MGMAT test: not .... nor

[kris]

D. Classical guitar did not have prestige nor was it performed often in concert halls until its revival by Andres Segovia, who in the mid-twentieth century was won over by the instrument's sound despite its relative obscurity

As given in the explanation in the review , one of the reason that this particular choice was wrong is that "not... nor " is not idiomatic.

I found the following sentence in my reading.

For although I recognized various difficulties in this undertaking, these were not, however, without remedy, nor once to be compared with such as attend the slightest reformation in public affairs- desecrates

Do you think this sentence wrong. How it is different from the choice.

thanks,
Kris

[RonPurewal]

The language of that sentence is so archaic that it's laughable by the standards of the GMAT; you shouldn't burden yourself with looking at it. The problem you mention is trifling compared to other whoppers that are in there, like 'compared with such as attend.' The GMAT uses language that, while frustratingly formal and occasionally stilted, is thoroughly modern.

As for the not ... nor thing: This is controversial. At least one authority says that (at least this part of) choice D is quite all right. I really don't know off the top of my head how the GMAT treats this issue; I'll try to find out.

[StaceyKoprince]

The second sentence you quoted was written by Descartes sometime in the early to mid 1600s.

Just a note - as Ron says, don't try to find sentences in the real world (particularly quotes from 17th-century philosophers) and try to apply GMAT standards to them. The test is very specific in what it does test and in what it does not test, and it does not test everything that exists in the English language. In addition, though the test does sometimes use old-fashioned language, it does not hark back to the 1600s. :)

[christiancryan]

In my opinion, D is just stylistically (although clearly) worse.

(1) One verb is active & the other is passive. That’s okay technically/grammatically, but not so great stylistically. The GMAT does test this issue: see SC #86 in the 11th edition. In this problem, the GMAT demands parallelism of voices, although the construction is not "nor"-based.
(2) The construction "not... nor..." in this context requires inversion of the second verb ("nor was it performed"). This inversion is also grammatically correct, but I think the GMAT avoids unnecessary verb inversions because they sound a bit stilted.
(3) As an idiom, the expression "to have prestige" is simply inferior to "to be prestigious." Some expressions of this type are acceptable (e.g., "She has power" = "she is powerful"), but often in English we prefer to say "She is [some adjective]" rather than "She has [some quality]." For instance, it's more natural to say "She is intelligent" than to say "She has intelligence."

We'll amend the explanation to cover these nuances. Also, we're still gathering evidence on how the GMAT exactly treats "nor." In the meantime, I hope this is helpful!

[Kris]

Ron, Stacey, and Christian,

Thanks very much for the clarification.


Sorry for giving my archaic, old expression as an example. Being non-native I can't differentiate between archaic and modern usage. I tend to take sentences from the writings of the established authors as grammatically and stylistically accurate. From now onwards, I will consult the modern usages. Actually I wanted to prove that "not ... nor" is acceptable. At that time, I encountered that sentence. Anyhow now it is clear to me that "not ... nor" usage is controversial.

With Christian's explanation, I realized other mistakes that I did not know in that choice. I haven't known the 3rd one. When i took test, I missed to follow the style mentioned in the 1st one.

Thanks,
kris