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EMPOWERgmatVerbal
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Like the Carroll Street Bridges retractable design that met the Updated on: 22 Feb 2023, 00:57
Originally posted by EMPOWERgmatVerbal on 13 Nov 2019, 16:30.
Last edited by Bunuel on 22 Feb 2023, 00:57, edited 3 times in total.
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E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

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86% (00:51) correct 14% (01:02) wrong based on 318 sessions

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Pack 4, Question 4 of 5:

Like the Carroll Street Bridge’s retractable design that met the demands of street and river traffic in Brooklyn, so the Broadway Bridge’s vertical lift design met the demands of street and river traffic in Manhattan.

A. Like the Carroll Street Bridge’s retractable design that met the demands of
B. Like designing the Carroll Street Bridge to be retractable to meet demanding
C. Just like the Carroll Street Bridge’s retractable design that met the demanding
D. Just as designing the Carroll Street Bridge’s to be retractable to meet demanding
E. Just as the Carroll Street Bridge’s retractable design met the demands of


◀ Pack 4, Question 3
▶ Pack 4, Question 5
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Like the Carroll Street Bridges retractable design that met the 14 Nov 2019, 08:01
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The sentence tests an idiom just as X, so Y.

Any option containing "like" breaks the idiom. Hence, options (A) - (C) are incorrect. Option (D) incorrectly compares "designing" with "design". Correct option is (E).
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Like the Carroll Street Bridges retractable design that met the 14 Nov 2019, 10:48
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Like: Can only be used to compare nouns
As: Can be used to compare clauses

In this given sentence, we are comparing the similarity in both the designs meeting their demands. As is more recommended in this case. Eliminate A,B,C

Correct idiom would be Just as X, So Y where X and y should be parallel.

Choice D is not parallel.

Therefore Choice E is the correct answer
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Like the Carroll Street Bridges retractable design that met the 14 Nov 2019, 14:35
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EMPOWERgmatVerbal
Pack 4, Question 4 of 5:

Like the Carroll Street Bridge’s retractable design that met the demands of street and river traffic in Brooklyn, so the Broadway Bridge’s vertical lift design met the demands of street and river traffic in Manhattan.

A. Like the Carroll Street Bridge’s retractable design that met the demands of
B. Like designing the Carroll Street Bridge to be retractable to meet demanding
C. Just like the Carroll Street Bridge’s retractable design that met the demanding
D. Just as designing the Carroll Street Bridge’s to be retractable to meet demanding
E. Just as the Carroll Street Bridge’s retractable design met the demands of
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Correct answer: E

ABCD: No conjugated verb in the first clause
ABC: "[Just] like ... so" is not idiomatic. "Just as ... so" is the proper construction.
BCD: "Demanding" is not parallel with "met the demands."
BD: Improper comparison between "designing ..." and "the Broadway Bridge's vertical lift design."
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Like the Carroll Street Bridges retractable design that met the 15 Nov 2019, 15:48
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Official Explanation:

Like the Carroll Street Bridge’s retractable design that met the demands of street and river traffic in Brooklyn, so the Broadway Bridge’s vertical lift design met the demands of street and river traffic in Manhattan.

A. Like the Carroll Street Bridge’s retractable design that met the demands of
B. Like designing the Carroll Street Bridge to be retractable to meet demanding
C. Just like the Carroll Street Bridge’s retractable design that met the demanding
D. Just as designing the Carroll Street Bridge’s to be retractable to meet demanding
E. Just as the Carroll Street Bridge’s retractable design met the demands of


A review of our answer options reveals that we need to choose between starting the sentence with “like” or with “just as/just like,” and this tells us this sentence most likely will compare two things. We must also choose between a couple of different forms for the words “met” and “demand.”

Many times comparative phrases are idiomatic, so let’s look at the portion of the sentence that isn’t underlined to see how the second portion of the comparison is introduced. The second clause begins with “so.” The idiom for a comparison using “like” is “Like X, Y.” “So” or another conjunction is not used in this idiom. However, the idiom for a comparison using “as” is “as X, so Y.” Since the “so” is not underlined, then we must use the “As/just as X, so Y” idiom structure. Options A, B, and C cannot be the correct answers because they are not idiomatic.

Option D begins “just as designing,” but the rest of the comparison says “so the Broadway Bridge.” This means the sentence is trying to compare the designing of one bridge with another actual bridge. Comparison must be of like items. Additionally, in the non-underlined portion of the sentence the phrase “the demands of” is used, and Option D uses “to meet demanding.” This is not parallel, and “demanding” doesn’t make complete sense as a modifier of traffic. Option D also cannot be the best answer.

Option E compares a bridge with a bridge and using “the demands of” makes it parallel with the rest of the sentence. Option E is the best answer.
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Like the Carroll Street Bridges retractable design that met the 15 Nov 2019, 15:55
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mykrasovski
The sentence tests an idiom just as X, so Y.

Any option containing "like" breaks the idiom. Hence, options (A) - (C) are incorrect. Option (D) incorrectly compares "designing" with "design". Correct option is (E).
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Great job, mykrasovski! You cracked the code by figuring out the idiom we're working with and focusing on parallelism!

Well done! Kudos to you!
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Like the Carroll Street Bridges retractable design that met the 15 Nov 2019, 15:59
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Like: Can only be used to compare nouns
As: Can be used to compare clauses

In this given sentence, we are comparing the similarity in both the designs meeting their demands. As is more recommended in this case. Eliminate A,B,C

Correct idiom would be Just as X, So Y where X and y should be parallel.

Choice D is not parallel.

Therefore Choice E is the correct answer
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Well done, suchithra! You figured out one of the tricks to answering this question: knowing when to use "like" vs. "as" in a comparison! Great job focusing the rest of your explanation on parallelism!

Kudos to you!
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Like the Carroll Street Bridges retractable design that met the 22 Oct 2020, 23:36
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Hi EMPOWERgmatVerbal,

I understand option E is correct because it follows the correct idiom As X, So Y.

But if SO was not there in the second clause, would option A been correct?
Like the Carroll Street Bridge’s retractable design that met the demands of street and river traffic in Brooklyn, the Broadway Bridge’s vertical lift design met the demands of street and river traffic in Manhattan.

We would have been comparing the two designs
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Like the Carroll Street Bridges retractable design that met the 23 Oct 2020, 13:45
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Sthk94
Hi EMPOWERgmatVerbal,

I understand option E is correct because it follows the correct idiom As X, So Y.

But if SO was not there in the second clause, would option A been correct?
Like the Carroll Street Bridge’s retractable design that met the demands of street and river traffic in Brooklyn, the Broadway Bridge’s vertical lift design met the demands of street and river traffic in Manhattan.

We would have been comparing the two designs
Show more

Thanks for the question Sthk94!

This mainly has to do with using "like" vs. "as" in comparisons. It's better to use "as" here because we're comparing two bridges and their ability to meet demands - not just the two bridges in general. Since the comparison is focused on two clauses, rather than just two nouns, it's better to use "as."

Now, that's not to say that native English speakers will always get this right! We aren't the best at using like/as correctly in everyday speech or writing. You could certainly use "like" here (as long as it doesn't contain the "so" you mentioned), and most people wouldn't notice, but for the GMAT, it's still technically wrong.

We hope that helps! :) :thumbsup:
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Like the Carroll Street Bridges retractable design that met the 01 Jun 2023, 02:09
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