Bunuel wrote:
Studies of performance reports show that, compared to those whose colleagues have English as their native language, managers whose colleagues speak English as a second language are markedly more effective.
A. to those whose colleagues have English as their native language, managers whose colleagues speak English as a second language are markedly more effective..
B. with those whose native language is English, managers whose colleagues speak English as a second language are markedly more effective.
C. to them whose colleagues’ native language is English, managers whose colleagues are not native English speakers are markedly effective.
D. with them whose colleagues are native English speakers, managers whose colleagues are not are markedly effective.
E. to those whose colleagues are native English speakers, managers whose colleagues speak English as a second language are markedly effective.
I'll try to write the post as I went about solving the question. I am no expert so please let me know if my analysis has any errors. -
2 Things that stood out to me while reading the original sentence.
i) Compared to vs Compared with : Both versions are correct. No need to spend time on this. Even if you do not know that both are correct, look for other eliminations. Avoid wasting time on idioms.
ii) Comparison is between colleagues. Not managers.
Quote:
A. to those whose colleagues have English as their native language, managers whose colleagues speak English as a second language are markedly more effective..
"those" is used properly.
Comparison is fine.
Nothing seemed explicitly wrong.
Kept Option (A)
Quote:
B. with those whose native language is English, managers whose colleagues speak English as a second language are markedly more effective.
Comparing colleagues to managers. Not grammatically wrong but logically incorrect.
Eliminated Option (B)
Quote:
C. to them whose colleagues’ native language is English, managers whose colleagues are not native English speakers are markedly effective.
"them" stood out to me because usually we use "those/that" to compare entities not pronouns such as them or their.
I think that is because "those" can refer to only the head noun while "them" refers to the head noun + modifiers. (Experts let me know if I am wrong)
Eliminated Option (C)
Quote:
D. with them whose colleagues are native English speakers, managers whose colleagues are not are markedly effective.
Similar usage of "them".
Eliminated Option (D)
Quote:
E. to those whose colleagues are native English speakers, managers whose colleagues speak English as a second language are markedly effective.
I read Option (E). Everything seemed okay. So I went back to Option (A).
Now re-reading Option (A) looking for differences, I notice the "have" English as their native language.
"are native English speakers" seems better than "have English as their native language"
Eliminated Option (A).
Answer is Option (E)
Something's I missed while going through the question -i) The "compared" + "more" causes redundancy.
Totally missed this!
If we are using "compared" why do we really need another comparative form word or marker such as "more".
Looking back, this elimination was a much safer way to eliminate Option (A).
ii)
The solution for Option (C) also indicated a meaning change. Although I eliminated Option (C) immediately after seeing the "them", I did not catch the error during my analysis.
Makes sense.
If this were a critical reasoning question I would have asked myself "If those colleagues do not use English as their native language that does not imply that they will use English as their second language.
Take Aways -
i) We do not use “compared” + “more/comparative form” in the same sentence
“compared to X, Y is strong” ✅
“compared to X, Y is stronger” ❌
ii) "those" is used to compare entities not "them"
iii) Read each answer choice with a critical eye. But also make sure to eliminate definite errors. Find 1 and move on.
Thanks for reading!
close
16 Sep 2014, 01:57
50%
(01:23)
wrong 
