GMAT Prep: she was less successful after

[suneelv001]

She was less successful after she had emigrated
to New York compared to her native Germany,
Photographer Lotte Jacobi nevertheless earned a small
Group of discerning admirers, and her P h o t o graphs
Were eventually exhibited in prestigious galleries
Across the United States.


(A) She was less successful after she had emigrated to New York compared to

(B) Being less successful after she had emigrated to New York as compared to

(C) Less successful after she emigrated to New Yorkthan she had been in

(D) Although she was less successful alter emigrating to New York when compared to

(E) She had been less successful after emigrating to New York than in

Can we have a discussion. I confused between C/E

[ps63739]

Confusion is in C and E.. E 'had been' Sounds like as if she is not in New York anymore.. However, in original sentence seems like she is still in New York.

[chunyang.yu]

I go with C, it is better than E, since the use of " she had" in option is groundless, and also the option E an integral clause, while the comma can not connect two integral clause

[ranjeet1975]

I will choose E because 'less' must be followed by 'than' and E only suffies the case.

Moreover there is no point to think that she is still in Newyork so the use of 'had been' is not totally wrong.

Am I Right?

[ps63739]

'Less' doesn't have to be followed by than. You might be confusing it with 'fewer'.

[chunyang.yu]

I will choose E because 'less' must be followed by 'than' and E only suffies the case.

Moreover there is no point to think that she is still in Newyork so the use of 'had been' is not totally wrong.

Am I Right?

there is "than" in option C, it has beed typed connect to York

[stevefeiner5]

C is an opening modifier, where is E is a clause

We can't have two clauses connected by a comma so E is wrong.

Also both C and E use the past perfect, but native Germany has to be the earlier event because well she is a native so in E the past perfect can not be used for the 2nd event only the first event as it is in C.

ABD are all out for compared to - and at least in my mind it kind of makes it seem like your comparing She to Germany.
Also B uses being to start the sentence which is a pretty glaring error.

[adityesh_rathore]

I think there is a Tense Error(had been) in E as she was in Germany earlier and in Newyork later

[RonPurewal]

C is an opening modifier, where is E is a clause

We can't have two clauses connected by a comma so E is wrong.

Also both C and E use the past perfect, but native Germany has to be the earlier event because well she is a native so in E the past perfect can not be used for the 2nd event only the first event as it is in C.

all correct.

(e) is a run-on sentence; basically, it's trying to construct a sentence by inserting a comma between two complete sentences. you can't do that.

ABD are all out for compared to - and at least in my mind it kind of makes it seem like your comparing She to Germany.

you are correct that "compared to" is incorrect in these instances, but you've got the wrong reason why.

in these instances, "compared to" is incorrect because it's REDUNDANT, not because it creates an incorrect comparison.

as for the correct way to use "compared to", i'll copy and paste from one of my other posts:

if you have a sentence that says "compared to/with" (or similar constructions, including "in comparison to", "as compared to/with", etc.), then the sentence CANNOT also use a comparison word, such as more, less, greater, prefer, better, worse, X times as much, etc.

to use "compared to/with", you just STATE statistics, without using any other comparison word.

examples:
this year's unemployment rate of 12% is three times as great compared to the rate in 1994 --> incorrect (redundant)

the correct way to write it:
this year's unemployment rate is 12%, compared to 4% in 1994
i.e., you just come out and SAY the statistics, and then give "compared to".

Also B uses being to start the sentence which is a pretty glaring error.

whoa there.
while it's true that "being" is incorrect much more often than it is correct, you can't just strike it when you see it (unless you are making a random guess).

for an example of a correct official problem that starts with "being", check out #101 in OG 12th ed (i can't post the problem here, for copyright reasons).

for more on "being", click here:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/experts-plea ... tml#259089
... and then read that post, as well as the one underneath it.

[rx_11]

Hi, instructors

I don't understand the use of the so-called "opening modifier" in C, and I have searched the forum and there are no answers.

In choice C, what is the modifier " Less successful ...."? Is it a noun modifier? Moreover, should we add a "being" before less? That is "Being less successful...., she....." Is this sentence correct?

Hope your reply.

[RonPurewal]

In choice C, what is the modifier " Less successful ...."? Is it a noun modifier?

this sort of modifier -- an initial modifier that begins with an adjective -- should fulfill the following two requirements:
(1) the adjective should refer to the subject that follows the comma;
(2) the description in the modifier should have some sort of easily understandable relationship to whatever is described in the following clause

for instance:
Fresh from the tree, the mangoes were difficult to eat because they were not yet ripe.
--> requirement (1): "fresh (from the tree)" describes the mangoes.
--> requirement (2): the fact that the mangoes were fresh from the tree is directly related to the fact that they were not yet ripe enough to eat.

same thing here:
--> requirement (1): "less successful" does describe photographer lotte jacobi.
--> requirement (2): note the relationship between the description in the modifier ("less successful than she had been in her native germany") and the description in the following clause -- note especially the word "nevertheless", which makes it explicitly clear that the sentence is focused on the relationship between these two ideas.

Moreover, should we add a "being" before less? That is "Being less successful...., she....." Is this sentence correct?

i wouldn't say that it's totally incorrect, but it's bad writing, and it definitely won't appear in a correct answer.
in general, you aren't going to see initial modifiers that start with "being", because, in those cases, you could simply omit "being" to get a better, clearer, and more concise sentence.

[plelclaln]

'Less' doesn't have to be followed by than. You might be confusing it with 'fewer'.

Can anybody confirm the above statement?

I think "less" is always used with "than".

Many thanks.

[RonPurewal]

Can anybody confirm the above statement?

I think "less" is always used with "than".

Many thanks.

if the comparison is explicit, then yes. however, if the other half of the comparison is implied, then you don't need "than". see og12 #102.

[davetzulin]

(A) She was less successful after she had emigrated to New York compared to her native germany

Ron,

Am i correct about my interpretation of "compared to"? maybe a different way to get to the same conclusion you gave.

as you said "compared to" is not to be used with other comparison markers, less/more, etc. then the way i interpreted choice A is "New York - Compared to - Her native germany". Two items just stated. I saw it similar to parallelism where it's a 1-part marker, and I can select how much before I'd like to compare.

so then she is less successful after she had emigrated to new york compared to after she had emigrated from her native germany

all the answer choices with "compared to" have the same problem.

[RonPurewal]

(A) She was less successful after she had emigrated to New York compared to her native germany

Ron,

Am i correct about my interpretation of "compared to"? maybe a different way to get to the same conclusion you gave.

as you said "compared to" is not to be used with other comparison markers, less/more, etc. then the way i interpreted choice A is "New York - Compared to - Her native germany". Two items just stated. I saw it similar to parallelism where it's a 1-part marker, and I can select how much before I'd like to compare.

so then she is less successful after she had emigrated to new york compared to after she had emigrated from her native germany

all the answer choices with "compared to" have the same problem.

right, but you're forgetting that you have to end up with a comparison that actually makes sense.
the problem here -- all considerations of omitted words, etc. notwithstanding -- is that nothing is actually being compared with germany.
in other words, if you have "compared to germany", then the context of the sentence must actually have an intended comparison between germany and some other place.

viz.
the unemployment rate in county x is 5%, compared to 8% in county y
(a correct sentence)
--> note that this sentence actually compares what it is intended to compare. i.e., "compared to 8%" is actually sensible, because the intended comparison is actually between the two percentage values.