Comparisions Query

[saurabhkhatri]

Independent contractors pay higher taxes, are paid less consistently than statutory employees, and, unlike statutory employees, they may freely perform the same type of work for multiple businesses.
a) taxes, are paid less consistently than statutory employees, and, unlike statutory employees, they may freely
b) taxes and are paid less consistently than statutory employees; unlike statutory employees, though, independent contractors are free to
c) taxes and paid less consistently than are statutory employees, but they, unlike statutory employees, are freely allowed to
d) taxes and are paid less consistently than are statutory employees; in addition, unlike statutory employees, independent contractors can freely
e) taxes and paid less consistently than are statutory employees; moreover, unlike statutory employees, they are allowed to

To make a right comparision, I think it should be are paid less consistently than are statutory employees...

Manhattan Practice Test Q

Can anyone guide...

[tim]

remember not to eliminate answer choices just because you prefer to see a different version. unless you can find an actual grammar error with an answer choice, don't get rid of it. your version of the sentence is fine, but so is the correct answer here..

[Willy]

Independent contractors pay higher taxes, are paid less consistently than statutory employees, and, unlike statutory employees, they may freely perform the same type of work for multiple businesses.
a) taxes, are paid less consistently than statutory employees, and, unlike statutory employees, they may freely
b) taxes and are paid less consistently than statutory employees; unlike statutory employees, though, independent contractors are free to
c) taxes and paid less consistently than are statutory employees, but they, unlike statutory employees, are freely allowed to
d) taxes and are paid less consistently than are statutory employees; in addition, unlike statutory employees, independent contractors can freely
e) taxes and paid less consistently than are statutory employees; moreover, unlike statutory employees, they are allowed to

To make a right comparision, I think it should be are paid less consistently than are statutory employees...

Manhattan Practice Test Q

Can anyone guide...

IMO answer should be B, as it only makes comparison clear.

i.e. Independent contractors are paid less consistently than statutory employees ARE PAID (understood)

choice B -

taxes and are paid less consistently than statutory employees ARE PAID; unlike statutory employees, though, independent contractors are free to (ARE PAID in the sentence is understood and we need not to repeat it)

rest of the options create illogical comparison and are also not parallel.

[RonPurewal]

To make a right comparision, I think it should be are paid less consistently than are statutory employees...

you would only need the extra "are" if the original were ambiguous.

this sentence isn't ambiguous -- there's only one thing it can possibly mean -- so you don't need the "are".
inserting it wouldn't make the sentence incorrect, but it's not necessary.

[dhingra_gaurav007]

To make a right comparision, I think it should be are paid less consistently than are statutory employees...

you would only need the extra "are" if the original were ambiguous.

this sentence isn't ambiguous -- there's only one thing it can possibly mean -- so you don't need the "are".
inserting it wouldn't make the sentence incorrect, but it's not necessary.

Hi Ron,
But isn't the above scenario applicable for all the cases than.
Normally we use than/those or verb forms (are,is) to make the comparision logically parallel.

For ex: Mr X painting,features relationships that are more subtle than (are/those) in most other seventeen century paintings.

Now in this case do we need a those..as its understood that we are referring to relationships not the paintings!!

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron,
But isn't the above scenario applicable for all the cases than.
Normally we use than/those or verb forms (are,is) to make the comparision logically parallel.

For ex: Mr X painting,features relationships that are more subtle than (are/those) in most other seventeen century paintings.

Now in this case do we need a those..as its understood that we are referring to relationships not the paintings!!

no, this is totally different.
in the comparison above, the two elements that are actually being compared -- namely, statutory employees and independent contractors -- are still present in the version with "are" omitted. so, there's no logic problem.

if you omit "those" in the sentence quoted here, then you've got a serious issue -- you're actually omitting one of the things you're trying to compare!
this sentence is meant to compare relationships in one work to relationships in other works. therefore, it's imperative to keep "those"; else you wind up with an illogical comparison between "relationships" and "other paintings".

[rakesh.id]

What's the correct answer? I pick C.

[tim]

the answer is B

[vivs.gupta]

Hi Ron,
But isn't the above scenario applicable for all the cases than.
Normally we use than/those or verb forms (are,is) to make the comparision logically parallel.

For ex: Mr X painting,features relationships that are more subtle than (are/those) in most other seventeen century paintings.

Now in this case do we need a those..as its understood that we are referring to relationships not the paintings!!

no, this is totally different.
in the comparison above, the two elements that are actually being compared -- namely, statutory employees and independent contractors -- are still present in the version with "are" omitted. so, there's no logic problem.

if you omit "those" in the sentence quoted here, then you've got a serious issue -- you're actually omitting one of the things you're trying to compare!
this sentence is meant to compare relationships in one work to relationships in other works. therefore, it's imperative to keep "those"; else you wind up with an illogical comparison between "relationships" and "other paintings".

How about the following construction?

Features relationships in Mr X paintings are more subtle than in most other seventeen century paintings.

[Willy]

Hi Ron,
But isn't the above scenario applicable for all the cases than.
Normally we use than/those or verb forms (are,is) to make the comparision logically parallel.

For ex: Mr X painting,features relationships that are more subtle than (are/those) in most other seventeen century paintings.

Now in this case do we need a those..as its understood that we are referring to relationships not the paintings!!

no, this is totally different.
in the comparison above, the two elements that are actually being compared -- namely, statutory employees and independent contractors -- are still present in the version with "are" omitted. so, there's no logic problem.

if you omit "those" in the sentence quoted here, then you've got a serious issue -- you're actually omitting one of the things you're trying to compare!
this sentence is meant to compare relationships in one work to relationships in other works. therefore, it's imperative to keep "those"; else you wind up with an illogical comparison between "relationships" and "other paintings".

How about the following construction?

Features relationships in Mr X paintings are more subtle than in most other seventeen century paintings.

Sentence looks correct. (if 'Features relationships' is good construction and you meant Mr. X's paintings NOT Mr. X painting. UNLESS Mr. X paintings are really paintings!)

So, sentence is actually saying -

Features relationships in Mr X's paintings are more subtle than [Features relationships - understood here] in most other seventeen century paintings.

[tim]

for what it's worth, the GMAT would probably include a noun or pronoun between "than" and the preposition following it..

[Willy]

for what it's worth, the GMAT would probably include a noun or pronoun between "than" and the preposition following it..

Thank you sir. It was great to know and it was helpful.

[tim]

glad to hear it!

[batchen.eden]

hi,

i have a question about the "unlike" and "though" in answer b. don't they both contrast the first statement ? isn't using both of them redundant? that's why i ruled it out :(

thanks

[jlucero]

hi,

i have a question about the "unlike" and "though" in answer b. don't they both contrast the first statement ? isn't using both of them redundant? that's why i ruled it out :(

thanks

Do unlike and though mean the same thing? Nope. Unlike means two things are different and though is a word used to express how two ideas are different. So it's not redundant. Notice a more common structure for this sort of idiom:

Like cats, dogs are pets; Unlike cats though, dogs require constant attention.

"though" is used to emphasize the distinction between these two thoughts. Similarly, the sentence above tells us one way that independent contractors are worse off than statutory employees, but then gives us a different way in which they are better off.