Comparison Flashcards
Very good question of like vs as :
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
Ans = E
In reality, we only use AS when comparing CLAUSES (a phrase with a verb in a tense). “Like Einstein” has no verb in a tense, so we use LIKE. Similarly, “Like running” doesn’t have a verb in a tense, so we use LIKE. Let’s consider the answer choices in this light…
Like running, swimming is great.
No one would argue that we aren’t comparing actions in that sentence, but these are gerunds (verbal nouns), so we have to use “like”. Thus the distinction between “actions” and “nouns” starts to break down. Now watch this:
Like Einstein, Dave was a really smart guy.
You could argue here that we’re comparing people (Einstein and Dave) OR actions (they were both smart guys), yet we still need “like”.
In reality, we only use AS when comparing CLAUSES (a phrase with a verb in a tense). “Like Einstein” has no verb in a tense, so we use LIKE. Similarly, “Like running” doesn’t have a verb in a tense, so we use LIKE. Let’s consider the answer choices in this light…
- 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
PROBLEM: Believe it or not, in this iteration of the sentence, LIKE is more correct. Think of it like this. I could correctly write, “Faster and faster turned the merry-go-round, like a spinning figure skater.” In this sentence, the second phrase has NO VERB in a tense, so LIKE is okay (we’re comparing the NOUN “merry-go-round” with the NOUN “spinning figure skater” (spinning is an adjective there)).
Now before you all get up in arms, obviously this answer choice is in correct. We WANT to compare actions (namely the way that the Earth’s rotation speeds up, as well as the skater’s rotation). But in this answer choice, if we just threw in AS, we wouldn’t have the verb that we need to make this a clause. The verb “increases” is inside a modifying phrase, initiated by the relative pronoun “whose”, so we lack an actual action to be comparing. Complicated, I know, but a critical piece of information you must understand to answer these brutal comparison/modifier questions. (I’d also add that the wording of this particular sentence makes it sound like we’re comparing “rotation” to “spinning figure skater”, which makes it even more wrong.)
(B) like the increased speed of a figure skater when her arms are drawn in
PROBLEM: Comparison logic. It’s not the increased speed we want to compare to, though the LIKE is correct (this isn’t a clause, as the verb “are drawn in” is within another modifying phrase, initiated by the relative pronoun “when”).
(C) like a figure skater who increases speed while spinning with her arms drawn in
PROBLEM: Comparison logic. It’s not like a figure skater who increases speed with her arms drawn in, but it’s like THE WAY speed increases when the arms are drawn in (as nitya said, we need the clause, not the noun).
(D) just as a spinning figure skater who increases speed by drawing in her arms
PROBLEM: Fragmentary. Just like we saw in A, the “who” phrase is a modifier, so we never get a main verb here, meaning we CANNOT use AS correctly here. It would need to be something like “just as a spinning figure skater who draws in her arms increases her speed”. Now we have the verb “increases” as a main verb, so we’re allowed to use “as”.
(E) just as a spinning figure skater increases speed by drawing in her arms
ANSWER: Voila. We get the AS, and the main verb “INCREASES”.
The cathedrals of the Middle Ages were community centers just as much as they were purely religious edifices; and they were structures that represented a city’s commitment to a public realm, the opposite of being a private one.
A. community centers just as much as they were purely religious edifices; and they were structures that represented a city’s commitment to a public realm, the opposite of being a private one
B. community centers as much as purely religious edifices; they were structures representing a city’s commitment to a public realm, as opposed to private
C. community centers as well as purely religious edifices; they were structures that represented a city’s commitment to a public realm, not private ones
D. as much community centers as purely religious edifices, structures that represented a city’s commitment to a public realm, as opposed to a private one
E. as much community centers as they were purely religious edifices, structures representing a city’s commitment to a public realm, opposite of a private one
You can easily eliminate all answer choices apart from D and E by comparing the latter part
(A) structures that represented a city’s commitment to a public realm, the opposite of being a private one = NOT PARALLEL (“being” needs to be in both or in neither)
(B) structures representing a city’s commitment to a public realm, as opposed to private = NOT PARALLEL (comparing a realm to private)
(C) structures that represented a city’s commitment to a public realm, not private ones = NOT PARALLEL (comparing a singular “realm” to plural “ones”)
(D) structures that represented a city’s commitment to a public realm, as opposed to a private one = PARALLEL
(E) structures representing a city’s commitment to a public realm, opposite of a private one = PARALLEL
The effect of the earthquake that caused most of Port Royal to sink into the Caribbean was like the eruption that buried ancient Pompeii: in each case a slice of civilization was instantly frozen in time.
A. The effect of the earthquake that caused most of Port Royal to sink into the Caribbean was
B. As the result of an earthquake, most of Port Royal sank into the Caribbean; the effect was
C. In its effects, the sinking of most of Port Royal into the Caribbean was the result of an earthquake
D. The earthquake that caused most of Port Royal to sink into the Caribbean was, in its effects,
E. Most of Port Royal sank into the Caribbean because of an earthquake, the effect of which was
D
https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-effect-of-the-earthquake-that-caused-most-of-port-royal-to-sink-in-296888.html
Residents of Iqaluit, the largest town in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, pay as much as four times the prices paid for grocery items by residents of large Canadian cities, most of which enter the town only by sealift.
(A) the prices paid for grocery items by residents of large Canadian cities
(B) the price of what large Canadian city residents pay for grocery items
(C) what residents of large Canadian cities pay for grocery items
(D) of what large Canadian city residents pay for grocery items
(E) the cost of the grocery items purchased by large Canadian cities’ residents
Ans = C
According to a survey of graduating medical students conducted by Association of American Medical College, minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than are other graduates in planning to practice in socioeconomically deprived areas.
(A) minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than are other graduates in planning to practice
(B) minority graduates are nearly four times more likely than other graduates who plan on practicing
(C) minority graduates are nearly four times as likely as other graduates to plan on practicing
(D) it is nearly four times more likely that minority graduates rather than other graduates will plan to practice
What is the correct idiom in this ?
(E) it is nearly four times as likely for minority graduates than other graduates to plan to practice
ans = c
https://e-gmat.com/blogs/according-to-a-survey-of-graduating-medical-students-conducted-by-association-of-american/
X is more likely TO DO (TO is important)
Also in this question more likely and as likely is considered equivalent
