Unlike the steam locomotive, which required an hour or two : Sentence Correction (EA only)

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27 May 2018, 13:36

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Hi Experts / sayantanc2k / @e-gmat / GMATNinja,

Can you tell me what's wrong with choice E? My understanding is that adverb/adjectives can come before a Noun in 'Like/Unlike + comma' construction. Is the adverb almost instantly wrong here? I even remember seeing an official question similar to this (can't seem to find now). Please advise.

Thanks!

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27 May 2018, 15:31

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sdlife

Hi Experts / sayantanc2k / @e-gmat / GMATNinja,

Can you tell me what's wrong with choice E? My understanding is that adverb/adjectives can come before a Noun in 'Like/Unlike + comma' construction. Is the adverb almost instantly wrong here? I even remember seeing an official question similar to this (can't seem to find now). Please advise.

Thanks!

I had the same issue of choosing between C and E. The deal-breaker was the split "the locomotive" in C, and "a/the locomotive" in E. So I have decided that in both parts of the sentence it has to be the same the/the or a/a, which is the case of option C.

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Updated on: 13 May 2021, 10:11

Originally posted by thangvietnam on 28 May 2018, 02:55.
Last edited by thangvietnam on 13 May 2021, 10:11, edited 1 time in total.

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Hero8888

sdlife

Hi Experts / sayantanc2k / @e-gmat / GMATNinja,

Can you tell me what's wrong with choice E? My understanding is that adverb/adjectives can come before a Noun in 'Like/Unlike + comma' construction. Is the adverb almost instantly wrong here? I even remember seeing an official question similar to this (can't seem to find now). Please advise.

Thanks!

I had the same issue of choosing between C and E. The deal-breaker was the split "the locomotive" in C, and "a/the locomotive" in E. So I have decided that in both parts of the sentence it has to be the same the/the or a/a, which is the case of option C.

after "Like....+comma" , we need a noun in comparison with the noun after "Like". we can not use any words of different grammatical fuctions such as advert "instantly". so , choice e is wrong

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28 May 2018, 08:38

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monirjewel

Unlike the steam locomotive, which required an hour or two of firing up before it was possible to move under its own power, nearly full power could be summoned almost instantly from the cold engine of a diesel locomotive.

(A) it was possible to move under its own power, nearly full power could be summoned almost instantly from the cold engine of a diesel locomotive
(B) it was possible to move under its own power, the diesel locomotive's engine, when cold, could produce nearly full power almost instantly
(C) it could move under its own power, the diesel locomotive could summon nearly full power from a cold engine almost instantly
(D) moving under its own power, the cold engine of the diesel locomotive could produce nearly full power almost instantly
(E) moving under its own power, almost instantly a diesel locomotive could summon nearly full power from a cold engine

Correct Idiomatic Usage : Unlike X, Y

Unlike the steam locomotive, which required an hour or two of firing up before it could move under its own power, the diesel locomotive could summon nearly full power from a cold engine almost instantly.

Thus, Answer must be (C)

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28 May 2018, 11:17

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monirjewel

Unlike the steam locomotive, which required an hour or two of firing up before it was possible to move under its own power, nearly full power could be summoned almost instantly from the cold engine of a diesel locomotive.

(A) it was possible to move under its own power, nearly full power could be summoned almost instantly from the cold engine of a diesel locomotive
(B) it was possible to move under its own power, the diesel locomotive's engine, when cold, could produce nearly full power almost instantly
(C) it could move under its own power, the diesel locomotive could summon nearly full power from a cold engine almost instantly
(D) moving under its own power, the cold engine of the diesel locomotive could produce nearly full power almost instantly
(E) moving under its own power, almost instantly a diesel locomotive could summon nearly full power from a cold engine

We are comparing Steam locomotive with diesel locomotive. When we use like/unlike, it must be followed by only a "noun" or "noun phrase".

Straight option C.

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17 Feb 2019, 23:45

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Why E is not correct? Kindly help on the regard.

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19 Feb 2019, 23:28

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monirjewel

Unlike the steam locomotive, which required an hour or two of firing up before it was possible to move under its own power, nearly full power could be summoned almost instantly from the cold engine of a diesel locomotive.

(A) it was possible to move under its own power, nearly full power could be summoned almost instantly from the cold engine of a diesel locomotive
(B) it was possible to move under its own power, the diesel locomotive's engine, when cold, could produce nearly full power almost instantly
(C) it could move under its own power, the diesel locomotive could summon nearly full power from a cold engine almost instantly
(D) moving under its own power, the cold engine of the diesel locomotive could produce nearly full power almost instantly
(E) moving under its own power, almost instantly a diesel locomotive could summon nearly full power from a cold engine

Rashed12

Why E is not correct? Kindly help on the regard.

Hi Rashed12,

The comparison starts with "Unlike the steam locomotive, ...", followed by a modifier, which can be ignored in our consideration of the basic sentence structure.
The next part is the main clause. Because the comparison is to the steam locomotive, you MUST start the main clause with "the diesel locomotive". You shouldn't precede that with anything - such as the adverb (almost instantly) in choice (e).
In order for the comparison to be clear, you MUST begin the main clause with the item that provides the other half of the comparison.

Hope this helps!

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20 Feb 2019, 10:18

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Skywalker18

monirjewel

Unlike the steam locomotive, which required an hour or two of firing up before it was possible to move under its own power, nearly full power could be summoned almost instantly from the cold engine of a diesel locomotive.

(A) it was possible to move under its own power, nearly full power could be summoned almost instantly from the cold engine of a diesel locomotive
(B) it was possible to move under its own power, the diesel locomotive's engine, when cold, could produce nearly full power almost instantly
(C) it could move under its own power, the diesel locomotive could summon nearly full power from a cold engine almost instantly
(D) moving under its own power, the cold engine of the diesel locomotive could produce nearly full power almost instantly
(E) moving under its own power, almost instantly a diesel locomotive could summon nearly full power from a cold engine

Rashed12

Why E is not correct? Kindly help on the regard.

Hi Rashed12,

The comparison starts with "Unlike the steam locomotive, ...", followed by a modifier, which can be ignored in our consideration of the basic sentence structure.
The next part is the main clause. Because the comparison is to the steam locomotive, you MUST start the main clause with "the diesel locomotive". You shouldn't precede that with anything - such as the adverb (almost instantly) in choice (e).
In order for the comparison to be clear, you MUST begin the main clause with the item that provides the other half of the comparison.

Hope this helps!

Thanks a lot for the explanation.It is really helpful to understand why I have made mistake.

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02 Oct 2019, 06:34

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Comparison Steam locomotive to Diesel locomotive

Option C

Unlike the steam locomotive, which required an hour or two

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GMAT Sentence Correction (EA only) Questions

Unlike the steam locomotive, which required an hour or two

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