Recent breakthroughs in technology have made

[vietst]

Recent breakthroughs in technology have made it possible that high-definition digital video cameras are able to capture material with a degree of fidelity that nearly compares to 35-millimeter film and to project it digitally in theaters with no resulting loss of image quality.

(A) it possible that high-definition digital video cameras are able to capture material with a degree of fidelity that nearly compares to
(B) it possible to have high-definition digital video cameras that can capture material at a degree of fidelity almost like that with
(C) it possible for high-definition digital video cameras to capture material with a degree of fidelity nearly comparable to that of
(D) possible high-definition digital video cameras that can capture material at a degree of fidelity almost like
(E) possible high-definition digital video cameras able to capture material with a degree of fidelity that nearly compares to that with
OA is C.
Could you help me select the answer?

[RonPurewal]

some initial considerations:
- the proper idiomatic form with 'made it possible...' is FOR noun INFINITIVE.
- the sentence contains a comparison, so you should be thinking about parallelism from the outset.

choice a:
- 'make it possible ... are able to' is redundant
- i'm not sure about 'compares' as a verb in the active voice here (although i'm not confident enough to give you a straight 'no' on the issue). to me, 'is comparable to' looks better than 'compares to' (although it's possible that both are acceptable).

choice b:
- 'to have' is unclear (who HAS the cameras? the sentence leaves that issue totally unresolved)
- 'at' is unidiomatic (you capture images WITH a degree of fidelity)
- 'with' is not properly parallel (should be 'of')

choice c: CORRECT
- proper idiom: make it possible FOR noun INFINITIVE
- 'with' = proper idiom
- proper, parallel comparison: the DEGREE of fidelity is comparable to THAT (i.e., the degree of fidelity) of 35mm film

choice d:
- change of meaning: the original sentence doesn't assert that the cameras are now possible, but, rather, that existing cameras can be improved.
- improper comparison: this sentence literally compares a DEGREE of fidelity to 35mm FILM (not logically comparable / parallel items)

choice e:
- change of meaning: the original sentence doesn't assert that the cameras are now possible, but, rather, that existing cameras can be improved.
- 'that with' should be 'that of'

whew.

[pakuya.kao]

Dear Ron,

to project it digitally in theaters with no resulting loss of image quality.

Recent breakthroughs in technology have made it possible

is that OK that the two "it" above present the different meanings?

please help!
thanks and best regards.

[tim]

Yes, that's actually fine. Your "it" in red is the rare exception that doesn't require an antecedent: the GMAT considers a sentence like "it is raining" perfectly acceptable even though there is not a clear answer to who or what is raining..

[sontungdt7]

Hi

I think that we need "to capture" to parallel with "to project" so we can eliminate B and D. Am I right, tutor?
Thank you.
TungBS

[RonPurewal]

Hi

I think that we need "to capture" to parallel with "to project" so we can eliminate B and D. Am I right, tutor?
Thank you.
TungBS

absolutely correct.

[cshen02]

the it in the underlined part and the it in "and to project it digitally in theaters " don't mean the same...is this OK?

Is it because the first it is not really a pronoun but is just a placeholder?

[thanghnvn]

this problem is relative to an idiom. I want to find the idioms with "make" but after seeing some dictionaries, I find just simple idioms I have known.

anyone know where to find those idioms with "make", please, tell me.

[RonPurewal]

this problem is relative to an idiom. I want to find the idioms with "make" but after seeing some dictionaries, I find just simple idioms I have known.

anyone know where to find those idioms with "make", please, tell me.

You can try going to a dictionary and reading all of the sample sentences given for "make".

[qianruS779]

some initial considerations:
- the proper idiomatic form with 'made it possible...' is FOR noun INFINITIVE.
- the sentence contains a comparison, so you should be thinking about parallelism from the outset.

choice a:
- 'make it possible ... are able to' is redundant
- i'm not sure about 'compares' as a verb in the active voice here (although i'm not confident enough to give you a straight 'no' on the issue). to me, 'is comparable to' looks better than 'compares to' (although it's possible that both are acceptable).

choice b:
- 'to have' is unclear (who HAS the cameras? the sentence leaves that issue totally unresolved)
- 'at' is unidiomatic (you capture images WITH a degree of fidelity)
- 'with' is not properly parallel (should be 'of')

choice c: CORRECT
- proper idiom: make it possible FOR noun INFINITIVE
- 'with' = proper idiom
- proper, parallel comparison: the DEGREE of fidelity is comparable to THAT (i.e., the degree of fidelity) of 35mm film

choice d:
- change of meaning: the original sentence doesn't assert that the cameras are now possible, but, rather, that existing cameras can be improved.
- improper comparison: this sentence literally compares a DEGREE of fidelity to 35mm FILM (not logically comparable / parallel items)

choice e:
- change of meaning: the original sentence doesn't assert that the cameras are now possible, but, rather, that existing cameras can be improved.
- 'that with' should be 'that of'

whew.

Hi Ron,

Hope everything is going fine for you.

I am not sure about your explanation for the choice answer A. You said that 'make it possible ... are able to' is unidiomatic, the reason is make it possible that... is unidiomatic, so ONLY make it possible to do is correct one?

Thank you very much for your confirmation.

Best, Song

[RonPurewal]

that construction is redundant. there are some idiom problems in other choices.

the meaning of "possible" is already captured by the definition of "able", so the inclusion of both those words creates redundancy.

[aflaamM589]

Ron, is this SC representative of modern GMAT?
idiom made it possible is kind of esoteric for non native speakers.

[RonPurewal]

sure—you can kill all 4 wrong answers pretty quickly using nothing except the comparison at the end.

two of the wrong answers contain a nonsense comparison (vs. the film itself, rather than the film's fidelity), and the other two have a "with" that isn't parallel to anything and has no reason to exist.
so, done.

you are comparing the fidelity of X vs. the fidelity of Y. since the word "fidelity" has already appeared, that's the fidelity of X vs. that of Y.

that's a VERY basic comparison. the stuff at the beginning is just there to distract you from it.

this is perfectly normal. if you see "weird" idioms, LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE—they're almost certainly there to distract you from something more basic / easier / more fundamental / more straightforward.

[aflaamM589]

Thanks Ron, Great explanation

[RonPurewal]

you're welcome.