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The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels

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The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 29 Jun 2021, 07:55
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The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels differ from those of the flying squirrels in the family Sciuridae because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of the wrist.

(A) because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of

(B) because of being attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow rather than at

(C) in their attachment to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of being attached at

(D) in that they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow rather than at

(E) in their being attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of
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D

Originally posted by RyanDe680 on 09 May 2008, 19:31.
Last edited by Bunuel on 29 Jun 2021, 07:55, edited 1 time in total.
Edited the question.
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   29 Apr 2016, 09:39
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smartguy595 wrote:
RyanDe680 wrote:
The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels differ from those of the flying squirrels in the family Sciuridae because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of the wrist.

A) because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of

B) because of being attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow rather than at

C) in their attachment to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of being attached at

D) in that they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow rather than at

E) in their being attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of


Can someone explain why option 'A' is incorrect!

instead of - replacement
rather than - preference

here the original sentence says - there is some difference because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of the wrist.

so X is attached to a cartilage rod at elbow instead of (at) the wrist - can 'at' acts like ellipse here?

I felt option D is incorrect as 'rather than' gives the meaning of preference! please explain where am I going wrong


Option A is wrong because of the use of "because" .....The membranes differ not because they are attached to cartilage, but because of some evolutionary and adaptive factors. The required phrase should answer the questions in what way they differ, not why they differ. Therefore the use of " in that" is better than use of "because".

One may replace "instead of" with "rather than" in all cases (although the vice versa is not true).

"Instead of" is applicable for nouns only. "Rather than" is applicable for nouns and all others (including prepositional phrases as in this case). Hence use of "instead of" would be wrong in option D (used for prepositional phrase at the wrist).
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   16 Jun 2016, 03:14
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the correct idiomatic expression with 'differ' is 'differ in...', so a-b are out. (if you said 'differ because', you'd have to give the reason behind the genesis of the difference, not the nature of the difference itself.) that leaves c-d-e, which all contain the supposedly ambiguous pronoun - so you're stuck with it.
"being" is a big problem. if you don't realize it's a big problem, you should recalibrate your idea of what's a big problem and what's not.
remember, the gmat is the only authority on these things, and the gmat really, really, really doesn't like "being" when you're discussing the identity or properties of things.

--

however, there's an even bigger problem: "because" is wrong.
in formal writing, "because" signifies an actual cause-effect relationship. if the latter thing didn't actually cause the former thing, then you can't use the word "because".

examples:

my brother and i are different in that he takes life much more seriously than i do.
according to this sentence, the way in which my brother and i are different is that he's a more serious guy than i am.
no cause and effect here.

my brother and i are different because he takes life much more seriously than i do.
according to this sentence, his more serious character, and my less serious one, have caused differences in us. in other words, the pre-existing difference in our character has actually led to further differences between us.
cause and effect relationship.

in this sentence, you're clearly trying to say that the cartilage rod attachment IS the difference, not that it causes the difference. therefore, "because" is incorrect.

As per Ron
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   09 May 2008, 20:44
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D for me

Need the "at" at the end for comparison - eliminate A and E

Next thing to figure out is what does "they" refer to ? In options

RyanDe680 wrote:
This one was good.....


The parachute like membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels differ from those of the flying squirrels in the family Sciuridae because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of the wrist.

A) because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of [at?]

B) because of being attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow rather than at <-- not clear what is "being attached to"

C) in their attachment to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of being attached at <-- "in their attachment" changes the meaning


D) in that they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow rather than at

E) in their being attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of [at?]


OA to follow.
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   09 Jul 2008, 18:41
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Give me D.

They/their - A,C,E - incorrectly refers to the "squirrels" instead of referring to the "membranes"
B - "because of being attached" sounds as if the squirrels are attached to the cartilage rod

B -> out

D wins

There are also errors incomparision
The Sc wants to draw a comparision between - cartilage at the elbow and cartilage at the wrist.
But the modifier errors wer sufficient to reach the correct answer
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   29 Nov 2011, 00:33
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+1 for D.

"in that" is used to give one way of contrast. (here difference). The choice was between A and D.

We need to ascertain what are the two things being compared:

membranes attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow
VS
membranes attached TO/AT the wrist. => TO/AT is missing in the original sentence. Hence A is out.

D is the winner.


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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   29 Apr 2016, 00:38
RyanDe680 wrote:
The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels differ from those of the flying squirrels in the family Sciuridae because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of the wrist.

A) because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of

B) because of being attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow rather than at

C) in their attachment to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of being attached at

D) in that they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow rather than at

E) in their being attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of


Can someone explain why option 'A' is incorrect!

instead of - replacement
rather than - preference

here the original sentence says - there is some difference because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of the wrist.

so X is attached to a cartilage rod at elbow instead of (at) the wrist - can 'at' acts like ellipse here?

I felt option D is incorrect as 'rather than' gives the meaning of preference! please explain where am I going wrong
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   29 Apr 2016, 10:20
sayantanc2k wrote:
smartguy595 wrote:
RyanDe680 wrote:
The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels differ from those of the flying squirrels in the family Sciuridae because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of the wrist.

A) because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of

B) because of being attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow rather than at

C) in their attachment to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of being attached at

D) in that they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow rather than at

E) in their being attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of


Can someone explain why option 'A' is incorrect!

instead of - replacement
rather than - preference

here the original sentence says - there is some difference because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of the wrist.

so X is attached to a cartilage rod at elbow instead of (at) the wrist - can 'at' acts like ellipse here?

I felt option D is incorrect as 'rather than' gives the meaning of preference! please explain where am I going wrong


Option A is wrong because of the use of "because" .....The membranes differ not because they are attached to cartilage, but because of some evolutionary and adaptive factors. The required phrase should answer the questions in what way they differ, not why they differ. Therefore the use of " in that" is better than use of "because".

One may replace "instead of" with "rather than" in all cases (although the vice versa is not true).

"Instead of" is applicable for nouns only. "Rather than" is applicable for nouns and all others (including prepositional phrases as in this case). Hence use of "instead of" would be wrong in option D (used for prepositional phrase at the wrist).


but 'in that' also conveys the meaning of 'because'?
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   29 Apr 2016, 10:28
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smartguy595 wrote:
sayantanc2k wrote:
smartguy595 wrote:

Can someone explain why option 'A' is incorrect!

instead of - replacement
rather than - preference

here the original sentence says - there is some difference because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of the wrist.

so X is attached to a cartilage rod at elbow instead of (at) the wrist - can 'at' acts like ellipse here?

I felt option D is incorrect as 'rather than' gives the meaning of preference! please explain where am I going wrong


Option A is wrong because of the use of "because" .....The membranes differ not because they are attached to cartilage, but because of some evolutionary and adaptive factors. The required phrase should answer the questions in what way they differ, not why they differ. Therefore the use of " in that" is better than use of "because".

One may replace "instead of" with "rather than" in all cases (although the vice versa is not true).

"Instead of" is applicable for nouns only. "Rather than" is applicable for nouns and all others (including prepositional phrases as in this case). Hence use of "instead of" would be wrong in option D (used for prepositional phrase at the wrist).


but 'in that' also conveys the meaning of 'because'?


I would disagree on this. "In that" does not mean "because". The phrase "in that" is used in response to the question "in what way?". The word "because" is used in response to the question "why?".
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   05 Jul 2019, 21:46
GMATNinja daagh generis
Can someone please help in explaining this question?
I selected option A but still i'm pretty confused with the pronoun ambiguity in all the options. Also in option D what does 'in that' and 'they' refer to?
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   08 Jul 2019, 02:45
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techloverforever wrote:
GMATNinja daagh generis
Can someone please help in explaining this question?
I selected option A but still i'm pretty confused with the pronoun ambiguity in all the options. Also in option D what does 'in that' and 'they' refer to?
The they refers to "the parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels". The in that helps to specify exactly how the two things (membranes) are different from each other.

Complicating all of this is the fact that the GMAT does not really like in that. :)
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   09 May 2020, 04:50
"Instead of" is used for nouns only I think. And here why "rather than" is preferred since we are contrasting between 2 nouns?
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   09 May 2020, 10:23
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lakshya14 wrote:
"Instead of" is used for nouns only I think. And here why "rather than" is preferred since we are contrasting between 2 nouns?

Hello, lakshya14. This concern is addressed above by sayantanc2k, here. In short, the preposition at in front of the second noun means that elbow and wrist are not being compared directly, so the noun-to-noun bridge required by instead of is broken.

I hope that post helps clarify the issue. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   28 May 2020, 04:39
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varotkorn wrote:
DIFFER is action verb. It is not a form to BE.
Why is "in that" correctly used here?


While differ is not a linking verb, it still serves to express a state-of-being.
X differs from Y = X and Y are different.
The OA above can be rephrased as follows:
The membranes are different in that they are attached to a cartilage rod.
Hence, the usage of in that seems justified.
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   23 Feb 2021, 04:37
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The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels differ from those of the flying squirrels in the family Sciuridae because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of the wrist.

(A) because they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of "at the elbow" is not parallel to "the wrist" - we need "at the wrist". Also, "because" shows a cause-effect relationship which is not being described here. The different attachment is not a reason for the membranes being different, only a description of how they are different. Eliminate.

(B) because of being attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow rather than at The same incorrect use of cause-effect expression as in (A). Also, even if we were to treat it as a cause-effect relationship (which it is not), the cause when using "because of" can only be a noun, not a clause. Eliminate.

(C) in their attachment to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of being attached at "their attachment" is not parallel to "being attached". Also, wordy and unnecessarily complicated. Eliminate.

(D) in that they are attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow rather than at Correct answer - above errors are rectified and no new errors are introduced.

(E) in their being attached to a cartilage rod at the elbow instead of Same parallelism error as in (A). Eliminate.

Hope this helps.
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   29 Jun 2021, 04:53
AndrewN wrote:
lakshya14 wrote:
"Instead of" is used for nouns only I think. And here why "rather than" is preferred since we are contrasting between 2 nouns?

Hello, lakshya14. This concern is addressed above by sayantanc2k, here. In short, the preposition at in front of the second noun means that elbow and wrist are not being compared directly, so the noun-to-noun bridge required by instead of is broken.

I hope that post helps clarify the issue. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew


Is "in that vs because" a decision point in selecting the answer? I saw some posts which said in that meant how they differed and because means why they differed. But here because could also make sense as we they may differ because they are attached at elbows. Please help.
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   07 Jul 2022, 06:02
In this Q, the antecedent of they/their is not clear.
why this is not a point of elimination ??

THEY can refer to membranes OR squirrels
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   07 Jul 2022, 13:07
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Sigmabeta wrote:
In this Q, the antecedent of they/their is not clear.
why this is not a point of elimination ??

THEY can refer to membranes OR squirrels

Pronoun ambiguity isn't an absolute rule on the GMAT, and we've seen plenty of OAs with pronouns that could technically refer to more than one thing.

Should you consider pronoun ambiguity? Yes. Should you eliminate something right away just because there are multiple options for a pronoun? Sadly, no -- you have to look for other decision points and weigh your options.

In this particular case, it's pretty obvious that the pronoun refers to the membranes, not the squirrels, so the fact that the pronoun could technically refer to the squirrels isn't much of an issue.

For more on pronoun ambiguity, check out this video or this (shorter) one.
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Re: The parachutelike membranes of Africa's scaly-tailed flying squirrels [#permalink] New post   16 Jul 2023, 10:06
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