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Expert reply
Updated on: 09 Aug 2021, 02:54
Originally posted by souvik101990 on 30 Sep 2015, 07:13.
Last edited by Bunuel on 09 Aug 2021, 02:54, edited 1 time in total.
Last edited by Bunuel on 09 Aug 2021, 02:54, edited 1 time in total.
Edited the question.
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Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
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Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with a mixture of chants, fiddle tunes, and religions music and only gradually evolved into the blues.
A. Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with
B. Similar to that of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from oral tradition that began with
C. As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as
D. Like other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson’s music arose from an oral tradition beginning with
E. Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers , the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as
A. Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with
B. Similar to that of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from oral tradition that began with
C. As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as
D. Like other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson’s music arose from an oral tradition beginning with
E. Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers , the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as
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11 Mar 2019, 12:28
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Hello Everyone!
Let's tackle this question, one issue at a time, and narrow it down to the correct answer! To begin, here is the original question with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:
Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with a mixture of chants, fiddle tunes, and religions music and only gradually evolved into the blues.
A. Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with
B. Similar to that of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from oral tradition that began with
C. As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as
D. Like other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson’s music arose from an oral tradition beginning with
E. Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers , the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as
After a quick glance over the options, there are a few key differences we can focus on:
1. How they begin: similar to / as with / like
2. What comes after the modifier: the music of Robert Johnson / Robert Johnson / Robert Johnson's music
3. How they end: beginning with / that began with / beginning as
Since we're dealing with a comparison question, the first place to start should always be parallelism! We need to make sure that the sentence is comparing 2 similar things (apples to apples, bicycles to bicycles, etc.). Let's focus on that first, and eliminate any options that don't compare similar things:
A. Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with --> WRONG (compares people to music)
B. Similar to that of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from oral tradition that began with --> WRONG (compares music to a person)
C. As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as --> OK (compares people to people)
D. Like other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson’s music arose from an oral tradition beginning with --> WRONG (compares people to music)
E. Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers , the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as --> OK (compares music to music)
We can eliminate options A, B, & D because they create a non-parallel comparison.
Now that we have it narrowed down to only 2 options, let's focus on the other two list items to narrow it down to just one option:
C. As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as
This is INCORRECT for a couple reasons. First, starting a noun phrase with "As with" is considered a no-no on the GMAT. The GMAT prefers you use "like" instead because it's clear and to the point. Second, the phrase "beginning as" suggests these events took place in the present tense, but we need to use verbs or phrases that are in the past tense for this to make sense. If his music eventually "evolved" at some point in the past, then it doesn't make sense to say that it "starts" in the present.
E. Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers , the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as
This is CORRECT! The comparison is parallel, the phrasing is clear and concise, and the meaning is clear thanks to the use of past tense verbs throughout.
There you have it - option E is the correct choice!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
Let's tackle this question, one issue at a time, and narrow it down to the correct answer! To begin, here is the original question with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:
Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with a mixture of chants, fiddle tunes, and religions music and only gradually evolved into the blues.
A. Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with
B. Similar to that of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from oral tradition that began with
C. As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as
D. Like other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson’s music arose from an oral tradition beginning with
E. Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers , the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as
After a quick glance over the options, there are a few key differences we can focus on:
1. How they begin: similar to / as with / like
2. What comes after the modifier: the music of Robert Johnson / Robert Johnson / Robert Johnson's music
3. How they end: beginning with / that began with / beginning as
Since we're dealing with a comparison question, the first place to start should always be parallelism! We need to make sure that the sentence is comparing 2 similar things (apples to apples, bicycles to bicycles, etc.). Let's focus on that first, and eliminate any options that don't compare similar things:
A. Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with --> WRONG (compares people to music)
B. Similar to that of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from oral tradition that began with --> WRONG (compares music to a person)
C. As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as --> OK (compares people to people)
D. Like other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson’s music arose from an oral tradition beginning with --> WRONG (compares people to music)
E. Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers , the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as --> OK (compares music to music)
We can eliminate options A, B, & D because they create a non-parallel comparison.
Now that we have it narrowed down to only 2 options, let's focus on the other two list items to narrow it down to just one option:
C. As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as
This is INCORRECT for a couple reasons. First, starting a noun phrase with "As with" is considered a no-no on the GMAT. The GMAT prefers you use "like" instead because it's clear and to the point. Second, the phrase "beginning as" suggests these events took place in the present tense, but we need to use verbs or phrases that are in the past tense for this to make sense. If his music eventually "evolved" at some point in the past, then it doesn't make sense to say that it "starts" in the present.
E. Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers , the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as
This is CORRECT! The comparison is parallel, the phrasing is clear and concise, and the meaning is clear thanks to the use of past tense verbs throughout.
There you have it - option E is the correct choice!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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Expert reply
Updated on: 12 Aug 2018, 20:56
Originally posted by mcelroytutoring on 25 Jan 2017, 18:56.
Last edited by mcelroytutoring on 12 Aug 2018, 20:56, edited 1 time in total.
Last edited by mcelroytutoring on 12 Aug 2018, 20:56, edited 1 time in total.
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Hi nishatfarhat87,
This is not a correct analysis of Choice C, in my opinion. The Official GMAC answer explanation is also lacking, but I will do my best to explain it more clearly.
The main clause does not contain an action that needs to be compared with another action after "as", because the two-part comparison has already been made (Robert Johnson vs. other Mississippi Delta blues singers). Furthermore, it's not the verbs that are being compared: it's the nouns (R.J. versus other blues singers).
Rather, the GMAC does not want us to use "as with" when comparing two nouns or noun phrases, as it says in the official answer explanation, even though this is normal English usage. Instead it prefers the one-word term "like," which is more concise.
In everyday English, "As with other GMAT tutors, I am asked about this question frequently" is a perfectly valid sentence (although GMAC disagrees with me in its answer explanation). However, "Like other GMAT tutors, I am asked about this question frequently" would be even better.
There is a second part of this answer choice that is not technically incorrect, but displays somewhat poor usage. It's the part that says "Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as a mixture of chants, fiddle tunes, and religious music and only gradually evolved into the blues."
In the GMAC's official explanation, it incorrectly refers to "beginning" as the present participle, but that's not necessarily true. It's only the present participle if there is an actual present-tense helper verb in front of it, such as "am helping" or "are helping." However, it can be used in a variety of other tenses as well: "were helping" (past) or "had been helping (past perfect)," or "will be helping" (future). As you can see, the gerund (-ing) can be used to describe past, future, or present. Here are some additional examples:
Past: I opened every present, beginning with the largest one.
Future: Next year I will take better care of myself, starting with my diet.
So, why is "beginning" a poor choice? Because despite the fact that it's not incorrect, it does still imply the present tense in some ways, and thus sounds odd when preceding a past tense verb ("evolved"). This error can also be seen in Choice D. It's better to use the past tense in both instances, which is what we see in the correct answer choice, E.
Technically, the best way to precede a past tense verb is with a past perfect verb. For example, "I had walked outside when it began to rain" is slightly better than "I walked outside when it began to rain," because in the second version the order of events is less clear, which obscures meaning.
Thus, here is my perfect version of the sentence:
"Like the music of other Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson's music arose from an oral tradition that had begun with a mixture of chants, fiddle tunes, and religious music and only gradually evolved into the blues."
