While Jackie Robinson was a Brooklyn Dodger, his courage in the face

Question

While Jackie Robinson was a Brooklyn Dodger, his courage in the face of physical threats and verbal attacks was  not unlike that of Rosa Parks, who refused  to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

(A) not unlike that of Rosa Parks, who refused
(B) not unlike Rosa Parks, who refused
(C) like Rosa Parks and her refusal
(D) like that of Rosa Parks for refusing
(E) as that of Rosa Parks, who refused

daagh · Accepted Answer

Though unusual for using a double negative such as ' not unlike'  to denote a positive factor “ like ”, A is the best of the choices as all others fault on various counts; 
B and C are comparing courage to Rosa Parks
D, uses a gerund  ‘for refusing ’ and muddles up the meaning by not making clear who exactly did not move to the back of the bus, whether Jackie or Rosa
E uses  as  for comparing nouns

leonidas · Answer

Where ever you see a double negative, remove the two negatives and see what the stem is telling you.
Here the stem tells us that- "Jackie Robinson's courage in the face of physical threats and verbal attacks was like that of Rosa Parks".
(B) compares courage with Rosa Parks.
(C) compares courage with Rosa Parks
(D) correctly uses "that", but "for refusing" is awkward contsruction
(E) courage of A was "as that of" B is an incorrect comparison/usage. To compare two noun phrases, "like" should be used and not "as".

Hence (A)

bhatiagp · Answer

Its between A & E,

Standard question between such as and like :

We use like whenever we need to write " similiar to " and such as to give examples .

The pizza at Pizza Parlor tastes like (similiar to ) the pizza sold at The Pizza Cafe.

He likes physical sports such as ( For e.g. ) Soccer, and Rugby.

Also we use like to compare nouns, , and such as when we compare clauses.

In this case we are comparing two individuals , hence A is better.

So the answer should be A

Onell · Answer

Hi Daag,
 I understand D is wrong coz it changes the meaning. In this sentence  for refusing to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama  is a prepositional phrase. Prep phrase can either act as adverbial modifier or adjectival modifier so In this sentence can't we assume that it modifies the subject J ackie Robinson   rather than Rosa I dont understand why you think its ambiguous. 
for e.g 
Though the study is not large,  with results that can be generalized , it provides a successful framework that could be used by other pharmacies to develop similar programs.

with results that can be generalized  modifies the study. Am I missing sth... Please clarify

daagh · Answer

IMO, an adjectival modifier that modifies a subject noun must be placed either before the noun it modifies and set off with commas or at least be closer than another potential contender. In D, as you may see, the prepositional phrase is far removed from the subject and more importantly tacked on to Rosa without being set off by a comma, implying that the refusal is an essential feature of Rosa Parks. Can therefore the prep. phrase go out of the way to modify the subject? I think a genuine modifier should be above such infringements

The difference between this quote and the text is that, in the text, there are two contenders for the modifier while in the quote, there is only one study, which doesn’t give any room for ambiguity. To put things more explicitly, let me slightly alter the context of the content and see what happens

Now with an intrusion by another study and with the prepositional modifier unset-off from the intruder, which is study is more eligible to be modified?

daagh · Answer

If there is a choice between a weird clause using ‘ not unlike ’ but without any other flaws and another one with ' like ' but with other ostensible errors, then the ‘ not unlike ’ version is acceptable.

Of course, if the comparison marker ‘ like ’ were to replace  ‘not unlike ’, then the replacement would certainly be for better.

lawschoolsearcher · Answer

We can start eliminating "as" form here. "AS" is used to compare clauses while "LIKE" to compare things, person (noun). So E is INCORRECT.

B & C incorrectly compares courage to Rosa Parks. This is LOGIC error.

We are left with A and D.

D is incorrect because of "for refusing"

not unlike that of Rosa Parks,  who refused   to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. WHO REFUSED is preferred and it simply modifies Rosa Parks

Therefore, A.

joshnsit · Answer

I found a beautiful explanation for usage of " not unlike ". It explains where "not unlike" could overpower normal and precise "like".
Check for the comments given by  sunnyjohn

fozzzy · Answer

This one was really tricky GMAT usually prefers the "who clause" when referring to people so that leaves us with AB and E.

B has incorrect comparison so A and E..

Here its confusing...

Zarrolou · Answer

While Jackie Robinson was a Brooklyn Dodger, his courage in the face of physical threats and verbal attacks was not unlike that of Rosa Parks, who refused to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

(A) not unlike that of Rosa Parks, who refused -Correct
(B) not unlike Rosa Parks, who refused - Incorrect comparison (courage .... Rosa)
(C) like Rosa Parks and her refusal - and is wrongly used
(D) like that of Rosa Parks for refusing -for refusing is wrongly used
(E) as that of Rosa Parks, who refused -as should be replaced with like

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mrudulp15 · Answer

If "as" were to be replaced by "like" in (E), will that be a better answer than (A)?

himanshujovi · Answer

Isn't double negation an undesirable style of writing , GMAT or no GMAT ?

EducationAisle · Answer

Well  no . How do I know that? Well because this is an  Official  question and does use  double negative  in the correct option: ).

Having said that, GMAT does sometimes use  double negative  to create illogical meaning. In fact, the very first question in OG-13 uses a double negative in an incorrect option ( ..failed in not controlling.. ).

p.s. Our book   SC Nirvana   discusses  double negatives  as part of the  meaning  section. If you can PM you email, I can send you the corresponding section.

stevekeating · Answer

Dear mrudulp15, Yes, if you replaced “as” with “like” in E, it would be a better answer than A. It would be shorter and less confusing. In comparisons “like” is used with nouns, pronouns and noun phrases. “As” is used in clauses or in prepositional phrases. For example, “she is like you”. “Students in X study a lot for the GMAT, as do students in Y”. “As in 2005, in 2015 the summer was warm”.

TeamGMATIFY · Answer

While Jackie Robinson was a Brooklyn Dodger, his courage in the face of physical threats and verbal attacks was  not unlike that of Rosa Parks, who refused  to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

Meaning of the sentence: 
While Jackie Robinson was a Brooklyn Dodger -> Contrast that though Jackie Robinson was a Brooklyn Dodger.
Courage of Jackie was not unlike that of Rosa Parks. 
Courage is modified by "in the face of physical threats and verbal attacks".
Why the courage is not like that of Rosa Parks because she refused to move back of a bus in XYZ.

1) The comparison is correct as we are comparing courage to courage.
2) who -> is relative pronoun is correctly placed right next to the noun "Rosa Parks" and who + phrase is acting as a noun modifier.

(A) not unlike that of Rosa Parks, who refused -> Correct

(B) not unlike  Rosa Parks , who refused
1) Comparing Courage to a person

(C) like  Rosa Parks   and her refusal 
1) Comparing Courage to a person
2) The meaning completely changes. There is a contrast with the "While" and contrast is expressed with "his courage". But now as this sentence is joining another noun "her refusal" with the 1st noun "his courage", the meaning is distorted.

(D) like that of Rosa Parks  for refusing 
1) For provides the reason and the sentence provides the reason as to why the courage is like that of Rosa Parks. The meaning is not the intended meaning of the sentence.

(E)  as  that of Rosa Parks, who refused 
1) As -> takes a noun only when it is a function otherwise as always takes a clause. Hence As usage is wrong.

dabhishek87 · Answer

I was stuck between A and E. Chose E (wrong).
Can some one please explain why AS is wrong in E so I do not make similar mistake.
I thought "that" is refererring to complete clause " courage in the face of physical threats and verbal attacks".

egmat · Answer

Hello dabhishek87 , I would be glad to help you resolve your doubt. :-)

Use of as is very specific on GMAT SC. When as is used to present a comparison, then it must be followed by a clause. However, as is followed by a noun when it is used to present function or role of an entity. For example: 1. The nurse takes care of me as a mother does. --> Comparison between nurse and mother 2. Tia joined St. Vincent's hospital as a nurse. --> Tia in the role of nurse OR Tia = nurse. Now let's come back to the official sentence: While Jackie Robinson was a Brooklyn Dodger, his courage in the face of physical threats and verbal attacks was not unlike that of Rosa Parks, who refused to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama . The context of this sentence makes it absolutely clear that the sentence intends to present comparison between the courage of Jackie Robinson (JR) and the courage of Rosa parks. Now let's evaluate the usage of as in Choice E: as that of Rosa Parks, who refused In this choice, as has been followed by a noun entity that of Rosa Parks. This means that as in this choice presents role/function of JR's courage. This is definitely neither logical nor the meaning that the original sentence intends to convey. Hence, use of as in Choice E is incorrect. Now you may ask that cannot we assume that was after Rosa Parks in Choice E is understood as was has already been used as the verb for the subject his courage? The answer to this question is straight no because when presenting comparison using as , we cannot keep just the verb understood after the subject in the clause following as . It will then be difficult in certain cases to determine if the sentence intends to present comparison or function. Various usages of As and Like has been covered in great details in our Sentence Correction course. The concepts are replete with pertinent examples. The pronoun that in Choices A and E stand for the noun courage because courage of JR can be compared to that (courage) of Rosa Parks . Hope this helps. :-)

Thanks. Shraddha

gmatexam439 · Answer

While Jackie Robinson was a Brooklyn Dodger, his courage in the face of physical threats and verbal attacks was  not unlike that of Rosa Parks, who refused  to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

(A) not unlike that of Rosa Parks, who refused - Correct 
(B) not unlike Rosa Parks, who refused -  Incorrect comparison (courage .... Rosa) 
(C) like Rosa Parks and her refusal -  and is wrongly used 
(D) like that of Rosa Parks for refusing - for refusing is wrongly used
 (E) as that of Rosa Parks, who refused - as should be replaced with like

While Jackie Robinson was a Brooklyn Dodger, his courage in the face

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

While Jackie Robinson was a Brooklyn Dodger, his courage in the face

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615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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