SC OG 2018 Question no. 742

Question

The nineteenth-century chemist Humphry Davy presented the results of his early experiments in his "Essay on Heat and Light", a critique of all chemistry since Robert Boyle as well as a vision of a new chemistry that Davy hoped to found.

(A) a critique of all chemistry since Robert Boyle as well as a vision of a

(B) a critique of all chemistry following Robert Boyle and also his envisioning of a

(C) a critique of all chemistry after Robert Boyle and envisioning as well

(D) critiquing all chemistry from Robert Boyle forward and also a vision of

(E) critiquing all the chemistry done since Robert Boyle as well as his own envisioning of

Could someone please my doubts with the correct option A ? My thinking process: (B) a critique of all chemistry following Robert Boyle and also his ("his" ambiguous reference) envisioning (breaks parallelism) of a (C) a critique of all chemistry after Robert Boyle and envisioning (breaks parallelism) as well (D) critiquing all chemistry from Robert Boyle forward and also a vision (breaks parallelism) of (E) critiquing all the chemistry done since Robert Boyle as well as his own envisioning of (distorts meaning by saying he critiqued his own envisioning..) But my problem is with option A... (A) a critique of all chemistry since Robert Boyle as well as a vision of a When I first looked at this, I immediately thought of it as a modifier for the book, "Essay on Heat and Light". Ok if its a modifier for the reason as mentioned then "a critique" refers to the book "Essay on Heat and Light" how can this be anchored with "Robert Boyle" (a person). (A) a critique (refers to the book) of all chemistry since Robert Boyle's books (don't we require "books" here for right comparison?) as well as a vision of a Need insight.... Thank You, Dablu

arun@crackverbal · Answer

I would read this sentence this way:

The nineteenth-century chemist Humphry Davy presented <2 nouns>

1) the results of his early experiments in his "Essay on Heat and Light",

2) a critique of all chemistry since Robert Boyle

3) as well as

4) a vision of a new chemistry that Davy hoped to found.

Does this make it clear?

gurudabl · Answer

Hi arun@crackverbal

Thank you for the reply. Yes, your explanation does make the structure more clear. But honestly I'm still dubious about appositive part. This book is the latest critique of all chemistry since Robert Boyle's books, isn't this what the sentence is trying to say? If yes, then is the omission of the possessive "Robert Boyle's books" valid or am I thinking this the wrong way?

arun@crackverbal · Answer

I made a slight correction to the structure - check and let me know if it makes sense now. I have another way for you to think. Given A is the right answer - let us figure out what we can learn from this? Here is another example that is similar: https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-32-speci ... -9155.html Also can you please specify your doubt - I understand your confused but I am not able to understand the exact nature of your doubt

guest1708 · Answer

Hi  arun ,

In above question whats the difference between "which can grow as big as 30 feet long and is" & "which can grow to be 30 feet long and is" ???

gurudabl · Answer

Hi  arun@crackverbal  Thank you for replying again.

So it's two appositives conjoined by a conjunction "as well as" nice. I missed that. Thanks for pointing that out!

Sorry for being too picky. My confusion was as follows:

But now I think I was misinterpreting the meaning. When the sentence says, " a critique of all chemistry since Robert Boyle", it's saying Robert Boyle was the latest critique before the book "Essay on Heat and Light" correct?

Dablu

arun@crackverbal · Answer

Though it is a topic for a separate thread - just to answer this specific point: big & long are redundant.

I would want you to focus on the structure as a lot of GMAT SC questions have this pattern:

Subject

Predicate

Modifier 1

conjunction

Modifier 2

VERSUS

Subject

Predicate 1

Modifier

conjunction

Predicate 2

arun@crackverbal · Answer

On the GMAT - it is good to be picky because that means you are trying to learn

I actually meant I was not able to understand the question clearly. Please look at what I have said and tell me if you have understood that part. Else you would need to rephrase your query. Sorry but I don't understand complicated questions

PS: I hope you are not confusing "a critique" (applies to a book) with "a critic" (applies to a person) :D

gurudabl · Answer

Hi arun@crackverbal Thank you for replying. I checked out other explanations as well for help and realized that it was a misinterpretation on my part.

Anyways, were you able to find a reason for my query pertaining to this thread ( https://gmatclub.com/forum/sc-og-2018-question-no-305653.html ) ?

sharathnair14 · Answer

The original sentence is indeed correct. As people who try to become smart test takers (I'll get to this in a second), You and I shouldn't worry too much about one part of a sentence that could sound awkward.

"A critique of all chemistry since Robert Boyle"

That's exactly where the GMAT wants to trick you. You end up looking through the options trying to sort this out and miss out on the obvious errors. A smart and seasoned test taker knows this.

Looking at the structure, we can clearly see that the question is testing us on the concept of Parallelism.

Humphry Davy presented  A  as well as  B . 
 A =   the results of his early experiments  
 B =   a vision of a new chemistry

This is how i approached the answer choices.

A) presents correct parallelism. This option avoids the errors made in the following option. Process of Elimination can also help you arrive at this answer. 
B) "And Also" is redundant on the GMAT. And closely reading the sentence, you'll see Chemistry following Robert Boyle is hilarious to imagine. 
C) And envisioning as well breaks the parallelism. 
D) "from Robert Boyle forward" doesn't make sense. "And Also" is redundant on the GMAT.
E) Can Chemistry ever be done?

gurudabl · Answer

sharathnair14 Yes, as a newbie I fell for the trap by focusing too much on this, "A critique of all chemistry since Robert Boyle" (which didn't sound right to me) and marked it wrong but by the time I reached option E, I realized that I had marked all the options wrong for the same obvious errors as mentioned by you.

And yes looking at option A from a macro view the structure comes out very clear.

Anyways thanks though!

Bunuel · Answer

This question is discussed here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-nineteen ... 84616.html Hope it helps.

SC OG 2018 Question no. 742

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