MGMAT SC question

[sarathsasikumar]

This is on the MGMAT website...look under "Quest for 750".

Examples of "tulipomania," a term coined from the tulip craze of the seventeenth-century in the Netherlands, include speculative bubbles in South Seas trading rights in the 1720s, Victorian real estate in the 1880s, the U.S. stock market in the 1920s, and the obsession for Beanie Babies in the 1990s.

A. Examples of "tulipomania," a term coined from the tulip craze of the seventeenth-century in the Netherlands, include speculative bubbles in South Seas trading rights in the 1720s, Victorian real estate in the 1880s, the U.S. stock market in the 1920s, and

B. Examples of "tulipomania," a term coined from the seventeenth-century tulip craze in the Netherlands, include speculative bubbles in South Seas trading rights in the 1720s, Victorian real estate in the 1880s, and the U.S. stock market in the 1920s, as well as

C. Coined from the seventeenth-century tulip craze in the Netherlands, examples of "tulipomania" include speculative bubbles in South Seas trading rights in the 1720s, Victorian real estate in the 1880s, and the U.S. stock market in the 1920s, as well as

D. Coined from the seventeenth-century tulip craze in the Netherlands, "tulipomania" includes examples such as speculative bubbles in South Seas trading rights in the 1720s, Victorian real estate in the 1880s, the U.S. stock market in the 1920s, and

E. "Tulipomania," coined from the seventeenth-century tulip craze in the Netherlands, included speculative bubbles in South Seas trading rights in the 1720s, Victorian real estate in the 1880s, the U.S. stock market in the 1920s, and

[ganeshraj]

IMO B.

[sarathsasikumar]

Yes, it is B. But why not A? Please state the reasoning behind your conclusion.

[vinod242]

Why is 'and' incorrect in option A. What is the difference in the usage of 'and' and 'as well as'.
Thanks in advacne

[philanderer.lover]

Another vote for B.

Regards,
Phil

[sarfrazyusuf]

Why is 'and' incorrect in option A. What is the difference in the usage of 'and' and 'as well as'.
Thanks in advacne

A is not incorrect because of the use of 'and' but because of the incorrect use of 'and'. If you notice option B also has an 'and' but it is before 'the US stock market...' and not before 'the obsession for.....'

This is actually a parallel construction question. If you understand the meaning of the sentence you can get it correct immediately. According to the sentence Tulipomania includes the following 2 things:

1 - speculative bubbles in 3 things - South Seas trading rights in the 1720s, Victorian real estate in the 1880s, the U.S. stock market in the 1920s

2- obsession for Beanie Babies in the 1990's

Option B is using 'as well as' to link these 2 aspects but you could just as well use 'and' and still be correct. The reason why they are probably avoiding 'and' is to avoid using it twice in quick succession.

So A is wrong because if you put 'and' before the last option you are actually implying that there was a speculative bubble in 'obsession for Beanie Babies in the 1990's' which makes no sense.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

[tim]

Exactly. There was not a speculative bubble in the obsession for beanie babies, which is what A suggests. Nice analysis..

[sudhanshu.jha03]

Hi ,

According to my understanding options B cant be correct as it is saying--- Examples of "tulipomania," a term coined from the tulip craze of the seventeenth-century in the Netherlands,....

As "a term coined from the tulip craze of the seventeenth-century in the Netherlands" is defining "Examples of "tulipomania," "..which is wrong..

"a term coined from the tulip craze of the seventeenth-century in the Netherlands" should define only "tulipomania"...

Please suggest and correct me where I am wrong.

[tim]

the modifying phrase is actually properly modifying "tulipomania"; please see our rules on modifiers touching the noun they are modifying..

[rajanbond]

Examples of "tulipomania," a term coined from the tulip craze of the seventeenth-century in the Netherlands, include speculative bubbles in South Seas trading rights in the 1720s, Victorian real estate in the 1880s, the U.S. stock market in the 1920s, and the obsession for Beanie Babies in the 1990s.

Can someone tell me how to dissect this using the parallelism techniques

How is the parallel marker identified in this sentence

I approached the problem as
Examples.., (warmup), include x,y and z-. points to A
But seems like it should be
Examples.., (warmup), include x(a,b,c)and z. Ofcourse when I looked at the solution , I understood my mistake.
Any reliable method to identify is issue ?

[mschwrtz]

But seems like it should be
Examples.., (warmup), include x(a,b,c)and z.

You would need another and (or other parallel marker) for such a structure.

With an and:

Joey has strong feeling about his food; examples include his antipathy for chips and salsa, and his love of lobster bisque.

With an or:

Joey has strong feeling about his food; examples include his antipathy for peas, overcooked spinach, or milk, and his love of lobster bisque.

[vikram4689]

1. i think "tulipomania" includes examples in D is incorrect as a term cannot include examples. am i correct

2. my friend and i differ with eachother on following 2 issues. please tell who is correct
a) he thinks that "examples such as" is redundant but i don't this so.
b) he thinks "from the tulip craze of the seventeenth-century" and "from the seventeenth-century tulip craze" differ in meaning but i don't think so.

[RonPurewal]

1. i think "tulipomania" includes examples in D is incorrect as a term cannot include examples. am i correct

i agree here.

a) he thinks that "examples such as" is redundant but i don't this so.

well, this judgment really depends on the message you are trying to convey.

if you are just trying to say that x and y are examples of something, then i can't immediately think of an instance that would merit the use of both "examples" and "such as".

on the other hand, if you are actually singling out some particular example(s), of many, then the use of both constructions could make sense.
e.g.
recent examples of the players' poor judgment, such as x and y, indicate that the team still has much experience and wisdom left to gain.
in this example, the point is not just that x and y are examples of poor judgment; the point is that those examples, in particular, make a certain point better than do other examples.

b) he thinks "from the tulip craze of the seventeenth-century" and "from the seventeenth-century tulip craze" differ in meaning but i don't think so.

well, "17th-century" (with the hyphen) is an adjective, and so would be wrong in the first of these but ok in the second.
without the hyphen, there's no difference that would matter to an aspiring gmat taker.
as a writer i wouldn't use them in the same way, but the differences are much too subtle to be relevant on a gmat forum.

[vikram4689]

thanks ron.

a) can i say that- "Tulipomania" included speculative bubbles , in e), is wrong for reason mentioned above for "tulipomania" includes examples , in d)

b) can you please tell how to distinguish between "17th-century" with the hyphen and without the hyphen). i mean how to idenify (in general) that 1st is adjective and 2nd is noun. i mistakenly considered them same.

[tim]

a) correct..

b) you just told us what the difference is and how to distinguish them. perhaps i'm misunderstanding your question..