Some scientists contend that many species of dinosaur had a metabolism

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning is that many species of dinosaurs had a metabolism that was more like the metabolism of a warm-blooded mammal than the metabolism of a cold-blooded reptile.

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Meaning + Comparison + Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• “contend + that” and "contend + with" are the correct, idiomatic construction.
• Comparison must always be made between similar things.

A: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the plural noun phrase "many species of dinosaur" with the verb "had", which can refer to both plural and singular nouns. Further, Option A correctly compares "a metabolism" with "a warm-blooded mammal's (metabolism)" and "a cold-blooded reptile's (metabolism)", conveying the intended meaning - that many species of dinosaurs had a metabolism that was more like the metabolism of a warm-blooded mammal than the metabolism of a cold-blooded reptile. Additionally, Option A correctly uses the idiomatic construction "contend + that". Besides, Option A is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

B: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "metabolism" with the plural verb "were". Further, Option B uses the passive construction "the metabolism of many dinosaur species were", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

C: This answer choice incorrectly compares "the metabolisms of many species of dinosaurs" to "those of a warm-blooded mammal's (metabolism)" and "a cold-blooded reptile's (metabolism)"; the use of "those" alongside the possessive nouns "mammal's" and "reptile's" illogically suggests that the metabolisms of many species of dinosaurs were more like the metabolism of the metabolism of a warm-blooded mammal than the metabolism of the metabolism of a cold-blooded reptile; the intended meaning is that many species of dinosaurs had a metabolism that was more like the metabolism of a warm-blooded mammal than the metabolism of a cold-blooded reptile; remember, a comparison must always be made between similar things. Additionally, Option C uses the passive construction "the metabolisms of many species of dinosaurs were", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D: This answer choice incorrectly compares "metabolisms" to "those of a warm-blooded mammal's (metabolism)" and "a cold-blooded reptile's (metabolism)"; the use of "those" alongside the possessive nouns "mammal's" and "reptile's" illogically suggests that the metabolisms of many species of dinosaurs were more like the metabolism of the metabolism of a warm-blooded mammal than the metabolism of the metabolism of a cold-blooded reptile; the intended meaning is that many species of dinosaurs had a metabolism that was more like the metabolism of a warm-blooded mammal than the metabolism of a cold-blooded reptile; remember, a comparison must always be made between similar things. Further, Option D uses the unidiomatic construction "contend + clause"; please remember, “contend + that” and "contend + with" are the correct, idiomatic construction. Additionally, Option D uses the passive construction "there were many species of dinosaurs", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

E: This answer choice incorrectly compares "a metabolism" to "that of a warm-blooded mammal's (metabolism)" and "a cold-blooded reptile's (metabolism)"; the use of "that" alongside the possessive nouns "mammal's" and "reptile's" illogically suggests that the metabolisms of many species of dinosaurs were more like the metabolism of the metabolism of a warm-blooded mammal than the metabolism of the metabolism of a cold-blooded reptile; the intended meaning is that many species of dinosaurs had a metabolism that was more like the metabolism of a warm-blooded mammal than the metabolism of a cold-blooded reptile; remember, a comparison must always be made between similar things. Further, Option E uses the unidiomatic construction "contend + clause"; please remember, “contend + that” and "contend + with" are the correct, idiomatic construction. Additionally, Option E uses the passive construction "there were many dinosaur species", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

All choices except A are wrong.

You need THAT after content to explain what the scinetists contend.

Possessive + those or that makes it redundant.

Whoa!! Am I the only one choosing B here. Please correct me, I thought, "many species of dinosaurs" was correct instead of many species of dinosaur. I thought B corrects this by using many dinosaur species. I agree that A is the shortest of all the choices, but is A the most appropriate??

Darth b is wrong because the subject and verb do not agree.

In the B, the subject is "the metabolism", which is singular and need a singular verb.

Some scientists contend that many species of dinosaur had a metabolism more like a warm-blooded mammal’s than a cold-blooded reptile’s.
A. that many species of dinosaur had a metabolism more like
B. that the metabolism of many dinosaur species were more like
C. that the metabolisms of many species of dinosaurs were more like those of
D. there were many species of dinosaurs that had metabolisms more like those of
E. there were many dinosaur species that had a metabolism more like that of

B is wrong because there is no subject-verb agreement
C,D and E are all wronh because the comparaison is made between metabolism and the metabolism of a metabolism.
A should be.

Sentence has 1.Idiomatic usage and 2. Dependent clause iisue

A. that many species of dinosaur had a metabolism more like [Hold it]
B. that the metabolism of many dinosaur species were more like [Dependent clause has subject “the metabolism” to verb issue “were” – eliminate it]
C. that the metabolisms of many species of dinosaurs were more like those of [the metabolisms is not correct usage – I doubt “the metabolism” can be plural – eliminate it]
D. there were many species of dinosaurs that had metabolisms more like those of[unidiomatic – eliminate it]
E. there were many dinosaur species that had a metabolism more like that of[unidiomatic – eliminate it]

Answer: A

Hi Experts / chetan2u,

Some scientists contend that many species of dinosaur had a metabolism more like a warm-blooded mammal's than a cold-blooded reptile's.

A. that many species of dinosaur had a metabolism more like
B. that the metabolism of many dinosaur species were more like

OA- A

In option B S-V disagreement is the only error or there is some other reason also to eliminate it..?

please assist.

Thanks

I was hoping someone could explain why we should eliminate answer choices with the word "were." (i.e. the dependent clause issue (??))

Only option B is wrong because of the use of "were" (subject and verb do not agree in numbers) - "were" is not the problem in the other options.

Some scientists contend that many species of dinosaur had a metabolism more like a warm-blooded mammal’s than a cold-blooded reptile’s.

A. that many species of dinosaur had a metabolism more like
--> correct.

B. that the metabolism of many dinosaur species were more like

C. that the metabolisms of many species of dinosaurs were more like those of

D. there were many species of dinosaurs that had metabolisms more like those of

E. there were many dinosaur species that had a metabolism more like that of

Some scientists contend that many species of dinosaur had a metabolism more like a warm-blooded mammal’s than a cold-blooded reptile’s.

A. that many species of dinosaur had a metabolism more like
like here correctly compares "metabolism" of dinosaurs with that of warm blooded mammals

B. that the metabolism of many dinosaur species were more like
Subject-verb agreement is not there. Singular noun "metabolism" takes plural verb "were more like"

C. that the metabolisms of many species of dinosaurs were more like those of
"Plural metabolisms is not correct"

D. there were many species of dinosaurs that had metabolisms more like those of
"those" already refers to relative pronoun, hence use of warm blooded possessive noun is not correct. Also there were doesn't go along

E. there were many dinosaur species that had a metabolism more like that of
contend requires that to tell us what has to be related

Hi Experts,

If we fix the SV issue in Choice B and write it as - that the metabolisms of many dinosaur species were more like.. -- Is comparing metabolisms to warm-blooded mammal's correct? Or does the possessive pronoun is always considered plural? Thanks much!

Yes, with SV correction, option B would be alright. The word metalbolism is omitted after the possessive "mammal's" / "reptile's". So comparison is between "metabolism" (of dinosaur) and metabolism (of hot-blooded reptiles / cold-blooded reptiles).

The possessive itself is not singular or plural - it is an adjective (possessive adjective) for another noun - that other noun could be singular or plural. You may say Ram's book or Ram's books. Both are correct.

By going through POE, OA as A can be reached. But option A looks like a faulty comparison. We are comparing species of dinosaur with warm-blooded mammal???s metabolism. Correct comparison should be with the metabolism of species of dinosaur with warm-blooded mammal???s metabolism.
Example- I have more money than Sam(has). Here has is understood. The sentence is correct.
I have more money than Sam's.---> This is incorrect. We cant compare I with Sam's money.

Hi sunny91, let's take the following example:

I have a better car than Sam.

As you've suggested, this is a correct sentence and is equivalent to:

I have a better car than Sam (has).

However, if we have a sentence:

I have a car better than Sam.

Now this is an invalid sentence, because this is now comparing car with Sam. We fix this sentence as:

I have a car better than Sam's.

This is a correct sentence, since the way we need to read this is:

I have a car (that is) better than Sam's (car is).

If you notice the (hidden) clause in the above sentence, the clause is: that is better, where that is referring to car.

This hidden modifier now changes everything! Basically "I" does not even figure in the comparison! It is just the car that is being compared.

Now, let's analyze the following:

Some scientists contend that many species of dinosaur had a metabolism more like a warm-blooded mammal’s than a cold-blooded reptile’s.

This is a correct sentence, since the way we need to read this is:

Some scientists contend that many species of dinosaur had a metabolism (that is) more like a warm-blooded mammal’s than a cold-blooded reptile’s (metabolism is).

Again, notice that it is just the metabolism that is being compared.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses this modifier aspect of comparisons, its application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

ellipsis in comparison- Shouldn't the omitted words be present in the first part of the sentence in the same form?
In the above sentence, the verb has is not present in the first part of the sentence.


AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , egmat , sayantanc2k , DmitryFarber , MagooshExpert , RonPurewal , mikemcgarry , EducationAisle - please enlighten

Hi Skywalker18, it would be slightly simplistic to believe that in ellipsis, omitted words should always be present in the first part of the sentence in the same form.

In fact, in certain conditions (especially with the to be forms of the verb), even a tense change is allowed.

Following is a correct sentence from OG:

Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year than last.

This is equivalent to:

Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year than (Heating-oil prices were) last (year) .

Note that the tense changes after than (simple past).

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses these concepts of comparisons, their application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.