relative pronoun WHO- redundant or Not

[venugopis]

57. During an ice age, the buildup of ice at the poles and the drop in water levels near the equator speed up the Earth’s rotation, like a spinning figure skater whose speed increases when her arms are drawn in.
(A) like a spinning figure skater whose speed increases when her arms are drawn in
(B) like the increased speed of a figure skater when her arms are drawn in
(C) like a figure skater who increases speed while spinning with her arms drawn in
(D) just as a spinning figure skater who increases speed by drawing in her arms
(E) just as a spinning figure skater increases speed by drawing in her arms


Please tell me the difference between using relative pronoun WHO and not using it. In this example, i pick the coorect answer E, but only because it sounds right, but D also feels correct.

[roshni.patram]

Well, my two cents....

"Spinning figure skater increases" is parallel to " the buildup of ice at the poles and the drop in water levels near the equator speed up".

The insertion of the who destroys the parallelism.

[saxenankit]

Well, my two cents....

"Spinning figure skater increases" is parallel to " the buildup of ice at the poles and the drop in water levels near the equator speed up".

The insertion of the who destroys the parallelism.

Why "like" doesn't fit here ?

[roshni.patram]

You cant use "Like" because you are not comparing nouns but clauses.

You are not comparing "build-up of ice and the drop in water levels" to "spinning figure" but comparing "the buildup of ice at the poles and the drop in water levels near the equator speed up" to "a spinning figure skater increases speed by drawing in her arms"

However, I have not studied this chapter as yet - So am not sure.

[saxenankit]

You cant use "Like" because you are not comparing nouns but clauses.

You are not comparing "build-up of ice and the drop in water levels" to "spinning figure" but comparing "the buildup of ice at the poles and the drop in water levels near the equator speed up" to "a spinning figure skater increases speed by drawing in her arms"

However, I have not studied this chapter as yet - So am not sure.

I understand your point roshni. My question here is -

Is the below sentence correct ?

Yesterday I danced the whole night, like Meera who also danced the whole night.

[roshni.patram]

A better way to frame it would be -

Yesterday, I danced all night, just as Meera did.

You are comparing the actions here, not the actual nouns.

Like is used in the context of comparing only the nouns.

I am tall,like Meera.

I think you can also say - I am tall, just as Meera is. :)

Hey, I am going to stop right here and let the experts answer!!

[saxenankit]

You cant use "Like" because you are not comparing nouns but clauses.

You are not comparing "build-up of ice and the drop in water levels" to "spinning figure" but comparing "the buildup of ice at the poles and the drop in water levels near the equator speed up" to "a spinning figure skater increases speed by drawing in her arms"

However, I have not studied this chapter as yet - So am not sure.

I understand your point roshni. My question here is -

Is the below sentence correct ?

Yesterday I danced the whole night, like Meera who also danced the whole night.

Thanks roshni for your help.

Can any expert please comment on the validity of the usage of like in the below sentence -
Yesterday I danced the whole night, like Meera who also danced the whole night.

[venugopis]

Thanks for clarifying on pronoun "WHO".

LIKE can't be used because LIKE must be followed by a noun, not a whole clause, but AS should be used to introduce a clause.

Further, LIKE is a preposition - should introduce a phrase; 'AS' is a conjunction - should introduce a clause.

Hope this helps.

[saxenankit]

Thanks for clarifying on pronoun "WHO".

LIKE can't be used because LIKE must be followed by a noun, not a whole clause, but AS should be used to introduce a clause.

Further, LIKE is a preposition - should introduce a phrase; 'AS' is a conjunction - should introduce a clause.

Hope this helps.

Thanks venu

Can any expert please comment on the validity of the usage of like in the below sentence -
Yesterday I danced the whole night, like Meera who also danced the whole night.

[pranabiitkgp]

Hi Saxena , if you have to anyway use like in the sentence , here you go...
Yesterday I like Meera danced the whole night. But this is becoming very awkward ...again our MGMAT expert can comment .

[tim]

no Pranab, your example doesn't work. Saxena, your example is grammatically correct but redundant. Roshni, your examples are fine as well. Remember, "like" compares nouns while "as" compares clauses, but many sentences can be written either way. So when you're looking at one of these sentences, DON'T ask yourself whether they are comparing nouns or clauses and then look at like/as. Instead, look at whether the answer choice you're investigating uses "like" or "as" and then decide whether that word can be used with the other words that are on the page..

[saxenankit]

no Pranab, your example doesn't work. Saxena, your example is grammatically correct but redundant. Roshni, your examples are fine as well. Remember, "like" compares nouns while "as" compares clauses, but many sentences can be written either way. So when you're looking at one of these sentences, DON'T ask yourself whether they are comparing nouns or clauses and then look at like/as. Instead, look at whether the answer choice you're investigating uses "like" or "as" and then decide whether that word can be used with the other words that are on the page..

I got you Tim. My question is - can I have a sentence as -

CLAUSE, Like + NOUN + Relative Clause

[jnelson0612]

no Pranab, your example doesn't work. Saxena, your example is grammatically correct but redundant. Roshni, your examples are fine as well. Remember, "like" compares nouns while "as" compares clauses, but many sentences can be written either way. So when you're looking at one of these sentences, DON'T ask yourself whether they are comparing nouns or clauses and then look at like/as. Instead, look at whether the answer choice you're investigating uses "like" or "as" and then decide whether that word can be used with the other words that are on the page..

I got you Tim. My question is - can I have a sentence as -

CLAUSE, Like + NOUN + Relative Clause

Could you give us a specific example of this sentence?

[saxenankit]

no Pranab, your example doesn't work. Saxena, your example is grammatically correct but redundant. Roshni, your examples are fine as well. Remember, "like" compares nouns while "as" compares clauses, but many sentences can be written either way. So when you're looking at one of these sentences, DON'T ask yourself whether they are comparing nouns or clauses and then look at like/as. Instead, look at whether the answer choice you're investigating uses "like" or "as" and then decide whether that word can be used with the other words that are on the page..

I got you Tim. My question is - can I have a sentence as -

CLAUSE, Like + NOUN + Relative Clause

Could you give us a specific example of this sentence?

eg:
Yesterday I danced the whole night, like Meera who also danced the whole night.

[tim]

well, yes, except you need a comma after "Maria". but you wouldn't find a sentence like this being used correctly on the GMAT because they would avoid the redundancy..