Success in school, according to many of the more cynical critics of pu

Question

Success in school, according to many of the more cynical critics of public education, is like playing marbles:  Distinguished achievement depends not upon talent but upon luck.

A. Success in school, according to many of the more cynical critics of public education, is like playing marbles:

B. Criticizing success in public education cynically, many compare successful schooling to a
successful marble game:

C. School is a game of marbles, according to many of the more cynical critics of public education

D. The more cynical critics of public education say that success in schools is like playing marbles:

E. Many of the more cynical critics of public education say that succeeding in school is like playing marbles:

m1033512 · Answer

D and E are close

D is missing 'Many more'

So E is most suitable

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anothermillenial · Answer

Doer01  A is incorrect because the clause "according to many of the more cynical critics" is set into the sentence as an inessential clause. However, the whole meaning of the sentence depends on the fact that this is the ideology of cynical critics.

davidcarreno · Answer

I actually chosed an incorrect answer, but I guess the explanation would be that the phrase is comparing 2 things: succeeding in school is like playing marbles. Thus, the 2 verbs have to be parallel: succeeding and playing. In the other answers we do not have this parallel form.

anothermillenial · Answer

A. Success in school,  according to many of the more cynical critics of public education , is like playing marbles:
The "according to many...." clause is essential to the sentence meaning and cannot be set off by commas.

B. Criticizing success in public education cynically,  many  compare  successful schooling to a
successful marble game :
Who is "many"? This sentence completely removes the "cynical critics" part. Also, changes the sentence meaning...."successful schooling" to "successful marble game". This is not what the original sentence intended.

C.  School is a game of marbles , according to many of the more cynical critics of public education
This makes school a metaphor for "game of marbles" when the intention is to compare the "succeeding in schools" to "playing a marble game." Also, we try to precede the colon with whatever needs further explanation. Usually the closer, the better.

D. The more cynical critics of public education say that  success in schools  is like playing marbles:
I don't think this is completely wrong in everyday speech, but we're incorrectly comparing an action "playing marbles" to "success".

E. Many of the more cynical critics of public education say that  succeeding in school is like playing marbles :
This sentence adequately compares the action of succeeding in school to playing marbles.

hiranmay · Answer

Success in school, according to many of the more cynical critics of public education, is like playing marbles: Distinguished achievement depends not upon talent but upon luck.

A. Success in school, according to many of the more cynical critics of public education, is like playing marbles:-> “success in school” is not parallel with “playing marbles”

B. Criticizing success in public education cynically, many compare successful schooling to a successful marble game: -> who are “many”?
C. School is a game of marbles, according to many of the more cynical critics of public education -> missing conjunction

D. The more cynical critics of public education say that success in schools is like playing marbles: -> “success in school” is not parallel with “playing marbles”
E. Many of the more cynical critics of public education say that succeeding in school is like playing marbles: -> correct: “succeeding in school” is parallel with “playing marbles”

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sayan640 · Answer

mikemcgarry  Would you like to make some comment on this question ?

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avikroy · Answer

Rubina11  what is the source of this question?? totally took me for a ride

generis · Answer

Rubina11  , please post the source of this question (and all questions).

Please do so in the original post, a few lines beneath E, this way:

Source: _________

Rubina11 · Answer

This question is taken from this site https://www.gmat-ask.narod.ru/gmat/gmscex1.htm

tinytiger · Answer

Here’s my two cents’ worth on the key errors from getting to what the sentence really means:

The stem means to say that doing well in school is akin to playing a game of marbles, and that doing well in school is being compared this way because such an achievement requires luck - according to a specific group of people (the not-your-average, harsher ones) among education cynics.

Now there are a few key problems, namely:
1. A metaphorical construct (success) is being compared to an activity (game of marbles) - on the GMAT, this is not considered a grammatically Apple-2-Apple comparison. We need to find something that compares either an activity or action to another activity or action.

2. The statement is made by a specific group of people, which are the ones who are more cynical than usual towards education.

3. We need to find proper comparative words eg when comparing nouns vs nouns, ‘like’ is preferred to other forms eg ‘as’.

Error analysis:
1. A is out since a metaphorical construct (success) is being compared to an action/activity of playing a game of marbles.

2. Change of meaning: the statement of comparison was made by a specific group of cynics, however in B it is suggesting some unspecified general group of people are making this comment.

3. Change of meaning: Succeeding in school is being compared to playing a game of marbles; however, in C, school is not just likened but in fact is being said to BE a game of marbles. C is out for this reason that the answer choice mistakenly says that when A is like B, A is B - this may not be foolproof and we should keep the level of ambiguity in the stem. On top of that, C is missing a conjunction; even if it didn’t, C would still be out for reasons cited above.

4. Succeeding is being compared to playing (one activity compared to another), while keeping the level of reference made by the specific group of cynics.

5. E commits the same error as in A, hence out.

Answer: D

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Piyush0410 · Answer

As per my knowledge noun are compared using like ad action using as. Here action is compared using like which is wrong. Can somebody justify.

tinytiger · Answer

Piyush0410 my understanding is that in this case, the 'verb-ing' functions as a gerund / noun and thus the correct usage should be to pair the comparison using 'like' instead of 'as'. The word 'succeeding' is functioning as a subject of the sentence, and thus qualifies as a noun /gerund in this case. Have shared a link here with you that addresses your question: https://gmatclub.com/forum/experts-topi ... 39780.html Additional useful links here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/as-vs-like-c ... 33950.html

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Success in school, according to many of the more cynical critics of pu

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Success in school, according to many of the more cynical critics of pu

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