Studies of fitness tests show that playing..

Question

Studies of fitness tests show that playing basketball has a markedly positive effect on children whose parents are not athletic, as compared  to those who are  athletic.

a) to those who are
b) with children who are
c) with
d) to those whose parents are
e) with children whose parents are

Zarrolou · Accepted Answer

This question is almost identical to this studies-of-test-scores-show-that-watching-television-has-a-72151.html?fl=similar that is from MGMAT . Two things: I) compare to == compare with : there is no difference at all. II)Both D and E are fine, and this questions has been removed from the MGMAT CAT's pool. They say the same thing. However let me just add a little rule of thumb ( even if this is not directly applicable to this question ): if an option replaces a pronoun with the noun it stands for ("those" with "children), go for this latter option (in the OG those are the cases on not acceptable pronoun ambiguity). As I said this is not applicable directly to this question however because the only logical thing that "those" can stand for is "children". Hope this helps

Gian · Answer

I understood why E is the correct answer, clear and concise comparison. But I am not convinced why D is wrong, as "those" refers to children only. If we ignore the subtleties of compare to/compare with construction, then shouldn't D be correct as per the intended meaning.

Also is this a good GMAT like question? Please help.

Also is this a good GMAT like question? Please help.

Gian · Answer

Thanks Zarrolou for clearing the confusion. I do agree with you that the more clear choice will be the winner among the five.

ramannanda9 · Answer

Also idiomatically, the usage of  compared with  implies act of actual comparison, whereas compared to is generally used to highlight some quality as in the sentence messi is being compared to god of football.

PKay · Answer

The easiest of ways to choose the right one between D & E is to understand how and where we use "compared to" and "compared with".
"compare" can really mean compare or contrast. When we wish to show two like things as similar, we use "compare to." When we wish to show them as dissimilar, we use "compare with."

prabhjinder · Answer

I think you told the opposite. 'Compared to' is used to highlight contrast whereas 'Compared with' is used for actual comparison. As in this case, comparison is in between children, similar things.

PKay · Answer

No. The confusion arises when you decide whether the items that we wish to compare are similar. Compared to-show similarity between two things. Eg. Om compared his wife to a bull. :wink:

Om is trying to draw similarity between the bull and his wife. Compared with- when you want to contrast between two things. Eg. Om compared his wife with his girlfriend. Wife and GF- Om is making a comparison and contrasting between the two. Om wants to know who is better- the wife or the girlfriend :wink:

+1 Kudos if this helped. _________________

Abhishek009 · Answer

Compare A with B  is used  to stress the difference between unlike items  
 Compare A to B  is used  to stress the similarities between like items 
 
Hence, option (E) which stresses the difference in characteristics of athletic and non athletic parents...

bitanrc · Answer

Thanks for the examples. I shall never forget the differences now

+ 1

goforgmat · Answer

Hi ,

are there any OG examples to exemplify the same.
It would be great if you could give some examples.

chesstitans · Answer

this question is a part of an official question. In other words, this question just gives an illustration on how unambiguous concept in gmat test looks like. Test taker should know this.

Ss6479118 · Answer

Lets just get rid of C. ‘as compared with athletic’ just makes no sense. A compares the non-athletic parents to the children of athletic parents.
B does the same thing. D and E both mean the same (correct) thing and are error-free but E is clearer and simpler. I would say that this is enough reason to pick E over D.

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Studies of fitness tests show that playing..

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