Baseball, the only major professional sport during the Great Depressio

Question

Baseball, the only major professional sport during the Great Depression, was  as present as the weather, and as much discussed .

A. as present as the weather, and as much discussed
B. present like the weather was, and it was also discussed as much
C. as present and was discussed as the weather was
D. so present as to be discussed like the weather
E. present and discussed as often as the weather was

The right option as given in Princeton is option A.

I have confusion between A and E options here & I kinda like the E option better. Please tell me why I should not prefer E over A?
A. -> "a sport as present as weather" -- I'm not sure if presence of whether and game can be compared like this
B. -> Wrong | "like the weather was" - "as" sounds more appropriate instead of "like" here
C. -> Wrong | "was" i unnecessary before discussed
D. -> Wrong | "as to be" - wrong
E. -> this sound most appropriate of the options above. it says that the sport was present and it was discussed as often as the weather was

Please explain why one should choose option A over option E.
Thank you!

narangvaibhav · Answer

the comparison about the presence of weather and baseball is missing in E, while the original sentence carries it.

Best
Vaibhav

narangvaibhav · Answer

Forgot to add details:

The reason y E is wrong is : 
it says "present and discussed as often as the weather was"

Break the sentence and you'll get: 
"baseball was discussed as often as the weather was" 
which is correct. 
"baseball was present as often as the weather was" 
which is incorrect.

Best
Vaibhav

daagh · Answer

The clue for the difference between A and E lie in the words  much and often , The original says  much  which implies that the discussion was deep, a non–countable quantum, but E changes it saying that the discussion was often meaning frequently or many times, implying a countable  number of times . So E doesn’t stick to the original in spirit and letter.

KyleWiddison · Answer

(A) as present as the weather, and as much discussed. 
Correct comparison "as X as Y". As much discussed as an add on leads to clear meaning that both presence and discussion are compared.
(B) present like the weather was, and it was also discussed as much 
cannot use "like" with a clause (the weather was). Unclear meaning of the discussion. "It" doesn't have a clear referent.
(C) as present and was discussed as the weather was 
Incorrect comparison - looking for "as X as Y" with similar structure for X & Y.
(D) so present as to be discussed like the weather 
improper meaning for the comparison. What does it mean to be discussed like the weather?
(E) present and discussed as often as the weather was 
sentence does not compare the presence of both things, only how often they were discussed.

Correct answer A.

KW

LIBERTYRodP · Answer

Baseball, the only major professional sport during the Great Depression, was  as present as the weather, and as much discussed .

A. as present as the weather, and as much discussed   ---- CORRECT 
B. present like the weather was, and it was also discussed as much  ---- incorrect usage of "like" . Even when "like" is used to set "similar to", it should only be used to link a noun to a clause. It can't link two clauses together.  
C. as present and was discussed as the weather was   ---- Not parallel and distorts the idiom as____as. Inside the "as___as" structure we can't place a verb such as "was discussed". 
D. so present as to be discussed like the weather   ---- Changes the meaning. Idiom "so X as Y" does not set a comparison. 
E. present and discussed as often as the weather was   ----- Changes the meaning. We need "as much discussed as"

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Choice A:  Option A preserves the intended meaning of the sentence, avoids pronoun ambiguity, and maintains parallelism. Thus, Option A is correct.

Choice B:  Option B uses the word "like" to link a clause; to link clauses, the word “as” must be used. Moreover, the pronoun "it" does not have a clear referent. Thus, Option B is incorrect.

Choice C:  Option C does not utilize the correct idiomatic structure, "as X as Y". Thus, Option C is incorrect.

Choice D:  Option D distorts the intended meaning of the sentence, as "so present as to be discussed" fails to convey that baseball was as common as the weather. Thus, Option D is incorrect.

Choice E: Option E distorts the intended meaning of the sentence, as "was present and discussed" fails to convey that baseball was as common as the weather; rather, this phrase only implies that baseball was present and, separately, as discussed as the weather. Thus, Option E is incorrect.

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Like v/s As on GMAT”, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RDBnJBNtyk

To understand the concept of “Avoiding Pronoun Ambiguity on GMAT”, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGc9RgNXBZE

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

This question is based on Comparison.

The sentence draws a comparison between baseball and weather on the basis of the extent to which both were present and were discussed.
The comparative word ‘as’ is always followed by another ‘as’ to complete the comparison.

Option A contains the complete expression –  as  present  as  the weather. The adverb ‘much’ conveys the extent or degree to which baseball and weather were discussed. So, A is the best of all the options.

Option B contains the idiomatically inappropriate conjunction ‘like’. This conjunction cannot be used to make a comparison between two clauses. This option is also wordy and contains an ambiguous pronoun - it. So, Option B can be eliminated.

In Option C, the comparative phrase is incomplete. The conjunction ‘as’ is not repeated after the adjective ‘present’. The verb ‘was’ at the end of the option is redundant. So, Option C can be eliminated.

Option D is worded in a clumsy manner. It contains the idiomatically inappropriate conjunction ‘like’. When ‘so’ is used as a conjunction followed by an adjective, the phrase is completed by the relative pronoun ‘that’. The correct expression would be - so present that it is discussed. The relative pronoun 'that' is missing in this option. So, Option D can also be eliminated.

The adverb ‘often’ changes the meaning in Option E. Discussions may take place 'often' but weather cannot be said to be present 'often'. So, Option E can be eliminated.

Therefore, A is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

Foreheadson · Answer

Dears, GmatNinja, CrackVerbalGMAT,

Can you please explain/confirm if the rule on gmat exists that the final answer must not change the meaning of option A?

I often encounter cases when experts post that some answer choice changes the meaning. But if the answer choice is gramatically and stracturally correct and does not have any flaws (say, passive voive, etc), who cares that it changes the meaning from answer choice A? I have never seen in the official GMAT instructions that we should eliminate such answers.

Please share your instructions regarding this matter.

P.s. I'd like to mention that this does not have to do with this question. I understand that the weather is always present, not often.

Posted from my mobile device

GMATE1 · Answer

Dear @egamt, dear  ExpertsGlobal5 , dear  GMATNinja ,

I was one of the many stuck between answer choices A&E. I do realize that E has a different meaning, but to me it seems to be a more logical meaning.   Baseball can never be as present as the weather   as the wheather exists continously while a baseball game only lasts a few hours at most. Therefore, I find it strange to make the comparison as is done in A. I do understand that this sentence was meant to be hyperbole however due to the strange comparison E seems better to me.

How do I know what the intended meaning is?   Sometimes answer choice A is incorrect as it does not convey the intended meaning correctly. But how can I deciver what the actual intended meaning is?

CEdward · Answer

For A, how come we aren't saying 'as present as the weather  WAS '?

whygmatha · Answer

dear experts such as  Gmat  ninja, e_gmat, mikemcgarry ,, kindly explain how come we are using in option A comma+and construction to make only two things parallel, since its a list which contains only 2 iteam therefore it should only has and,,,kindly explain

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