Boomerang - Impulse shopping

[singh.ashutosh]

Source - GMATPrep

Shoppers in sporting goods stores, unlike in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, not buying a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but they leave with a basketball only.
A. in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, not buying a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but they leave with a basketball only
B. in department stores, shop impulsively very little; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not also buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well
C. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball
D. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well
E. department stores, shop impulsively very little; someone will not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball but will leave with only a basketball

I got down to C and D and clearly D is a better choice but I still have few queries.
1) what does "they" refer to in C
2) are the following three clauses properly linked together, if not then what is wrong - those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball

OA - D

Thanks

[messi10]

Hi,

1) "they" refers to shoppers

2) The intended meaning of the sentence is to contrast the shopping nature of shoppers in sports goods stores to those in department stories by citing an example. Choice C illogically turns this into a list of clauses.

Regards

Sunil

[RonPurewal]

1) what does "they" refer to in C

"they" = "shoppers"; this should be clear from context.

2) are the following three clauses properly linked together, if not then what is wrong - those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball

1) there's no such construction as "A, B, but C". i.e., "but" can't link three things in the way that "and" or "or" could.

2) it makes no sense to put all 3 of these things in parallel, because they don't belong in parallel; the last two are an explanation of the first one. i.e., the last two things are an explanation of the idea that these shoppers "do very little impulse shopping".

[saptadeepc]

1) what does "they" refer to in C

"they" = "shoppers"; this should be clear from context.

2) are the following three clauses properly linked together, if not then what is wrong - those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball

1) there's no such construction as "A, B, but C". i.e., "but" can't link three things in the way that "and" or "or" could.

2) it makes no sense to put all 3 of these things in parallel, because they don't belong in parallel; the last two are an explanation of the first one. i.e., the last two things are an explanation of the idea that these shoppers "do very little impulse shopping".

Ron - I was going through absolute phrases today, and when I came to this problem, I understood that do not buy a pair of skis and boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball is a modifying clause for "do very little impulse shopping".

My question is, in such sentences how do we identify whether part that follows the comma is modifying ( like in absolute phrase ) or is a sentence with parallel items.

[abemartin87]

Shoppers in sporting goods stores, unlike in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, not buying a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but they leave with a basketball only.
A. in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, not buying a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but they leave with a basketball only
B. in department stores, shop impulsively very little; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not also buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well
C. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball
D. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well
E. department stores, shop impulsively very little; someone will not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball but will leave with only a basketball


MGMAT tutor,

I have a quick question about the use of unlike here. Its obvious that (E) is out because were comparing shoppers with deparment stores. But are choices A & B making the right comparison as in choices (C) & (D) which use "those". Is the subject "shoppers" elided and used correctly?

Shoppers in sporting goods stores, unlike (shoppers) in department stores

I would guess so. Ron has used this example quite extensively to display ambiguity and in one of the two possible meanings the subject was an ellipsis.

I know more about Shakespeare than (I know about my) brother

On a side note, did I write this sentence correctly? The GMAT has made me reexamine every sentence I speak and write.

"But are (these) choices A & B making the right comparison as (those) in choices (C) & (D) which use "those"?

Thank you so much!

[RonPurewal]

I have a quick question about the use of unlike here. Its obvious that (E) is out because were comparing shoppers with deparment stores. But are choices A & B making the right comparison as in choices (C) & (D) which use "those". Is the subject "shoppers" elided and used correctly?

Like/unlike must be explicitly followed by what is being compared, so (a) and (b) are incorrect.

there's also a grammatical issue, too -- like/unlike must be followed by a noun or pronoun. a prepositional phrase is not a noun or pronoun.

I know more about Shakespeare than (I know about my) brother

On a side note, did I write this sentence correctly?

with all the words, it would be fine.
you definitely have the parentheses in the wrong place, though; it's impossible to kill "my" in that sentence and just leave "brother".

The GMAT has made me reexamine every sentence I speak and write.

spoken english and written english are 2 different languages -- with different vocabularies, grammars, and style rules -- so i certainly hope that the gmat is not affecting your spoken english.

"But are (these) choices A & B making the right comparison as (those) in choices (C) & (D) which use "those"?

nope. see above.

[saptadeepc]

Ron - unfortunately, you missed my question in the post above the one you answered :( My exam will be over by the time you read this post. But thanks for all your answers :)

sorry if this is bumping, but I post this because I felt you missed my question.

[abemartin87]

Shoppers in sporting goods stores, unlike in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, not buying a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but they leave with a basketball only.
A. in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, not buying a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but they leave with a basketball only
B. in department stores, shop impulsively very little; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not also buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well
C. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball
D. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well
E. department stores, shop impulsively very little; someone will not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball but will leave with only a basketball

Ron,

Thank you very much for answering my question. Although, I feel terribly guilty that you've answered it before saptadeepc. So, I'll try my best and I would appreciate any support if my analysis is wrong.

saptadeepc, I am guessing your referring to answer choice (C) and I think this is how you might have read the question:

Shoppers (in sporting goods stores)
........... do very little impulse shopping,
............do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball
............but leave with only a basketball

Does this make sense???? Shoppers (in sporting goods stores) leave with only a basketball ?? Is this what the intended meaning of the sentence? NO It is trying to make a contrast that shoppers in sports goods stores don't buy THIS STUFF when they come in to buy THAT STUFF.

Not to mention, Ron has already stated that "X,Y, but Z" is not a valid parralell structure. Hence, do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball is not being used correctly to mark parallel items. This construction is plain WRONG.

Now regarding your question about the Absolute modifier. In the MGMAT SC book, the Holy Bible of the GMAT, it specificily states that the absolute modifer is the following construction:

Absolute Modifier: Comma + Noun + Noun Modifier.
E.G., Scientists have found high levels carbon and oxygen on mars, results that suggest life might have existed on the red distant planet.

Absolute Modifier: results (NOUN) that suggest ...(NOUN Modifier). This modifier modifies the entire clause and not the prior noun "mars".

saptadeepc, choice (C) doesn't start out a noun, it starts out with the helping verb "do". I honestly don't see how you can call it an "Absolute modifier".
(D) with its usage of the semicolon ";" and its reiteration of the subject "someone" from the beginning is much clearer and sets the contrast between shoppers in sporting goods vs the shoppers in department stores. The ";" sets apart two independent clauses that are well connected in their meaning.

I hope this helps and I hope you have't taken your exam already. I wish you all the best.

[RonPurewal]

Ron - I was going through absolute phrases today, and when I came to this problem, I understood that do not buy a pair of skis and boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball is a modifying clause for "do very little impulse shopping".

hmm?

"do not buy" is a VERB!
verbs are not modifiers.

My question is, in such sentences how do we identify whether part that follows the comma is modifying ( like in absolute phrase ) or is a sentence with parallel items.

use the context.
if those words are giving a description of something that comes before them, then they constitute a modifier. if they are something that is contextually parallel to what comes before them, then it's supposed to be a parallel construction.

[RonPurewal]

Absolute Modifier: Comma + Noun + Noun Modifier.
E.G., Scientists have found high levels carbon and oxygen on mars, results that suggest life might have existed on the red distant planet.

Absolute Modifier: results (NOUN) that suggest ...(NOUN Modifier). This modifier modifies the entire clause and not the prior noun "mars".

actually, both of those are appositive modifiers; an "absolute phrase" is something else.
i believe this is identified erroneously in the current edition of the SC guide.

(of course, it really doesn't matter what the modifier is called, as long as you know how to use it.)

[nowwithgmat]

Can anyone explain why "as well" is needed in D?

thanx

[jlucero]

Can anyone explain why "as well" is needed in D?

thanx

While this is a small point (and one that the GMAT probably wouldn't require you to solely rely on to choose a correct answer), it is something that we often misuse when it comes to using proper written English:

I want money and fame: I want these two things equally

I want money as well as fame; I want money and also fame; I want money and fame too: Each of these phrases says- I want money first but I would also like fame

It's a matter of priorities and where the emphasis is placed in a list of items. "And" puts things on equal footing.

Now let's look at the meaning in D:

Someone (who comes in for a basketball) will:
(1) leave with a basketball only
and
(2) not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang.

The emphasis in this sentence is not that someone who comes in for a basketball should not be allowed to buy skis or a boomerang, but that when they leave with a basketball, they are "not also buying a pair of skis and a boomerang"

Since you could plug in "also" into the second parallel element, "as well" should also be able to work.

[xyq121573]

Is there any differences between do very little impulse shopping and shop impulsively very little?
thks~

[RonPurewal]

well, "little" can also be an adverb. while it's true that "little" is most often used as an adjective, its adverbial use is far from uncommon.

to my knowledge, "little" isn't used as an adverb in any of the current OG SC problems. however, the other sections of the OG are littered with examples of "little" as an adjective.

e.g.
Most automobile travel is local, and the networks of roads and streets in the country’s settled areas have changed little over the last twenty years. (from the CR section)

the distribution of blood in the sea snake changes little while the creature remains in the ocean (from the RC section)

... and others.

so you should at least be familiar with that construction. (and, "do very little impulse shopping" vs. "shop impulsively very little" can't really be used as a criterion for elimination here.)

[rakshaki]

D. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping; someone who comes in for a
basketball will leave with a basketball only and not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well

1. Is the usage "with a basketball only" correct? I felt it should have been "with only a basketball and not XYZ".