. Unlike most warbler species

[tim]

:)

[rgaddam]

I have a quick question about answer choice E.

(E) Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.

If I apply the comparison logic of answer choice A, then is the answer choice E not comparing blue-winged warblers to species....?

I am confused. Please help.

Thanks

Ron,
I do understand why E is right, am not asking about E and I do understand the construction of IN THAT, but what I dont understand is why A is wrong because A is still comparing between most species of warbler and the blue winged warbler. As I said, in A "the male and the female" are just adjectives modifying warbler. So we are still comparing between the two noun phrases Species of Warbler and Blue Winged Warbler.
to answer your question "what is Test 52"?
This is one of the old GMAT paper based exams that you can buy buy them from MBA.com
and this question is in Test paper Code number 52

(a) says
Unlike most warbler species, the male and
female blue-winged warbler...

this is an improper comparison; the male and female blue-winged warbler are not species (they are different sexes of one species). so that's incorrect.

[RonPurewal]

I have a quick question about answer choice E.

(E) Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.

If I apply the comparison logic of answer choice A, then is the answer choice E not comparing blue-winged warblers to species....?

yep.
blue-winged warblers are one particular species of warbler, so that's a valid comparison.

(the male and female, by contrast, are not species, so the other comparison isn't valid.)

[rgaddam]

Thank you.

I have a quick question about answer choice E.

(E) Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.

If I apply the comparison logic of answer choice A, then is the answer choice E not comparing blue-winged warblers to species....?

yep.
blue-winged warblers are one particular species of warbler, so that's a valid comparison.

(the male and female, by contrast, are not species, so the other comparison isn't valid.)

[tim]

:)

[saptadeepc]

Ron,

I understand that "those in" should be parallel.

But is that the only reason for 'C' to be incorrect ?

In one of the other questions

laos-has-a-land-area-t5749.html

"that of" is not parallel to the first part of the sentence.

You have said that if the clauses are right next to each other, there is more leeway. In option 'C' the clauses of comparison are together. If this is not the only reason, why 'C' is incorrect, then we have 2 options ( C & E ) which could be correct.

I 'am sure I m missing something here. I understand 'C' looks incorrect for the reasons you have mentioned but I want to understand the difference between the two sentences (Laos land area & the current one ).

[RonPurewal]

I 'am sure I m missing something here. I understand 'C' looks incorrect for the reasons you have mentioned but I want to understand the difference between the two sentences (Laos land area & the current one ).

in the problem to which you linked, "that" has a legitimate antecedent ("land area").

in (c) here, the only possible antecedent for "those" is "blue-winged warblers", which is nonsense because that pronoun is meant to stand for the male and female of other species.

for that construction to work, you would need a sentence written in such a way that "male and female" is a plural noun. for instance:
the male and female of the blue-winged warbler species are harder to tell apart than those of other species.
--> legitimate.

[saptadeepc]

I 'am sure I m missing something here. I understand 'C' looks incorrect for the reasons you have mentioned but I want to understand the difference between the two sentences (Laos land area & the current one ).

in the problem to which you linked, "that" has a legitimate antecedent ("land area").

in (c) here, the only possible antecedent for "those" is "blue-winged warblers", which is nonsense because that pronoun is meant to stand for the male and female of other species.

for that construction to work, you would need a sentence written in such a way that "male and female" is a plural noun. for instance:
the male and female of the blue-winged warbler species are harder to tell apart than those of other species.
--> legitimate.

Thanks Ron. I get that now.

Just an observation.

If the second part of the sentence uses "those in ", "that of" etc then the first part could be parallel even without using such constructions.

But if the first part says "that of", "those in" etc then the second part has to necessarily repeat those constructions to be parallel.

[RonPurewal]

But if the first part says "that of", "those in" etc then the second part has to necessarily repeat those constructions to be parallel.

not really.
e.g.
unlike those of many other painters of his time, Smith's portraits are dark and foreboding.
this sentence is fine; "those" = portraits; they aren't written in exactly the same way.

[bestdudearound]

Part of Ron's reply:
"(c) is wrong because the ostensibly parallel construction isn't, well, parallel enough. if the first half of the construction is "those in most warbler species," then the second half MUST be "______ in this-or-that species." this choice isn't written that way.
the standard for parallelism in this sort of construction is set very high indeed."

Ron,

Going by the rule you stated to eliminate Choice C. Which one of the choices for the following question is correct? and why?


Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize lower-paid workers.
(A) Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize
(B) Unlike those in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize
(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize
(D) Japanese unions, unlike the United States, appear reluctant to organize
(E) Japanese unions, unlike those in the United States, appear reluctant about organizing

Correct Answer is B.

My reasoning:
If we go by your rule, the choice B for the above question should be something like " Unlike those in the United States, unions in Japan appear reluctant to organize".

Please correct me.

[bestdudearound]

Thanks Ron.

I already found the solution to my question at this link:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/dangling-modifer-t10965.html?cityevent=

I see that you made the same correction to the sample question, which I posted, at the above link.

[tim]

cool. let us know if there are any further questions about this one..

[thanghnvn]

Unlike most warbler species, the male and female
blue-winged warbler are very difficult to tell apart.

(A) Unlike most warbler species, the male and
female blue-winged warbler are very difficult
to tell apart.
(B) Unlike most warbler species, the gender of the
blue-winged warbler is very difficult to
distinguish.
(C) Unlike those in most warbler species, the male
and female blue-winged warblers are very
difficult to distinguish.
(D) It is very difficult, unlike in most warbler species,
to tell the male and female blue-winged warbler
apart.
(E) Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of
warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the
male and female apart.

the comparison is the same in E and A so, if E is correct A must be correct regarding the comparison

the problem with A is "warblera are difficult to tell apart " is wrong but I do not know why

[aflaamM589]

Hello Ron,

(C) Unlike those in most warbler species, the male
and female blue-winged warblers are very
difficult to distinguish.

apart from issue with the construction, is c also incorrect because those(pronoun) try to stand for adjective
i.e the male and female blue-winged warblers--.here warblers is noun and rest is modifier(adjective)

further,

(D) It is very difficult, unlike in most warbler species,
to tell the male and female blue-winged warbler
apart.

D is incorrect because unlike is preposition so in cannot follow unlike.
am i right Ron?

[RonPurewal]

Hello Ron,

(C) Unlike those in most warbler species, the male
and female blue-winged warblers are very
difficult to distinguish.

apart from issue with the construction, is c also incorrect because those(pronoun) try to stand for adjective
i.e the male and female blue-winged warblers--.here warblers is noun and rest is modifier(adjective)

yes -- excellent observation! "the male and female" are not nouns here, so you can't use "those" for them.