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swath20
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize Updated on: 13 Jul 2021, 00:41
Originally posted by swath20 on 17 Apr 2005, 09:03.
Last edited by Bunuel on 13 Jul 2021, 00:41, edited 2 times in total.
Renamed the topic, edited the question and added the OA.
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68% (00:57) correct 32% (01:04) wrong based on 4898 sessions

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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize lower-paid workers.


(A) Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize

(B) Unlike those in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize

(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize

(D) Japanese unions, unlike the United States, appear reluctant to organize

(E) Japanese unions, unlike those in the United States, appear reluctant about organizing
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B
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 04 Jul 2016, 01:20
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paidlukkha
ywilfred

(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize

if you remove comma,
In Japan, unions appear reluctant to organize lower-paid workers.

What am I missing?
Show more

Whats is your query exactly? Are you trying to find the problem in option C? If that is the case then following is my response:

"In Japan" should be parallel to "in Unted States", not just "United States". Therefore C is wrong. Moreover in that case like/ unlike would not be appropriate; connectors such as "as/in contrary" would be required.
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 15 Jan 2020, 08:11
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Hello, Tushrgupta. The issue is really one of comparing like and like, unions of Japan (or Japanese unions) with unions of America (or American unions). The nationality of the people within those unions in either country goes beyond the scope of the question. It can help to trace the comparison being made in each answer choice to eliminate a few options:

swath20
(A) Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize
Show more
Comparing a country to unions is an improper comparison.

swath20
(B) Unlike those in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize
Show more
Comparing unions (or those) in the U.S. to unions in Japan is a proper comparison.

swath20
(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize
Show more
Here again, we see a comparison between unions and a country. Straighten out the beginning of the sentence, and it would say, Unions in Japan, unlike the United States. You would need a those in or those of ahead of the United States to draw a proper comparison.

swath20
(D) Japanese unions, unlike the United States, appear reluctant to organize
Show more
We are still comparing unions to a country. Get rid of this option.

swath20
(E) Japanese unions, unlike those in the United States, appear reluctant about organizing
Show more
The comparison is fine here, but the idiom reluctant about is not.

I hope that helps clarify your concern. If not, just let me know, and I would be happy to discuss the matter further.

- Andrew
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 18 Jan 2020, 02:52
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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

swath20
Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize lower-paid workers.

(A) Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize

(B) Unlike those in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize

(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize

(D) Japanese unions, unlike the United States, appear reluctant to organize

(E) Japanese unions, unlike those in the United States, appear reluctant about organizing
Show more

Choice A: Option A incorrectly compares "Japanese unions" to "the United States", rather than to the United States' unions. Thus, Option A is incorrect.

Choice B: Option B correctly compares Japanese unions to "those", referring to unions "in the United States" and maintains proper idiom usage. Thus, Option B is correct.

Choice C: Option C incorrectly compares "In Japan", meaning the quality of being within Japan, to the country "the United States". Thus, Option C is incorrect.

Choice D: Option D repeats the error committed by Option A. Thus, Option D is incorrect.

Choice E: Option E commits an idiom error; this option utilizes the phrase "reluctant about", while the correct phrase is "reluctant to". Thus, Option E is incorrect.

Hence, B is the best answer choice.

One interesting thing to note here is that there appears to be a case of pronoun ambiguity in Option B, as it seems that "those" could refer to either "Japanese unions" or just "unions". However, a closer reading will reveal that there is no such ambiguity. Logically speaking, the only noun that "those" can refer to is "unions". If "those" referred to "Japanese unions", the full sentence would be "Unlike Japanese unions in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize lower-paid workers." As this sentence makes no logical sense, we can conclude that “those” must refer to “unions”.

To understand the concept of “Exceptions to Pronoun Ambiguity on GMAT”, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 17 Apr 2005, 16:18
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A,C,D are out.
B and E, both, use the proper form of comparision but in E the idiom, reluctant about, is not correct. it should be reluctant to as in B. So go with B.
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 17 Apr 2005, 22:46
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(A) Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize
- bad comparision. Compares country to union.

(B) Unlike those in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize

(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize

(D) Japanese unions, unlike the United States, appear reluctant to organize
- bad comparison

(E) Japanese unions, unlike those in the United States, appear reluctant about organizing
- bad comparison

Between (B) and (C), i prefer (B).

In (B),
Unlike those (unions) in U.S, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize lower-paid workers

In (C)
In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize
The last part 'unions appear reluctant to organize' should stick close to Japan.

B it is.
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 03 Jul 2016, 04:36
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ywilfred

(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize

if you remove comma,
In Japan, unions appear reluctant to organize lower-paid workers.

What am I missing?
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 03 Sep 2019, 19:39
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swath20
Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize lower-paid workers.


(A) Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize

(B) Unlike those in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize

(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize

(D) Japanese unions, unlike the United States, appear reluctant to organize

(E) Japanese unions, unlike those in the United States, appear reluctant about organizing
Show more
daagh
How to differntiate
that
those in option B ,refers to unions only and not japansese unions
Is there any such rule?
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 04 Sep 2019, 00:36
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Quote:
(B) Unlike those in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize
Show more

Quote:
Vanam wrote
How to differentiate that those in option B, refers to unions only and not Japanese unions
Show more

Let's replace Japanese Unions for "those'.

Unlike Japanese unions in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize.

What are the Japanese unions doing in the US? It is illogical, right?
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 04 Jan 2020, 19:49
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Dear expert,

Just to confirm (I did a Google research but there seemed to be no definitive answer). - reluctant TO DO something and reluctant ABOUT something are both correct idioms. Is that correct?

Or why else is E better than B? Thanks so much!
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 05 Jan 2020, 08:22
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shabuzen102
Dear expert,

Just to confirm (I did a Google research but there seemed to be no definitive answer). - reluctant TO DO something and reluctant ABOUT something are both correct idioms. Is that correct?

Or why else is E better than B? Thanks so much!
Show more
Hello, shabuzen102. You can find all sorts of things on the Internet. According to two separate sources I have consulted, one of which is an unabridged Collins English Dictionary, the idiom is reluctant to, not reluctant about. You can be hesitant about something, and hesitant is synonymous with reluctant, so I understand how people could become confused, but reluctant + about simply do not go together in Standard American English, the type that is tested on the GMAT™. Otherwise, there would indeed be little to separate (B) from (E). You could argue that by placing Japanese unions first, the referent to those is less clear, but I think this one at its base comes down to the idiom.

I hope that helps. If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

- Andrew
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 08 Jan 2020, 06:14
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swath20
Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize lower-paid workers.


(A) Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize
- Comparison between United states (country) and Unions - Wrong

(B) Unlike those in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize
- While "those" can refer to either Japanese unions or only unions, reference to only "unions" seems more logical
- If we can find better option that removes this ambiguity we can select that option

(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize
- unlike = strict parallelism. - In Japan, unlike "in" US
- had "in" been there, this would have been a better choice than B
- Wrong

(D) Japanese unions, unlike the United States, appear reluctant to organize
- Comparison between "unions" and "country"
- Wrong

(E) Japanese unions, unlike those in the United States, appear reluctant about organizing
Show more
- The comparison is similar to that observed in option B.
- But idiom - "reluctant to" and not "reluctant about"
- Wrong

- B is correct answer.
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 14 Jan 2020, 21:33
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How can unions in the US refer to Japanese union.....Japanese is people of Japan and comparing with place ....won't it be Better to use american instead of US....

Question posses a lot of ambiguity there are chances of having unions in US comprising of Japanese people.

Please explain...
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 19 Jan 2020, 20:51
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egmat experts. Please help me out here.

Unlike/like are always followed by a noun, not a clause/ prepositional phrase.
So why option B is correct. Any help would be grateful

Posted from my mobile device
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 19 Jan 2020, 22:29
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shivbits42
Unlike/like are always followed by a noun, not a clause/ prepositional phrase.
So why option B is correct.
Show more
Hi! unlike those in the United States is neither a clause nor a prepositional phrase.
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 19 Jan 2020, 23:49
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shivbits42
egmat experts. Please help me out here.

Unlike/like are always followed by a noun, not a clause/ prepositional phrase.
So why option B is correct. Any help would be grateful
Show more
Hi shivbits42,

To add to EducationAisle 's response:
1. the United States is a noun phrase
2. in the United States is a prepositional phrase (the United States is the object of the preposition in)
3. those in the United States is a noun (pronoun) phrase (in the United States is a modifier for the pronoun those)

We don't have a verb there, so that part of option B is not a clause.
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 09 May 2020, 09:44
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Dear MartyTargetTestPrep AjiteshArun GMATGuruNY,

Why is C. wrong?

(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize

Here "In Japan" acts as an adverbial prepositional phrase modifying the following clause.
(situating the country we are dealing with: e.g. In Japan, unlike the United States, companies are struggling.)

Also "Japan" is completely parallel with "the United States"

Why is my thinking wrong?
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 10 May 2020, 21:10
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swath20
(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize
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If I remember correctly, option C is one of the "about organizing" options. I think C has been reproduced incorrectly here.

Option C should be:
In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant about organizing
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 10 May 2020, 21:20
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Dear AjiteshArun,

Thank you for your reply

(B) Unlike those in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize

When we use "those" to refer to a noun, is an adjective attached to that noun ALWAYS not included in "those"?
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Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize 10 May 2020, 21:46
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AjiteshArun
swath20
(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize
If I remember correctly, option C is one of the "about organizing" options. I think C has been reproduced incorrectly here.

Option C should be:
In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant about organizing
Show more

Option C is different in different editions of this question. So, there is one, which reads "In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize" and one which reads "In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant about organizing".
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