3月28GMAT三战

zhouwenbin

as much.... as 得否定是 not so much... as

Ex:One of the primary distinctions between our intelligence and that of other primates may lie not so much in any specific skill as in our ability to extend knowledge gained in one context to new and different ones.

画斜线的部分并列

zhouwenbin

you should NEVER start a modifier with "being". in any such modifier, you should always be able to eliminate "being".
Being very reluctant to do X, Jim...
--> Very reluctant to do X, Jim...

zhouwenbin

The fact of some fraternal twins resembling each other greatly and others looking quite dissimilar highlights an interesting and often overlooked feature of fraternal-twin pairs, namely they vary considerably on a spectrum of genetic relatedness.

A.        The fact of some fraternal twins resembling each other greatly and others looking quite dissimilar highlights an interesting and often overlooked feature of fraternal-twin pairs, namely they vary considerably
B.        That some fraternal twins resemble each other greatly while others look quite dissimilar highlights an interesting and often overlooked feature of fraternal-twin pairs, namely that they vary considerably
C.        With some fraternal twins resembling each other greatly and others looking quite dissimilar, it highlights an interesting and often overlooked feature of fraternal-twin pairs, namely considerable variation
D.        With some fraternal twins resembling each other greatly and others looking quite dissimilar, it is a fact that highlights an interesting and often overlooked feature of fraternal-twin pairs, namely a considerable variation
E.        Because some fraternal twins resemble each other greatly and others look quite dissimilar, this fact highlights an interesting and often overlooked feature of fraternal-twin pairs, namely they vary considerably

Ron的解释
* "namely" must be used either before a noun or before a noun phrase / clause.
you can't use it directly before an independent clause.
because of this principle, you can't say "namely they vary...". however, "namely that they vary..." and "namely considerable variation" are both fine.
this kills (a) and (e).

* "the fact of X doing Y" is universally incorrect.
this kills (a).

* the sentence openers starting with "with" are incorrect. to work properly, they'd have to be followed by a subject that's actually "with" those things.
example: with five all-state players in its backfield, ballard high looks to shut down opposing offenses completely --> this makes sense, because ballard high actually has five all-state players in its backfield, thus justifying the use of "with". there's no corresponding sense of possession / belonging here.
this kills (c) and (d).

* the structure of choice (e) indicates that "this fact" is something other than the cited fact about fraternal twins' resemblance.
that kills (e).
* it's ALWAYS wrong to use "this" as a pronoun in formal english. so if you see "this is...", then you can just cross that choice out

* "it" is a pronoun with no antecedent in (c). (by contrast, in (d), "it" is fine because it's part of the special construction "it is a fact that...", which behaves in the same manner as constructions such as "it is surprising that...").

--

the correct answer is (b).

make sure that you understand that "that X does Y" is a noun clause, and can function as a noun; indeed, it's the subject of the sentence in the correct answer choice.

zhouwenbin

• About 70 percent of the tomatoes grown in the United States come from seeds that have been engineered in a laboratory, their DNA modified with genetic material not naturally found in tomato species.
• The defense lawyer and witnesses portrayed the accused as a victim of circumstance, his life uprooted by the media pressure to punish someone in the case.
• Researchers in Germany have unearthed 400,000-year-old wooden spears from what appears to be an ancient lakeshore hunting ground, stunning evidence that human ancestors systematically hunted big game much earlier than believed.
  

An absolute phrase is a type of modifier that modifies an independent clause as a whole.

Structure of an Absolute Phrase

Often (but not always), this is the structure of an absolute phrase:

noun + participle (could be -ing or -ed) + optional modifier or object

Usage of an Absolute Phrase

It is often useful in describing one part of the whole person/place/thing or in explaining a cause or condition etc.

For example:

There was no one in sight and Sanders, his hands still jammed in his pockets, scowled down the empty street. (The underlined absolute phrase describes just the hands of Sanders)

We devoured the yummy pastries, our fingers scraping the leftover frosting off the plates. (The underlined absolute phrase describes just our fingers)

The underlined absolute phrase in sentence 1 above describes the DNA of the seeds.

The underlined absolute phrases in sentences 2 and 3 above describe conditions.

Some Alternative Structures of Absolute Phrases

Some absolute phrases have a different structure.

• The participle being is often omitted in an absolute phrase, leaving only a noun and a modifier:
  

The boys set off for school, faces glum, to begin the winter term.

• Also, an absolute phrase may contain a pronoun instead of a noun, or an infinitive (to + a verb) instead of a participle:
  

The customers filed out, some to return home, others to gather at the piazza.
[pronoun ‘some’ + infinitive ‘to return’ ; pronoun ‘others’ + infinitive ‘to gather’]

Now let’s look at the sentence correction question which uses statement 2.

Question: The defense lawyer and witnesses portrayed the accused as a victim of circumstance, his life uprooted by the media pressure to punish someone in the case.

(A) circumstance, his life
(B) circumstance, and his life
(C) circumstance, and his life being
(D) circumstance; his life
(E) circumstance: his life being

Solution:

“his life uprooted by the media pressure to punish someone in the case.” and “his life being uprooted by the media pressure to punish someone in the case.” are not independent clauses because they have no finite verbs in them.

With the coordinating conjunction (‘and’) and semi colon, you need an independent clause.

Accuracy wise, the use of ‘being’ is still suspect. ‘Being’ is not used to describe a state; it is used to describe an ongoing action such as ‘the tree is being uprooted’.

Colon is used if you need to give a list and hence, is not suitable here. Hence, options (B), (C), (D) and (E) are wrong.

Only option (A) describes circumstances suitably using the absolute phrase: his life uprooted by the media pressure to punish someone in the case.

Answer (A)

Karishma, a Computer Engineer with a keen interest in alternative Mathematical approaches, has mentored students in the continents of Asia, Europe and North America. She teaches the GMAT for Veritas Prep and regularly participates in content development projects such as this blog!

zhouwenbin

Manhattan：
RIGHT:IN COMPARISON WITH (or TO) horses, zebras are vicious.
      A zebra can be COMPARED TO a horse in many ways.
      COMPARED WITH a horse, however, a zebra is very hard to tame.
Note: The GMAT ignores the traditional distinction between COMPARED TO (emphasizing
similarities) and COMPARED WITH (emphasizing differences).
SUSPECT:AS COMPARED WITH (or TO) horses, zebras are vicious.
WRONG:WHEN COMPARED TO horses, zebras are vicious.
        Zebras are MORE vicious COMPARED TO horses

zhouwenbin

Although shehad been known as an effective legislator first in the Texas Senate and laterin the United States House of Representatives, not until Barbara Jordan’sparticipation in the hearings on the impeachment of President Richard Nixon in1974 was she made a nationally recognized figure, as it was televisednationwide.

A.   later in the United States House ofRepresentatives, not until Barbara Jordan’s participation in the hearings onthe impeachment of President Richard Nixon in 1974 was　she made a nationally recognized figure, as it was

B.   later in the United States House ofRepresentatives, Barbara Jordan did not become a nationally recognized figureuntil 1974, when she participated in the hearings on the impeachment ofPresident Richard Nixon, which were

C.   later in the Untied States House ofRepresentatives, it was not until 1974 that Barbara Jordan became a nationallyrecognized figure, with her participationin the hearings on the impeachment of President Richard Nixon, which was

D.   then also later in theUnited States House of Representatives, not until 1974 did Barbara Jordanbecome a nationally recognized figure, as she participated in the hearings onthe impeachment of President Richard Nixon, being

E.    then also later in theUnited States House of Representatives, Barbara Jordan did not become anationally recognized figure until 1974, when she participated in the hearingson the impeachment of President Richard Nixon, which was　　　Ｂ

"which" is fine in (b).

the gmat tends to write sentences in which "which" stands for the ELIGIBLE noun that's closest to the comma.
by "eligible", i mean that the noun has to AGREE IN TERMS OF SINGULAR/PLURAL with the FOLLOWING VERB.

here's an example:

the box of nails, which is on the counter, is to be used on this project.

in this case, "which" CANNOT refer to "nails", since the verb "is" is singular. therefore, the nearest eligible noun is "box (of nails)". so, "which" unambiguously stands for that.

in our observation, the gmat has been VERY good about this.
whenever i've seen a "which" that refers to "X + preposition + Y" rather than just Y, it has ALWAYS been the case that X was singular and Y was plural (or X was plural and Y was singular), and the verb had a form that matched X and didn't match Y.