Step 1: READ the sentence, and look for two things: - Look for the general meaning of the sentence - Look for PARALLELISM Look in 2 ways: * Signal words * CONTEXT
Step 2: look for SPLITS among the answer choices - Make sure that you don't mistake "fake splits" (i.e., word rearrangements that aren't substitutes for each other) for real splits.
Step 3: criticize things that are wrong with individual answer choices (even if they are not part of splits)
Ron: 比较小用法 For instance I know more about Shakespeare than my brother does I know more about Shakespeare than does my brother Both correct BUT I know more about Shakespeare than my brother, who has never studied British literature, does --> This sentence is basically unreadable (you'll have to read it several times before you can make any sense of “does”), so it's unacceptable. I know more about Shakespeare than does my brother, who has never studied British literature --> Correct.
Ron: quick rundown on how to use COMMA + -ING Example: (1) My brother took extra courses every semester throughout his college career, graduating in only three years. --> Correct. In this case, the modifier (graduating in 3 years) correctly describes an immediate consequence of the action in the main clause; furthermore, the subject of "graduating" is the same as the subject of that clause (i.e., my brother).
(2) My brother ate frozen food every day throughout his college career, graduating in only three years. --> Incorrect. There are no grammatical issues with this sentence, but it's absurd in terms of meaning: there is no causal or consequential relationship between eating frozen food and graduating early.
Ron:“due to” The easiest way to figure out "due to": "Due to" means "caused by". If you can't replace "due to" with "caused by", then it's wrong. For instance: I was late due to the construction --> incorrect (because you can't say "I was late caused by the construction") I was late because of the construction --> correct.
In general, "due to" only applies to nouns, since it means, "caused by". For instance, The traffic jam was due to an obstruction in the left lane Or The traffic jam due to the obstruction in the left lane caused 30-minute delays
Distinguish: The word distinguish has more than one meaning. To distinguish X from Y and to distinguish between X and Y mean to discern the difference between X and Y. To distinguish yourself means to do such good job that you separate yourself from the rest:
You really distinguished yourself on the GMAT = you did a great job on the GMAT. To distinguish X means to discern X (to be able to separate X from everything around it so that you can perceive it clearly).
In the SC: The ability of some children to distinguish discrete sounds and words = the ability of some children to discern the different sounds and words. Consider用法 Consider X to be Y Consider X Y Consider X as Y All of them are correct.
The first two have exactly the same meaning; you'd use the first only when the extra words 'to be' are justified, either because they resolve some sort of ambiguity or because there's just A LOT of stuff between 'X' and 'Y'.
Examples: Most Americans consider Beverly Hills, a ritzy suburb to the north of Los Angeles, to be a desirable place to live. <-- Possible ambiguity (could mean l.a. is desirable) if you don't include 'to be' here Most Americans consider Beverly Hills a desirable place to live. <-- No ambiguity, so 'to be' would be unnecessarily wordy
'Consider as' means 'consider restrictedly in the capacity of or in the role of'. For instance: Considered as a work of art, Grant Wood's "American Gothic" is wholly unremarkable; considered as a depiction of everyday 1930's Americana, however, it is a classic piece. <-- i.e., the piece is unremarkable from the standpoint of art, but remarkable from the standpoint of American historical portrayal.
