The men refused to acknowledge that the frustration they

Question

The men refused to acknowledge that the frustration they experienced waiting in line would be the same to  the children waiting in line as it would to the men .
 
 
(A) the children waiting in line as it would to the men
(B) the children waiting in line just as it would to them
(C) the children waiting in line in just as to them
(D) the children waiting in line in as it would to themselves
(E) the children waiting in line like it would to the men.

forrestgump · Answer

D looks good - but this question is all convoluted.

gmataquaguy · Answer

E: Wrong because like should introduce only phrases. Here it introduces a clause.

C: Wrong because the preposition "in" muddles the meaning of the sentence.

D: Verbose version of A. 

A: Wrong because "the men" isnt explicit. It could refer to "any men" not the men who refused to acknowledge.....

My AC is B.

pb_india · Answer

B for me.

The following adverbs often go with same: exactly, just,   quite, almost, more or less, much, nearly, practically, roughly:

Example => Money didnâ€™t change them: theyâ€™re exactly the same as before.

As would be correct over Like as it is not a direct comparison.
D is wrong in the use of "themselves".

christoph · Answer

A)...i think in A) it is clear that "the men" refers to "the men". it is explicit. in B) "them" can refer to "the children" as well.

anirban16 · Answer

Since it is men who are acknowledging them should be refering to men. I think answer is B

OA please!!!!!!!!!!!!1

GMATT73 · Answer

OA is A.

Spot the Concept being tested:
Comparison between the frustration the men experienced and the frustration the children experienced
 
Rule and Fix:
Items that are compared to one another must be balanced and must be of the same or similar items (structurally and logically parallel).
 
POE:
C lacks the it used to imply frustration. 
 
Chunk and Compare:
B, C, and D all introduce pronouns place of the men. The pronoun them could refer to men or children and is therefore ambiguous. 
 
Reread your choice:
Choose A

Vithal · Answer

the men => the group of men already identified in the first part of the sentence. right?

gmataquaguy · Answer

How could them refer to "children" in this context? Let's say we replace the pronoun with "children" the underlined portion would read as:

the children waiting in line as it would to the  children 

and the entire sentence would read as

The men refused to acknowledge that the frustration they   experienced waiting in line would be the same to the children waiting in line just as it would to  children. 

This sentence would imply that we are comparing the "level of frustration" of children with the "level of frustration" of children? It would be silly to compare something to itself, No?

The OA seems dubious to me. GMATT73 what is the source of this question? Also as a suggestion: Would you please underline the original question in all your posts going forward.

General question to others: Did you feel the same way about the OE? Or am i missing something here?

regards,
gmataquaguy

MA · Answer

I was in between A and E because B, C and D have either them or themselves, both are wrong because both have no clear referant. the only confusion was whether   "the frustration"   is noun or action. Ok after re-reading it   (the frustration they experienced)   is action.

gmataquaguy · Answer

Could any of the SC experts throw their 2 cents in please after reading my post.

gmataquaguy · Answer

Bumping this thread up. Could someone see my post and please comment. 

regards,
gmataquaguy

HongHu · Answer

Yes from the meaning we all know that "them" refer to the men. However grammatically "them" has ambigous reference. This is why it is wrong to use it.

gmataquaguy · Answer

Could you please elaborate on what you mean. If the pronoun "them" cannot refer to children what else could/would it refer to? I'm not sure i understand what you mean by them has ambiguous reference. 

regards,
gmataquaguy

wunderbar03 · Answer

in D, "themselves" refer correctly to "the men" at the begining of the sentence. The reason D is wrong is that "line in" is verbose.

The men refused to acknowledge that the frustration they

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