As with those of humans, the DNA of grape plants contains si

[rschunti]

As with those of humans, the DNA of grape plants contains sites where certain unique sequences of nucleotides are repeated over and over.
A. As with those of humans, the DNA of grape plants contains sites where
B. As human DNA, the DNA of grape plants contain sites in which
C. As it is with human DNA, the DNA of grape plants, containing sites in which
D. Like human, the DNA of grape plants contain sites where
E. Like human DNA, the DNA of grape plants contains sites in which

This is GMATPREP question. What is the correct answer and why? What is wrong in choice "A"?

[RonPurewal]

What is the correct answer and why?

the correct answer is e.
- proper subject-verb agreement ('dna of grape plants' is singular, and so 'contains' is the correct form)
- good parallelism: like human DNA (a noun), the DNA of grape plants (a noun) contains...
- correct use of 'like' instead of 'as': 'like' is used with nouns or noun phrases (as it is used here), while 'as' is used with CLAUSES (things that contain verbs, as in 'as it is used here').

What is wrong in choice "A"?

- 'those of' doesn't refer to anything (it would need to refer to something plural, and there's nothing plural for it to refer to)
- 'with' serves no grammatical purpose, and destroys parallelism because 'with' dosen't appear in the second part
- 'as' should be 'like'

[d_taneja]

A --> Incorrect ---> "As" is used for clauses OR idioms. pronoun number error (those refers singular DNA, which is incorrect
B --> Incorrect ---> "As" is used for clause comparison
C --> Incorrect ---> "It" has no ref. Awkward sentence construction
D --> Incorrect ---> "Human" is compared with "the DNA" --> Illogical comparison
E --> Correct ---> Correct coparison

As with those of humans, the DNA of grape plants contains sites where certain unique sequences of nucleotides are repeated over and over.
A. As with those of humans, the DNA of grape plants contains sites where
B. As human DNA, the DNA of grape plants contain sites in which
C. As it is with human DNA, the DNA of grape plants, containing sites in which
D. Like human, the DNA of grape plants contain sites where
E. Like human DNA, the DNA of grape plants contains sites in which

This is GMATPREP question. What is the correct answer and why? What is wrong in choice "A"?

[ashwinkumar96]

What about the difference between in which and where.
Which is used when the place is metaphorical but here I guess the "sites" are not metaphorical so why use which?

[RonPurewal]

What about the difference between in which and where.
Which is used when the place is metaphorical but here I guess the "sites" are not metaphorical so why use which?

well, if something happens in a physical place, then it's perfectly legitimate to use "in which" -- in these cases, you could use either "where" or "in which".

if you are talking about something that is clearly not a place, either physically or as a reasonably direct metaphor, then you can't use "where". for instance,
a rant in which Smith denounced all of his bosses at work --> this works
a rant where Smith denounced all of his bosses at work --> this doesn't work.

the reverse situation also exists: if you are talking about a situation that happens at a particular place -- that doesn't happen in that place -- then you can use "where" but not "in which".
the table in which i left my books --> wrong; you don't leave books inside a table. (NOTE if your native language is spanish: you can't translate en la mesa directly.)
the table where i left my books --> correct.
(you could also say "on which" here.)

--

do note that GMAC has occasionally published correct sentences in which "where" has represented things that aren't necessarily physical locations, but are reasonably direct metaphor for physical locations.
in particular, i remember that this has happened with the word "societies"; here's a reference:
post35020.html

[divineacclivity]

Thank you for your explanation, Ron.

I'm just trying to understand the difference between the usage of 'as' and 'like'. Would adding 'does' in the following sentence make the usage of 'as' correct?
B. As does human DNA, the DNA of grape plants contain sites in which

What is the correct answer and why?

the correct answer is e.
- proper subject-verb agreement ('dna of grape plants' is singular, and so 'contains' is the correct form)
- good parallelism: like human DNA (a noun), the DNA of grape plants (a noun) contains...
- correct use of 'like' instead of 'as': 'like' is used with nouns or noun phrases (as it is used here), while 'as' is used with CLAUSES (things that contain verbs, as in 'as it is used here').

What is wrong in choice "A"?

- 'those of' doesn't refer to anything (it would need to refer to something plural, and there's nothing plural for it to refer to)
- 'with' serves no grammatical purpose, and destroys parallelism because 'with' dosen't appear in the second part
- 'as' should be 'like'

[RonPurewal]

You'll see those kinds of things only after the main part of the sentence, not before. (Also, that version is wordier than "Like X", with no gain to compensate for the wordiness.)

This is not the kind of thing that GMAC will test on the exam.

[divineacclivity]

You'll see those kinds of things only after the main part of the sentence, not before. (Also, that version is wordier than "Like X", with no gain to compensate for the wordiness.)

This is not the kind of thing that GMAC will test on the exam.

Ok, Ron. Thank you very much for your crisp & wonderfully answered queries always.

[RonPurewal]

You're welcome. And thanks for the kind words.

[divineacclivity]

You're welcome. And thanks for the kind words.

:)

[RonPurewal]

.