Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
bmwhype2 wrote:
In the late nineteenth century Annie Besant was widely regarded as one of the greatest living public orators, second only to Gladstone in a culture where oratory was the dominant public medium.
(A) as one of the greatest living public orators, second only
(B) to be one of the greatest living public orators, secondary only
(C) that she was one of the greatest living public orators, secondary only
(D) as being one of the greater living public orators she was only second
(E) to be greater than most other living public orators, and she was second only
Concepts tested here: Idioms + Pronouns + Grammatical Construction + Redundancy/Awkwardness• The word "considered/consider" does not require a conjunction or a helping word/phrase; “consider/considered” is always followed directly by the noun, and the similar word "regarded" must be followed by the conjunction "as"; correct usages: Jack is “considered a math genius” or Jack is “regarded as a math genius”.
• “second...to" is the correct idiomatic construction.
• “being” is only to be used when it is part of a noun phrase or represents the passive continuous verb tense; the use of passive continuous must be justified in the context.
• Semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses; commas are used to link an independent clause with a dependent one; commas cannot be used to join two independent clauses.
• The comparative forms are used to compare two elements and superlative forms are used to compare more than two elements.
A: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the idiomatic constructions “regarded as” and “second…to”. Further, Option A correctly uses a comma to join the independent clause “Annie Besant was widely regarded as…” and the dependent clause “second only to…”. Additionally, Option A correctly uses the superlative adjective “greatest” to compare more than two elements. Besides, Option A is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
B: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “regarded to be” rather than the idiomatic construction “regarded as”; please remember, the word "considered/consider" does not require a conjunction or a helping word/phrase; “consider/considered” is always followed directly by the noun, and the similar word "regarded" must be followed by the conjunction "as". Further, Option B incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “secondary… to” rather than the idiomatic construction “second…to”.
C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “regarded that” rather than the idiomatic construction “regarded as”; please remember, the word "considered/consider" does not require a conjunction or a helping word/phrase; “consider/considered” is always followed directly by the noun, and the similar word "regarded" must be followed by the conjunction "as". Further, Option C incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “secondary… to” rather than the idiomatic construction “second…to”.
D: This answer choice incorrectly joins the independent clauses “Annie Besant was widely regarded as…” and “she was only second to…” without using a semicolon or the "comma + conjunction" construction; please remember, semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses; commas are used to link an independent clause with a dependent one; comma cannot be used to join two independent clauses. Further, Option D incorrectly uses the comparative adjective “greater” to compare more than two elements; please remember, the comparative forms are used to compare two elements and superlative forms are used to compare more than two elements. Additionally, Option D is needlessly wordy due to its use of the word “being”; please remember, “being” is only to be used when it is part of a noun phrase or represents the passive continuous verb tense.
E: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “regarded to be” rather than the idiomatic construction “regarded as”; please remember, the word "considered/consider" does not require a conjunction or a helping word/phrase; “consider/considered” is always followed directly by the noun, and the similar word "regarded" must be followed by the conjunction "as". Further, Option E uses the needlessly wordy phrase “and she was second only to Gladstone”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
Hence, A is the best answer choice.To understand the use of "Considered" and "Regarded As" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the use of "Being" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
To understand the use of punctuations on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~9 minutes):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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