The Parthenon is larger than usual for a Doric temple, with eight colu

Question

The Parthenon is larger than usual for a Doric temple, with eight columns on the short sides and seventeen on the long ones rather than the typical six and thirteen.

(a) usual
(b) is usual
(c) has been usual
(d) one usually is
(e) it is usual

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Can someone please break down the grammar errors for each answer choice, in addition, explain why (B) is a preferred answer choice over (D).

Thanks all!

https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.2326-1951.1984.tb02709.x

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In 480 B.C., the flourishing city was captured by the Persians, who burned down nearly every building in it, including those on the Acropolis. Thirty years passed before the Greeks decided to rebuild the sanctuary. The project was directed by the great statesman Pericles, who placed in charge the sculptor Phidias. The first building to be constructed was the Parthenon. It was larger than usual for a Doric temple, with eight columns on the short sides and seventeen on the long ones, compared with the typical six and thirteen. Around the top of the outside wall of the main building and inside the outer colonnade ran a frieze depicting the yearly festival in honor of Athena. The sculptural decoration also included representations of the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus, the contest for dominion over Athens between Athena and Poseidon, and, above the outer colonnade, battles of the giants, the Amazons, and the centaurs. Most of the building was made of white marble from Mount Pentelicus, ten miles north of Athens.

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Official Answer

B

sayantanc2k · Accepted Answer

E is wrong because the pronoun "it" does not have an antecedent. ("It" cannot be a placeholder, since you would not find the group of words whose place "it" is holding.)

The difficult part here is the difference between A and B: "usual" or "is usual".

The key here is to understand that only "usual" or "the usual" is used when the word "usual" replaces a concrete noun (comparison between two nouns). Example,

The car he brought today is bigger than the usual... correct ("usual" = the CAR he generally brings.)
I ran faster than usual.. wrong (the word "usual" does not replace a concrete noun.)
I ran faster than is usual... correct.

Similarly,

The Parthenon is larger than (the) usual....wrong (implies that there is another temple which is the usual.. wrong meaning).
The Parthenon is larger than is usual ... correct.

mihir0710 · Answer

The use of ellipses in the sentence is what makes it difficult …

Consider the following sentence :

Joe is afraid of ghost more than his wife ..

Can you make out about what this comparison is ??

Is Joe more afraid of ghost than he is afraid of his wife ??…or

Is joe more afraid of ghost that his wife is ??

In such cases, a repetition of “preposition” or “main verb” can clear the picture ..
For example :
Joe is afraid of ghost more than IS his wife …(notice the addition of “IS”)
Or Joe is afraid of ghost more than of his wife …(notice the addition of “OF”)…

Both are acceptable …so we need to understand the meaning and chose the option …

Now coming to the current question :

The Parthenon is larger than usual for a Doric temple, with eight columns on the short sides and seventeen on the long ones rather than the typical six and thirteen.

Currently, the sentence means that the Parthenon is larger than “USUAL” …but usual of what is not clear from the sentence …
The sentence is actually trying to convey that the Parthenon is larger than a usual Parthenon for a Doric temple..

This meaning can be clearly conveyed if we just repeat the “is”

The Parthenon is larger than “IS” usual for a doric temple ….which is OPTION B

Option D : one usually is : 
As explained above, “one” is ambiguous and hence wrong…

Kudos if you like the concept explanation !!!

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Here's the sentence created via the use of choice (A), in other words, the original version.

The Parthenon is larger than  usual  for a Doric temple, with eight columns on the short sides and seventeen on the long ones rather than the typical six and thirteen.

This choice is not that easy to eliminate. It seems to convey a meaning that makes sense, but here's the thing.

The expression "something is larger than usual", is generally used to express that that thing is larger than that thing usually is. For instance:

Last month the balance in my bank account was larger than usual, because I was holding some money for a friend.

The above sentence conveys a meaning that makes sense, that the account was larger than that account usually is.

So, I guess the clearest reason to eliminate (A) is that the version created via the use of (A) could be perceived as conveying that the Parthenon is larger than the Parthenon usually is, as in, "The Parthenon is larger than usual."

So, the sentence thus created conveys a weird meaning: The Parthenon is larger than the Parthenon usually is for a Doric temple.

skovinsky · Answer

Hi,

short sentence correction options may seem easier at first glance, but the correct answer often reflects a minor grammar or style issue, so we need to be extra careful on these.

B is superior to A for parallelism reasons: "IS larger than IS usual" maintains parallelism.

C changes the tense, which changes the meaning of the sentence.

D has the ambiguous pronoun "one", which technically refers to the closest preceding legal parent noun. In this sentence, the only preceding legal parent noun is "the Parthenon", so D actually reads:
 
which makes absolutely no sense - we want to compare the Parthenon to other Doric temples, not to itself.

E introduces "it", which is grammatically and stylistically wrong.

Hope that helps!

b9n920 · Answer

Hi all,

My 2 cents on this:
I have noticed, at least on official SC questions, that when we find something unusual it normally crops up from  ambiguous meaning.

Here, C can be eliminated because it changes the tense and thus the intended meaning.
D and E both can be eliminated because they contain pronouns,  one and it,  that refer back to Parthenon and thus makes the sentence nonsensical by repeating Parthenon.

Now, to choose between A and B we have to look for meaning (ambiguity).
A says,  The Parthenon is larger than usual for a Doric temple  - it could mean two things:
1. The Parthenon is larger than  an usual Doric temple  ( this is probably the intended meaning )
2. The Parthenon is larger than  usually the Parthenon should be  ( this is the ambiguous meaning, making A wrong )
So,  B  comes on rescue and discards the  ellipsis  present in  A . (Ellipsis: practice of omitting the understood words)

B says,  The Parthenon is larger than  is  usual for a Doric temple   - Note that the ambiguous meaning cannot be derived from B.

I hope this helps,

Binit.

rakeshpai1 · Answer

If we think problem in terms of "X is larger than Y". X & Y must be of same type right?
X--> Parthenon and Y--> should make sense for comparison. I choose D btw.

b9n920 · Answer

Hi rakeshpai1,

D is incorrect because of  one  - the pronoun. 'One' has to replace some noun, right? That noun is  The Parthenon.  So, we have:
  The Parthenon is larger than  the Parthenon usually is  for a Doric temple  - does that makes sense?

Thanks,
Binit.

gmatify17 · Answer

Option A- Wrong comparison. comparison is being done between parthenon and usual.
Option B-Close option KEep it
Option C-No need of using present perfect in passive form infact present perfect is not at all required.
Option D- Close option Keep it
Option E-It is ambiguous referrring to whom not clear.

Now between b& D B is better for the reason crisp and precise and one in option D is referring to what thing( we do not know), my observation- GMAT usually do not uses one though there might be exceptions..

Luckisnoexcuse · Answer

Hello Experts,,Can you help me understand the comparison in option B and why it is better than E
HOw do we eliminate options a,e

Prateek176 · Answer

MartyMurray

Could you please help me with eliminating option A. I am still not able to understand from the above posts

Pasharma1 · Answer

C changes the tense, which in turn changes the meaning of the sentence to mean that there was a standard size for Doric temples that has changed.

D has ‘one’ incorrectly referring to the Parthenon. The ‘it’ in E is grammatically wrong and awkward.

This is now between A and B. B is the better choice because ‘is usual’ maintains parallelism with ‘is larger’

kshitijgarg · Answer

GMATNinja 
Hi Sir,
Can you please explain why D is wrong? and what difference does "is" makes between A and B?

Regards,
Kshitij

rakeshtewatia0105 · Answer

i still didn't get why A is incorrect. Can anyone please some more light on "a"?

GMATNinja · Answer

MartyTargetTestPrep  gave a great explanation of A vs B in  this post .

Choice (D) is addressed  here .

If those posts don't answer your questions, let us know!

JonShukhrat · Answer

Surprisingly, a watermelon is considered a vegetable in Oklahoma. The state even declared the watermelon its official vegetable in 2007. On discovering this fact, you may think a watermelon is really large for a vegetable - because a usual vegetable is not this large. I am of the same opinion - a watermelon is definitely larger than usual vegetable. So:

- A watermelon  is large  for a vegetable (it’s unusual for a vegetable to be so large)
- A watermelon  is usual  for a vegetable (it’s usual for a vegetable to be so large)
- A watermelon  is large  than  is usual  for a vegetable. (a watermelon is  large  rather than  usual  for a vegetable )

Similar comparison:  The Parthenon is a temple, and it’s widely considered a supreme example of Doric architecture. So, the Parthenon is a Doric temple. However, some people who have witnessed its colossal size may say:

- The Parthenon  is large  for a Doric temple (usual Doric temples aren’t this large)
- The Parthenon  is usual  for a Doric temple (usual Doric temples are this large)
- The Parthenon  is larger  than  is usual  for a Doric temple. (The Parthenon is  large  rather than  usual  for a Doric temple)

Conclusion:  People almost always differ in opinion. So, you had better listen to your heart. And choose B.

ballest127 · Answer

Hi  MartyTargetTestPrep ,

Thank you for your great explanation.

I already understand why A is incorrect now as per your explanation.
However, I fail to understand why B is correct. 
And what is the exact meaning in B?
I think it means the same and cannot differentiate the meaning between A and B.

The Parthenon is larger than  is usual  for a Doric temple, ....
What things are being compared in the sentence , Parthenon and something else or not ?

Please explain.
Thank you.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

The truth is that the ways in which comparisons are expressed in the English language are not always very logical.

Here's an example of one not quite logical way in which people express comparisons:

Company A made a greater amount of money than Company B made.

That sentence says that the amount of money was greater, but greater than what? No other amount of money is mentioned.

Here's a more logical way of expressing that same comparison:

Company A made an amount of money greater than the amount that Company B made.

OK, now, we are actually comparing one amount with another, but the first sentence, the much less logical one, is also considered acceptable.

So, let's consider the version created via the use of (B).

The Parthenon is larger than  is usual  for a Doric temple, ....

Does the wording of that sentence that make logical sense? Not really, but here are some ways in which that structure can be interpreted:

The Parthenon is larger than  what   is usual  for a Doric temple, ....

The Parthenon is larger than  the largeness that   is usual  for a Doric temple, ....

Even those interpretations are not quite logical, but that's the way English works.

Kritisood · Answer

MartyTargetTestPrep

thanks for the explanations. Here B is definitely the answer but could you please elaborate a little more on why the tense in c is wrong? would greatly help, thanks!

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

(a) usual
This deleivers ambigious meaning whether it is usual for the patterson to the size or the Doric temple 
(b) is usual
This provides the exact meaning

(c) has been usual
It alters meaning

(d) one usually is
redundant use of verb

(e) it is usual
redundant use of verb 
Hence IMO B

The Parthenon is larger than usual for a Doric temple, with eight colu

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The Parthenon is larger than usual for a Doric temple, with eight colu

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