Use of like for Introducing Examples

Nobody is going to like this answer (myself included!), but it isn't unusual for "errors" of some sort to appear in the non-underlined portion of official GMAT questions. Here's the important thing to keep in mind -- always -- as you do GMAT SC: you're always looking for the "most effective answer," as stated in the SC instructions in the OGs.

That doesn't mean that you're looking for a "perfect" or even a "good" answer -- just the best of a potentially crappy bunch.

What does this mean in practice? Well, you're basically free to ignore anything that doesn't actually help you distinguish between the five answer choices. I like to tell my students to find the four worst answers; by default, the fifth answer will be the winner, even if it isn't a wonderful sentence.

So if the same "error" is repeated in all five answer choices, then don't worry about it.

But what about the use of "like" to introduce examples? I think the GMAT is inconsistent on this issue. As EducationAisle points out, the explanation to question #65 in the second edition of the verbal guide (same as #267 in the 2017 edition) does say that it's acceptable to use "like" to introduce examples. Interestingly, the explanation to #28 in OG 12 says the opposite: "Like is the wrong word to introduce examples."

So yes, that's a little bit maddening. In plenty of official SC questions, "such as" seems to be clearly preferred over "like" to introduce examples; given the choice between the two, I would stick with "such as," unless there's another issue that seems to trump it.

I hope this helps!