1000 SC #474

[tiram]

474 Legend has it that when the Mohawk Joseph Brant was presented to George III in 1776, he proudly refused to kiss the King’s hand, inasmuch as he regarded himself an ally, not a subject.
(A) as he regarded himself an ally, not
(B) that he regarded himself to be an ally rather than
(C) as he considered himself an ally, not
(D) that he considered himself to be ally instead of
(E) as he considered himself as an ally rather than

Please tell me why the answer is c and not a. I thought:

Consider -means that a given element is deliberated or thought about with the intent of acting upon it
and
Regard - to look upon or think of with a particular feeling
Ex. Many historians consider the time of the Heian court as the greatest period in Japanese history (incorrect)
Ex. Many historians regard the time of the Heian court as the greatest period in Japanese history (correct)

Isn't Mohawk Joseph Brant expressing feeling above.

[RonPurewal]

tiram, my man (or woman - you never can tell in this place)! you ought to know better than to think that common english words only have one meaning.

'consider' does mean what you say it does - but only some of the time. for instance:
jimmy considered the terms of the contract carefully before signing it. --> means what you think
jimmy considered the terms of the contract ridiculous, and thus refused to sign. --> means 'jimmy thought that the terms were ridiculous' (i.e., closely related to the definition you've presented for 'regarded')

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what this problem does depend upon is correct idiomatic usage.
if you're going to say regarded, you need as. no exceptions. because choice a doesn't say 'regarded himself as an ally', it's wrong.
consider, on the other hand, takes either to be or no auxiliary at all (in which case 'to be' is implied). therefore, the grammar in choice c is correct. (incidentally, this principle also explains why choice e is not correct.)

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IMPORTANT NOTE

i don't think i've ever seen a gmat problem which simply used the wrong word. there are plenty of problems in which words are used incorrectly, but the same words could be correct if used in another way, placed somewhere else in the sentence, and/or used with different auxiliary/helping words. this principle rules out your single-definition approach to the word 'consider' right away.

by the way, if you're a second-language english speaker/writer, i feel your pain (i've been embarrassed on numerous occasions by not knowing hysterically funny alternative interpretations of things i've said in other languages).