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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 18 Sep 2014, 14:06
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67% (01:16) correct 33% (01:19) wrong based on 1329 sessions

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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to exist in any other animal.


A. because it can run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to exist in any other animal

B. because they can run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to be the case with any other animal

C. since it can run equally efficiently backwards as forwards; this skill is not known to exist in any other animal

D. since it runs as well backwards as forwards, and it’s the only animal known to do that

E. in its ability to run as fast backwards as forwards; this skill is not known to exist in any other animal


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Can anyone explain why the other answer choices are wrong apart from the general ",which", "they" (subject very disagreement) etc
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 18 Sep 2014, 23:00
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prabhakarsharma
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to exist in any other animal.
@
  • A. because it can run as fast backwards as forwards, whichis not known to exist in any other animal - which refers back to previous noun, not clear here.
  • B. because theycan run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to be the case with any other animal - pronoun ambiguity. rat is singular
  • C. since it can run equally efficiently backwards as forwards; this skill is not known to exist in any other animal - wrong idiom. its as X as Y
  • D. since it runs as well backwards as forwards, and it’s the only animal known to do that - it's cannot refer back to rat.
  • E. in itsability to run as fast backwards as forwards; this skill is not known to exist in any other animal
- Correct as here we are not taking about rat but its ability

Can anyone explain why the other answer choices are wrong apart from the general ",which", "they" (subject very disagreement) etc

hope it clarifies
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I guess the "That" used in statement 4 at the end is also vague...so one more reason to dump statement 4.
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 18 Sep 2014, 23:08
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Ashishmathew01081987
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to exist in any other animal.
@
  • A. because it can run as fast backwards as forwards, whichis not known to exist in any other animal - which refers back to previous noun, not clear here.
  • B. because theycan run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to be the case with any other animal - pronoun ambiguity. rat is singular
  • C. since it can run equally efficiently backwards as forwards; this skill is not known to exist in any other animal - wrong idiom. its as X as Y
  • D. since it runs as well backwards as forwards, and it’s the only animal known to do that - it's cannot refer back to rat.
  • E. in itsability to run as fast backwards as forwards; this skill is not known to exist in any other animal
- Correct as here we are not taking about rat but its ability

Can anyone explain why the other answer choices are wrong apart from the general ",which", "they" (subject very disagreement) etc

hope it clarifies


I guess the "That" used in statement 4 at the end is also vague...so one more reason to dump statement 4.
Show more

On second thought I didn't understand the reason for rejecting statement 4 only on It's because It's can be expanded into "it is"... So in a way this usage is right. The only reason i find in rejecting statement 4 is the use of "That"...It should have been DO SO in place of DO THAT. Please clarify this doubt !!!
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 18 Sep 2014, 23:11
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to the original poster : can u please put the official explanation for rejecting C . i feel "since" is wrong in C

Quote:
On second thought I didn't understand the reason for rejecting statement 4 only on It's because It's can be expanded into "it is"... So in a way this usage is right
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NO . GMAC never uses contractions . it is really weird for kaplan to put such contractions in a SC question . either it is mistake on the part of original poster so may be kaplan has done that mistake. "it's" is definitely wrong in GMAC SC
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 18 Sep 2014, 23:16
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it's is possessive and should be used for referring back to possessive antecedents. Also ideally we should avoid using possessive and non possessive pronoun for the same noun.

In statement 4 we have both : it and its : so that is a red flag for me.

For sure usage of "that" is not correct, but as i was reading vertically , statement 4 was out before i reached "that" :)
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 18 Sep 2014, 23:19
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Quote:
it's is possessive and should be used for referring back to possessive antecedents. Also ideally we should avoid using possessive and non possessive pronoun for the same noun
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the possessive is "its" NOT "it's" ,so no matter what "it's" is definitely wrong, unless of course the original poster has made a mistake . BTW "it's" only means "it is" and nothing else !!
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 18 Sep 2014, 23:22
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Quote:
it's is possessive and should be used for referring back to possessive antecedents. Also ideally we should avoid using possessive and non possessive pronoun for the same noun

the possessive is "its" NOT "it's" ,so no matter what "it's" is definitely wrong, unless of course the original poster has made a mistake . BTW "it's" only means "it is" and nothing else !!
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Right my fault. thanks for pointing out.
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 18 Sep 2014, 23:31
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to the original poster : can u please put the official explanation for rejecting C . i feel "since" is wrong in C

Quote:
On second thought I didn't understand the reason for rejecting statement 4 only on It's because It's can be expanded into "it is"... So in a way this usage is right

NO . GMAC never uses contractions . it is really weird for kaplan to put such contractions in a SC question . either it is mistake on the part of original poster so may be kaplan has done that mistake. "it's" is definitely wrong in GMAC SC
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SINCE is wrong because it is generally used to indicate the passage of time
BECAUSE is used to indicate a cause

so definitely usage of SINCE in Statement 3 is wrong :roll:
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 18 Sep 2014, 23:57
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Quote:
SINCE is wrong because it is generally used to indicate the passage of time
BECAUSE is used to indicate a cause
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is this what kaplan's official statement? if not then can u please guide the source where u have read this? i am saying this because my reasoning of eliminating "since" is not this. according to me "since" can be used to reason out just as "because" . A word can have different usages!! .the reason i have eliminated "since" is because the meaning of SC becomes wrong if we use "since" as "because" here .there is no "causality" in the stated facts
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 19 Sep 2014, 02:52
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Quote:
it's is possessive and should be used for referring back to possessive antecedents. Also ideally we should avoid using possessive and non possessive pronoun for the same noun

the possessive is "its" NOT "it's" ,so no matter what "it's" is definitely wrong, unless of course the original poster has made a mistake . BTW "it's" only means "it is" and nothing else !!
Show more


Regarding it's - it sounds like a contender because - "it is the only animal known to do that" - it is clearly not the possessive hence can be valid. Please correct me if my approach is wrong somewhere
- I would definitely cut it out because of the vague "that" at the end
- and the fact that there are too many pronouns - moreover the second pronoun is far away from the noun
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 19 Sep 2014, 08:12
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Quote:
SINCE is wrong because it is generally used to indicate the passage of time
BECAUSE is used to indicate a cause

is this what kaplan's official statement? if not then can u please guide the source where u have read this? i am saying this because my reasoning of eliminating "since" is not this. according to me "since" can be used to reason out just as "because" . A word can have different usages!! .the reason i have eliminated "since" is because the meaning of SC becomes wrong if we use "since" as "because" here .there is no "causality" in the stated facts
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This is not Kaplan's official statement. It is my understanding.

Since is generally used in GMAT to indicate when an action started.
Because is used to indicate a cause.


Also, "Because of" cannot be used to replace "due to"

"Due to" indicates "caused by"
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 21 Sep 2014, 06:41
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A and B out because wrong use of "which"
C and D eliminated because deteriorate meaning (we need mole running forward as fast as doing backward)

E wins with good use of semicolon
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 21 Sep 2014, 06:47
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Quote:
The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to exist in any other animal.
A. because it can run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to exist in any other animal
B. because they can run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to be the case with any other animal
C. since it can run equally efficiently backwards as forwards; this skill is not known to exist in any other animal
D. since it runs as well backwards as forwards, and it’s the only animal known to do that
E. in its ability to run as fast backwards as forwards; this skill is not known to exist in any other animal
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Question though - In C & E, as a rule of thumb, the clause that follows a semicolon is always independent, what does "this skill" refer to? Or more specifically, what does "this" refer to? There should be a clear antecedent, innit? Also, can I slash and burn C because of the awkward phrase "equally efficiently"?
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 02 Oct 2014, 00:09
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to exist in any other animal.
@
  • A. because it can run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to exist in any other animal
  • B. because they can run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to be the case with any other animal
  • C. since it can run equally efficiently backwards as forwards; this skill is not known to exist in any other animal
  • D. since it runs as well backwards as forwards, and it’s the only animal known to do that
  • E. in its ability to run as fast backwards as forwards; this skill is not known to exist in any other animal

Can anyone explain why the other answer choices are wrong apart from the general ",which", "they" (subject very disagreement) etc
Show more

Reason for Option 4 to be wrong is : one is awkward construction & secondly look into the sentence after and.

And is preceded by comma, In correct GMAT Sentence and is preceded by comma only in 2 cases.
Case 1 : Before the last object in a list of more than 2 elements.
Case 2 : While connecting 2 Independent clause.

Now, It is clear Case 1 is present in the question in hand
Case 2 : We need to check whether clause following and is an IC or not ? (Ask yourself does the clause make complete picture i.e. it’s the only animal known to do that ...to do what ?? , NO the clause is not IC

Hence sentence is wrong structure wise.

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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 06 Sep 2015, 06:30
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The OA reasoning is :-

At first, this sentence may sound perfectly fine. But there is a minor issue here with the logic of this sentence. The naked mole rate is not unique "because" of its ability to run backwards; the fact that it can run backwards is the way in which it is unique, not the cause of its uniqueness. "Because" can only be used in actual causal relationships. For example, "He was wet because he got caught in the rain," or "She was warm because she was wearing a coat." When talking about a certain trait, it makes more sense to use "in that." For example, "This painting is special in that it is the only portrait drawn by this artist."

The other problem with this sentence is that it uses the word "which" incorrectly. The word "which" must be proceeded by a comma and refer to the noun phrase immediately before the comma, or else it is wrong. Here, the word "which" must refer to the ability of the rat, but the phrase before the word "which" doesn't specifically refer to the ability. We'll need an answer choice that fixes this problem.

Scan and Group the Answer Choices:

There is a clear and useful 2-2-1 split here, based on the first few words of each choice. (A) and (B) both begin "because," (C) and (D) both begin "since," and choice (E) begins "in its ability."

Eliminate Wrong Answer Choices:

Based on the information we gathered in steps one and two, our path is clear. We can rule out (A) and (B) because they both use the word "because." Similarly, we can rule out choices (C) and (D), because "since" also cannot be used unless the sentence describes an actual causal relationship. This leaves us with Answer Choice (E), which must be correct. When we read it back into the original sentence, we see it solves all the problems we originally spotted, including the problem with the word which. It simply replaces the word "which" with the phrase "this skill," a substitution which clarifies the situation.

There are other problems with the other answer choices. Both choices (A) and (B) use the word "which" incorrectly. Choices (C) and (D) both change the meaning of the sentence; saying the rat runs "equally efficiently" or "as well" backwards and forwards is not identical in meaning to saying that the rat runs "as fast" backwards and forwards



However, I am bit confused between C and E. I get E is better because of meaning issue. I am somewhat not clear why since is wrong.
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 29 Nov 2017, 07:46
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Please do not make it so complicated!! ;)

A & B are incorrect because they use the word "which" incorrectly.
C & D distort the intended meaning of the sentence, as comparison element is just "speed" nor wellness and efficiency.
E remains and is correct

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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 15 Feb 2020, 15:39
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Hi All,

Although I selected the right choice. I am still confused about the usage of "this skill" in choice E. Can this refers to "the ability of running as fast backwards as forwards"? As I have read that this is the pronoun and can't refer to the action.

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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 07 Mar 2021, 05:15
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kapslock20
The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to exist in any other animal.


A. because it can run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to exist in any other animal

B. because they can run as fast backwards as forwards, which is not known to be the case with any other animal

C. since it can run equally efficiently backwards as forwards; this skill is not known to exist in any other animal

D. since it runs as well backwards as forwards, and it’s the only animal known to do that

E. in its ability to run as fast backwards as forwards; this skill is not known to exist in any other animal


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Can anyone explain why the other answer choices are wrong apart from the general ",which", "they" (subject very disagreement) etc
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A & B incorrectly use which, C & D has structure issue.

Correct answer is E
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The naked mole rat is unique because it can run as fast backwards as 09 Apr 2022, 01:05
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