V05-34

I agree with madhavmarda. Here I see this sentence structure as below:

The art installation...represented not A, but (rather) B. Then "not A" is replaced by "neither x, nor y". So A & B should be paralleled.
If we choose C, it becomes, The art installation represented not a, but rather was B. I feel doubt on the OA.

Hi Bunuel

I am also having the same doubt as annays and madhavmarda. Could you please elaborate.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers
Aurion

I will try to givemy two cents here.

The art installation in Central Park, which featured over a hundred men and women dressed in army fatigues and lying on the ground as if they had been killed in battle, represented neither an anti-war nor a pro-military statement,but rather was an attempt to comment creatively.

The statement says that the art installation represented neither an anti-war nor a pro military statment , (Independent clause) but rather (The art installation) was an attempt to comment creatively.

Its not possible for the art installation to comment.

Meaning and logic is most important.

I don't see a problem in this Q.

It is a simple question of parallelism. The questions reads as follows:- " The art .........................................., represented neither an anti-war nor a pro-military statement, but rather attempted to be commenting creatively on troubled times ".
The idiomatic expression used here is:- neither A nor B but rather C. "Represented" comes before neither hence we can't have any 'verb-ed' verb in C. This clearly eliminates A, B, D and E.

Hi Bunuel,

I have noted several questions in which solution states that " to be X" is nonsensical and unidiomatic. Can you please clarify on this?
And can we "but" in a single clause also to represent contrast? As here ...."represented neither X nor Y, but rather Z". The clause after but rather is not IC here.

Regards

Idioms are expressions that have unique forms. There is no hard and fast rule for determining the form of an idiom.

The usage "represented neither X nor Y, but rather Z" is alright - "but rather ... " need not be a clause parallel to another clause. Here X, Y and Z are parallel and they are all included within the clause "......represented....".

But marks a Independent clause , so is that part a complete sentence with subject verb pair then ???

I think this is a high-quality question and I agree with explanation.

The art installation in Central Park, which featured over a hundred men and women dressed in army fatigues and lying on the ground as if they had been killed in battle, represented neither an anti-war nor a pro-military statement, but rather attempted to be commenting creatively on troubled times.

Even though I solved it wrong for the 1st time. This question is not testing you on Idioms ( because to be honest how many can we even remember). but to see how are subject and verb logically related.
1. if we look closely we do find that attempted as a verb is not logically related to art installation , because art installation can not attempt something.
2.the verb represented is common for neither .............. nor .......... and but rather.....
the art installation represented neither ......nor .....
the art installation represented an attempt to comment creatively on troubled times
also answer choice d and E use commented as a correct verb , but instead of saying awkwardly written they actually have mentioned commented or at least attempted , which is again a verb to art installation , and can be eliminated based on reason mentioned above.

I think this is a poor-quality question and the explanation isn't clear enough, please elaborate. I don't understand how conceptually B and C differs in meaning. Can't "rather" also be used as a degree modifier ?

Isn't the use of both but and rather makes it redundant?

I have the same doubt.

I also have the same doubt here.

Bunuel sayantanc2k KarishmaB can you please help here.