OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONProject SC Butler: Day 181: Sentence Correction (SC1)
• INTRO notesOption A is grammatical but really awful stylistically.
More quickly and
faster are both grammatical.
In fact,
quickly is the adverb, so if we want to say that something
freezes faster, we need the adverb and we say
more quickly.("More quickly" probably just sounds a little strange, in part because there is an adjective, quicker, that confuses people, and in part because usually comparisons are not set up with this many words.
As mentioned,
quicker is an adjective (meant for a noun).
More quickly is correct to modify a verb.
THE PROMPTQuote:
The “Mpemba effect” refers to the fact that hot water freezes more quickly in comparison to cold water; the researchers who investigated this effect also discovered that cold water heats more quickly in relation to warm water and named that phenomenon the “inverse Mpemba effect.”
THE OPTIONSQuote:
A) The “Mpemba effect” refers to the fact that hot water freezes more quickly in comparison to cold water; the researchers who investigated this effect also discovered that cold water heats more quickly in relation to warm water and named that phenomenon the “inverse Mpemba effect.”
• Wow this sentence is heavy and long. Blah.
• GMAC very rarely uses
X does ABC more quickly in comparison/in relation to Y• I see no grammatical errors but this sentence is a stylistic disaster: long phrases, extra words, and sluggish prose. KEEP, but look for a better choice
Quote:
B) The “Mpemba effect” refers to the fact that hot water freezes faster [than what?]; the researchers who investigated this effect also discovered that cold water heats faster [than what?] and named that phenomenon the “inverse Mpemba effect.”
• Well, option A definitely got shortened—although now the sentence is incoherent
• option B does not finish the comparison between hot water and cold water. The sentence is nonsensical
Eliminate B
Quote:
C) The “Mpemba effect” refers to the fact that hot water freezes more quickly than cold water; the researchers who investigated this effect also discovered that cold water would heat more quickly than warm water and named that phenomenon the “inverse Mpemba effect.”
• the verb
would is used for conditionals or hypotheticals.
• but this sentence is not a conditional or a hypothetical.
• the sentence is
not saying that
cold water would heat more quickly than warm water [if some condition were met.] Wrong verb.
Eliminate C
Quote:
D) The “Mpemba effect” refers to the fact that hot water freezes faster than cold water; the researchers who investigated this effect also discovered that cold water heats faster than warm water and named that phenomenon the “inverse Mpemba effect.”
• This option forms the comparisons correctly and is concise
KEEP and compare to (A) at the end
Quote:
E) The “Mpemba effect” refers to the fact that hot water freezes faster than cold water; the researchers who investigated this effect also discovered that the opposite is true and named that phenomenon the “inverse Mpemba effect.”
• "the opposite is true"? What does this clause mean?
• I think that "the opposite is true" probably means that hot water does NOT freeze faster than cold water, and now we have a sentence that makes no sense.
• this option is cryptic and confusing
Eliminate E
Compare option A and option D A: hot water freezes more quickly in comparison to cold water
D: hot water freezes faster than cold water
A: cold water heats more quickly in relation to warm water
D: cold water heats faster than warm water
Option D is much better than A: comparisons are direct and brisk, and D says exactly what A says but does so in fewer words.
The best answer is DCOMMENTSsuchithra , welcome to SC Butler.
As always, I am happy to see posts from a range of people, from veterans to brand new.
I am very pleased to see many of you starting to trust yourselves and to rely on a
combination of grammar rules, meaning, style, and common sense/logic when you answer questions.
It does not matter if you make an incorrect assumption here and there.
Rules you can learn.
Reasoning you must train for. And it certainly looks as though you are all doing exactly that. Nice work.

P.S. Today I will give kudos past the OA mark . . . but I probably will not do so again.