Paleontologists are revising their image of the family life

Question

Paleontologists are revising their image of the family life of dinosaurs; many now believe that some dinosaurs lived in flocks,  tending and feeding their young much like birds do .

A) tending and feeding their young much like birds do
B) and tended and fed their young much as birds
C) tending and feeding their young much like birds
D) and, much like birds, were tending and feeding their young
E) much as birds, tending and feeding their young

lastochka · Answer

I think it's A
I believe that 'do' in the end is necessary here, hence I picked A over C

ywilfred · Answer

(B) is wrong ! It suggests dinosaurs transformed into birds while feeding their young !
(D) is wrong too. The verb 'were' is incorrectly used here.
(E) has a strange sentence structure. 'much as birds' should not follow lived in flocks.

Between (A) and (C), (A) is better because of the 'do' at the end. (C) also has a scant suggestion
that dinosaur were birds when they are feeding and tending to their young

SigEpUCI · Answer

Kaplan would say AS is preferable to LIKE in this case, since its comparing actions, but no answer chocie with 'AS' seems reasonable. I'll choose A with the group.

Paul · Answer

... interesting :wink:

... anybody else?

venksune · Answer

A. 'do' in the end is needed to communicate that the birds do similar action.

dj · Answer

even if C doesn't sound good, following the rules (like - not with clauses), I choose C.

damit · Answer

B is out becuase it uses as (for phrases not nouns)
E is out the placement is all wrong and uses as
D is akward and awful

now here is the quandry. Like is for nouns... from what I have read before C would be the correct asnwer as introducing the "do" would make it a pharse and then you cant use like anymore

BUT the DO sounds good and i think its needed... this is why i HATE SC! 
going with rule here as opposed to ear and say C?

please post OA am very curious

NEWKID · Answer

Is C the OA.
tending and feeding their young much like birds (did) ?

Paul · Answer

This was a tricky one. OA is C and dj explained it pretty well in thread "like vs as"
OE: Distinguish carefully b/w the use of  like  and  as  in comparisons. Use  like  when what follows is a noun or a noun phrase, not a clause; use  as  when a clause, including a subject and a verb, follows. In the original wording,  like  is wrong because it's followed by the clause "birds do". Choice C corrects this by eliminating the verb, leaving simply the noun "birds".

lastochka · Answer

setting the issue of 'like vs. as' aside for a moment, can we get a consensus that choice C is grammatically correct even though it ommits the 'do' in the end?

Bhai · Answer

A was my answer and I learned something good....Thanks all.

Paul · Answer

This is precisely the issue at hand. We cannot ignore the presence of "like" or "as" in order to determine whether the "do" should be there. A would have been good if it replace "like" with "as".

Paleontologists are revising their image of the family life

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