority on

D. of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on

E. 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is an authority on

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Praveenksinha · Answer

Morgan Neville, the filmmaker of both Won’t You Be My Neighbor, a historic work on the life of Mr. Rogers, and also of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on directing and producing documentaries

A. also of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on:- Incorrect, and also is redundant

B. also 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority about:-  Incorrect, and also is redundant

C. of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is an authority on :-  Both X and Y, X and Y must be parallel, here X-"won't you be my Neighbor" and Y -" of 20 feet from stardom" are Not parallel (of makes it nonparallel)

D. of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on:-  Both X and Y, X and Y must be parallel, here X- "won't you be my Neighbor" and Y -" of 20 feet from stardom" are Not parallel (of makes it nonparallel)

E. 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is an authority on:-  Correct

Kartikay22 · Answer

Morgan Neville, the filmmaker of both Won’t You Be My Neighbor, a historic work on the life of Mr. Rogers, and  also of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on  directing and producing documentaries

A. also of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on
  ( Both - also : Redundancy error 
 Knowledgeable - authority : Redundant and Wordy 
 Use of "of" before 20 - Parallelism error) Hence, Incorrect.

B. also 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority about
  ( Both - also : Redundancy error
 Knowledgeable - authority : Redundant and Wordy
 About- Wrong preposition) Hence, Incorrect.

C. of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is an authority on
   ( Use of "of" before 20 - Parallelism error) Hence, Incorrect.

D. of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on
  ( Use of "of" before 20 - Parallelism error
 Knowledgeable - authority : Redundant and Wordy ) Hence, Incorrect.
 
E. 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is an authority on -   Correct

Raxit85 · Answer

Morgan Neville, the filmmaker of both Won’t You Be My Neighbor, a historic work on the life of Mr. Rogers, and also of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on directing and producing documentaries

If i break the sentence in simple way then, it would be as per below sentence,

Morgan Nevile (MN) is a is a knowledgeable authority on directing and producing documentaries. MN, filmmaker of both X, (appositive/modifier of film X = a historic work on the life of Mr. Rogers), and also Y (appositive/modifier of film X = a look into the experience of background singers).

Here, parallelism is not maintained on both side of parallel connector, both X and Y, instead also is used, which is not preferred by GMAC. In addition, authority means knowledgeable. So, it's usage is redundant.

A.  also of 20  Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a  knowledgeable authority  on - Incorrect due to above reasons.

B.  also 20  Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a  knowledgeable authority about - Incorrect due to same reasons of A. Additionally, incorrect idiom is used here, i.e. authority about.
 
C.  of 20  Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is an authority on - Violates the parallelism, both X and Y.

D.  of 20  Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a  knowledgeable authority  on - Violates the parallelism, both X and Y.

E. 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is an authority on - Aha perfect sentence with no error.

Morgan Neville,   is an authority on directing and producing documentaries.

Imo. E

saro · Answer

Answer choice E is correct Both X and Y is correct idiom

aniket2045 · Answer

Answer is E

A. also  of  20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on - breaks the parallelism

B.  also  20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority about - redundant use of Also.

C.  of  20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is an authority on - breaks parallelism

D.  of  20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on - Breaks Parallelism

E. 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is an authority on - changes meaning. But, best option among other options if we consider parallelism.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation

Morgan Neville, the filmmaker of both Won’t You Be My Neighbor, a historic work on the life of Mr. Rogers, and  also of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on  directing and producing documentaries

A.  also of 20 Feet from Stardom , a look into the experience of background singers, is  a knowledgeable authority on

B.  also 20 Feet from Stardom , a look into the experience of background singers,  is a knowledgeable authority about

C.  of 20 Feet from Stardom , a look into the experience of background singers,  is an authority on

D.  of 20 Feet from Stardom , a look into the experience of background singers,  is a knowledgeable authority on

E.  20 Feet from Stardom , a look into the experience of background singers,  is an authority on

There are two major differences in this sentence: the beginning and the ending.  The beginning deals with the idiom “both A and B.” The issue at the end of the sentence is that it’s redundant to say “knowledgeable authority” when just the word “authority” will do the same job. At the end, we also need to make sure it follows the idiom “X is an authority on Y.” Let’s see how each option handles these issues:
 
 A.  also of  20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is  a knowledgeable authority   on   
This is  INCORRECT . It does not follow the correct structure of the idiom. It says “both X and also of Y” rather than simply leaving the sentence with the correct conjunction “and.” It is also redundant to say “knowledgeable authority.” The only thing this got right is the idiom “X is an authority on Y.”

B.  also  20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a  knowledgeable authority about  
This is  INCORRECT . It does not follow the correct structure of the idiom. It says “both X and also Y” rather than simply leaving the sentence with the correct conjunction “and.” It is also redundant to say “knowledgeable authority.” It’s also not idiomatically correct to say “X is an authority about Y.”

C.  of  20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is  an authority on  
This is  INCORRECT . It does use the more concise “an authority” instead of the redundant “knowledgeable authority.” It also uses the correct “X is an authority on Y” idiom. However, it does not follow the correct structure of the idiom. It says “both X and of Y” rather than simply leaving the sentence with the correct conjunction “and.”

D.  of  20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a  knowledgeable authority   on   
This is  INCORRECT . It does not follow the correct structure of the idiom. It says “both X and of Y” rather than simply leaving the sentence with the correct conjunction “and.” It is also redundant to say “knowledgeable authority.” The only thing this option gets right is the idiom “X is an authority on Y.”

E.  20 Feet from Stardom , a look into the experience of background singers, is  an authority on   
This is  CORRECT . It follows the correct structure of the idiom by leaving the conjunction “and.” The ending does not have redundancies and uses the correct idiomatic phrasing “X is an authority on Y.”

There you have it - option E is our choice!

Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  Praveenksinha ! You cracked the code on this one, and provided great explanations for each option. Kudos to you, and we look forward to seeing you back here next week for Pack 13!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  Kartikay22 ! You cracked the code on this one, and we look forward to seeing you back here next week for Pack 13! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  Raxit85 ! You cracked the code on this one! Great explanations as always, too! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

You cracked the code, saro ! For your answers to qualify for the contest, please make sure to break down what is right/wrong with each option. That helps other students see your thought process and better study on their own.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  aniket2045 ! You cracked the code on this one, and we appreciate the clear and concise explanations for each option! We can't wait to see you back next week for Pack 13! Kudos to you!

NunuBot · Answer

This is a rather straight forward question.

The correct idiom is "of both X and Y", so A / B / C / D are immediately eliminated, leaving E as the correct answer.

Note:
- "Both X and also Y" is almost always incorrect in GMAT

- Both "of both X and Y" and "both of X and of Y" are acceptable. You should not repeat what precedes "both, and should repeat what follows.

Eg. I want to both eat and sleep.
Eg. I want both to eat and to sleep.

Morgan Neville, the filmmaker of both Won’t You Be My Neighbor, a historic work on the life of Mr. Rogers, and also of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on directing and producing documentaries

A. also of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on

B. also 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority about

C. of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is an authority on

D. of 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is a knowledgeable authority on

E. 20 Feet from Stardom, a look into the experience of background singers, is an authority on

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Pack 12 Q5: Morgan Neville, the filmmaker of both Won't You Be My...

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