Unlike German shepherds or Doberman pinchers, there is an

Question

Unlike German shepherds or Doberman pinchers, there is an unwillingness on the part of many people to believe that pit bulls might be fully domesticated .

a) Unlike German shepherds or Doberman pinchers, there is an unwillingness on the part of many people to believe that pit bulls might be fully domesticated

b) Many people, willing to believe that German shepherds and Doberman pinchers might be fully domesticated, are unwilling to believe the same of pit bulls.

c) Unlike German shepherds or Doberman pinchers, pit bulls bring out an unwillingness in many people to believe that they might be fully domesticated.

d) Many people are unwilling to believe that pit bulls might be fully domesticated even while they are willing to believe that German shepherds and Doberman pinchers might be.

e) Unlike German shepherds and Doberman pinchers, which many people are willing to believe can be fully domesticated, such belief does not extend to pit bulls.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Accepted Answer

"Even while" is not quite right--it implies that these things are happening at the same time, when the point is to make a clear contrast. However, even if we used "even though," we would not have a great answer choice. Notice that the sentence ends with the unclear "might be." We know the intention is "might be domesticated," but it's better to choose a sentence that makes the point more clearly.

For me, though, the worst part is "domesticated even while." We seem to be modifying "domesticated" instead of the belief, and the ambiguous "they" does nothing to help. For instance, I might say "Dobermans can be domesticated even while they are puppies." In other words, they can be domesticated even under these particular circumstances. (B) avoids that oddly-placed modifier and the unclear "they."

icandy · Answer

a) Unlike German shepherds or Doberman pinchers, there is an unwillingness on the part of many people to believe that pit bulls might be fully domesticated

Compares GS & DB with unwillingness.

b) Many people, willing to believe that German shepherds and Doberman pinchers might be fully domesticated, are unwilling to believe the same of pit bulls.
 
Concise and remove the Dependent clause in between. The sentence reads just fine.

c) Unlike German shepherds or Doberman pinchers, pit bulls bring out an unwillingness in many people to believe that they might be fully domesticated.
 
Comparison is good but pit bulls do not bring out any thing as per the Original sentence.

d) Many people are unwilling to believe that pit bulls might be fully domesticated even while they are willing to believe that German shepherds and Doberman pinchers might be.

I am not aware of whether while is almost always wrong on GMAT. But sure does have issues with conciseness and clarity

e) Unlike German shepherds and Doberman pinchers, which many people are willing to believe can be fully domesticated, such belief does not extend to pit bulls.
 
Wrong comparsion

sterny · Answer

B.

in C, the "they" is ambiguous because it can refer to the people themselves.

aditya8062 · Answer

D seems wrong 
 D says  : Many people are unwilling to believe that pit pulls might be fully domesticated even while they are willing to believe that German shepherds and Doberman pinchers might be  
D uses a construction  "even while" . this construction seems wrong .we can use either  "even though"  or  "while"  to bring about contrast but not "even while"

aimtoteach · Answer

Hello  Dmitry ,

I still have one doubt about option B.

Years of business writing has trained me to avoid using 'the same ' in a sentence. Is it ok to use it in this sentence then?

Many people, willing to believe that German shepherds and Doberman pincher might be fully domesticated, are unwilling to believe  the same  of pit bulls.

Looking forward to your help.

Thanks,
aimtoteach

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

Hi aimtoteach,

I must confess I've never heard the advice to avoid saying "the same." That seems kind of strange as a blanket recommendation. In fact, the most common way to use the word "same" is with "the" in front of it. Can you give me an example of the kind of usage you were trained to avoid?

aimtoteach · Answer

Hello Dmitry , In business writing, I have been told to avoid 'the same' usage in the following manner: 1) The internet service will not be available from 9 am IST; the same will be reinstated from 10 am IST today. 2) The expense claim form has been updated for all future submissions, the same is enclosed for your reference. I believe there is a lot of unlearning I have to do

Thanks, aimtoteach

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

Ah, I see. I suppose it's a matter of style, but the expression works here. I can't say I've seen it in any official GMAT problems, but I suppose it could crop up.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

If you start with a comparison such as "Unlike X," you need to make sure that the item you're comparing comes along next (not counting any modifiers in the middle). Take out the modifier and look at what is getting compared here:

"Unlike German shepherds and Doberman pinschers, such belief . . . " We don't want to compare dogs to belief!

"Unlike German shepherds and Doberman pinschers,  such belief  . . . " We don't want to compare dogs to belief!

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

The issue isn't what word goes with "same." It's what ideas you're comparing:

My parents paid  for  my brother's education, and I want them to do the same  for  me.

I think highly  of   my business partners, and I want them to think the same  of  me.

In the case of the original question, the idiom is "believe X of Y":

I can accept that the other kids lied, but I can't believe this of my daughter.

Does that make sense?

dominicraj · Answer

Hi,

The options clearly boil down to between B and D. But I selected D over B and here are my two cents:

In option B: The reference is made to people who are willing to believe that German shepherds and Doberman pinchers might be fully domesticated.

Now as per the real sentence the people is refered to generally and not specifically the lot "who are willing to believe". IMO option B changes the meaning.

In option D:
I can see that "they" is ambiguous however it does not make sense to say "the bulls" are willing to believe... How does anyone think that "the bulls" will believe?? :shock:

Hence I went with B. :oops:

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Regards,
Dom.

Hence I went with B. :oops:

Please correct me if I am wrong. Regards, Dom.

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

The sentence sets up a comparison between Dobermans and German shepherds on one hand and pit bulls on the other. The beginnings of the choices give you a standard 3-2 split, so start with the choices beginning Unlike since there are three of them. (A) and (E) don't compare dogs to dogs so eliminate them. The remaining three choices create grammatically correct parallels, but (C) and (D) are wordier and less active than (B), so (B) is the best bet. We'll discuss active and passive voices later on.

Prateek176 · Answer

DmitryFarber  ,  AjiteshArun

I eliminated B because it says "the same of pitbulls". Shouldn't it be " The same for pitbulls??" Please help

AjiteshArun · Answer

Although it could sound "off",  the same of  is a valid structure. Here are a couple of examples to help you develop a feel for this phrase:

South Korea is unlikely to start a conflict, but we cannot say the same of North Korea. 
This means that North Korea  is  likely to start a conflict.

We are ready to consider an alternate supplier. Can we say the same of the other team? 
This means that we are not sure that the other team is also ready to consider an alternate supplier.

Finally, here is  the official question that this question is based on .

LBS2020 · Answer

Please help me understand the construction of the question-with option B as the right fit. Can "the same" refer to the modifier? As fas as I understand the modifier has information that is essential for the sentence to make sense so there should be no comma between people and willing.

Im279 · Answer

When you quote you get the option to write to an expert I suggest you use that option to get the right answer.

saliak · Answer

Can the use of "even while" be considered redundant?

nayas96 · Answer

Doesn't (B) remove the comparision factor between the pitbulls and doberman or german shepards ?

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

saliak 
No, "even while" does have a valid meaning, even if it doesn't work well here. For instance, I might say "I wear a suit and tie every day, even while mowing the lawn."

Unlike German shepherds or Doberman pinchers, there is an

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Unlike German shepherds or Doberman pinchers, there is an

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