SC : Humphry Davy

[tim]

Jamie,

I got this question in my GMAT Prep last week.
The word 'found' in the sentence really vexed me at the time I read the question. I picked option (a) simply because it was the best option among the lot, but I wasted a lot of time trying to piece together a construction that would go with
"...a new chemistry that Davy hoped to find."

When to use 'found' vs 'find'? (I don't mean the obvious past/present sense)

"found" in this case has nothing to do with the word "find". "found" here means "start". Totally different word than the one you're thinking of..

[tim]

I apologize for reviving this old thread. The OA is A. How can A be correct? What does 'since Robert Boyle' mean? Shouldn't it be something like 'since Robert Boyle's time' or something like that?

I think the implication is that Robert Boyle's work and discoveries were so significant that there was an era associated with his work that is known and obvious. Keep in mind, though, that this is not a real GMAT question and is not written to GMAT standards.

So when we use 'since Robert Boyle' in this context to mean the famous era of his time, can we also use "following Robert Boyle" or "after Robert Boyle" as used in (B) & (C)? Or does it have to be 'since'?

It has to be "since". Once we accept that Robert Boyle is important enough to warrant an era named after him, it is pretty clear from the sentence that the author is including the chemistry from that era in the analysis. "since" is the only one of these words that does this..

[tim]

Hi.

Is the idiom from Robert Boyle forward wrong or suspect?
It seems totally wrong to me.
Thanks.

Be careful getting rid of idioms unless you're 100% sure. The best way to do this is to learn the idioms in our SC book - both correct and incorrect versions of each..

[tim]

Hi,

Will the option E be correct if it is changed to "critiquing all the chemistry done since Robert Boyle as well as envisioning".

This looks fine..

[tim]

Hi Ron,

Apologies for reviving an old thread. With regards to option B, can we not consider 'a Critique' (action noun?) and 'his envisioning of..' (complex gerund) as parallel as action nouns can parallel complex gerunds? (I can see why A is the correct answer and I would pick A given this question. But I'm trying to apply only parallelism to eliminate answer choices and I wonder if I'm wrong not eliminating choice B on account of parallelism).

Much appreciate your feedback.

Many thanks,
DS

Ron

you don't have to make this distinction, though -- just notice that the right-hand structure starts with "HIS ...envisioning", and notice that nothing on the other side is parallel to this construction.

[/quote]

B sounds like he is critiquing his own envisioning. This is the parallelism problem with this one.

[alicegmat]

Thanks a lot.

Hi.

Is the idiom from Robert Boyle forward wrong or suspect?
It seems totally wrong to me.
Thanks.

Be careful getting rid of idioms unless you're 100% sure. The best way to do this is to learn the idioms in our SC book - both correct and incorrect versions of each..

[jnelson0612]

:-) Thanks Tim!

[sachin.w]

Hi,

Will the option E be correct if it is changed to "critiquing all the chemistry done since Robert Boyle as well as envisioning".

This looks fine..

I don't understand how the above can be correct.

something followed by , ing

isnt the above form used to indicate result of the preceding main clause?

critiquing all the chemistry done since Robert Boyle as well as envisioning

Above would change the meaning of the correct sentence which actually is describing /modifying the 'Essay on heat and light'

And I still don't understand the parallelism problem in B.

Please help.

[tim]

can you be more specific about what the problem is that you are having with the ,ing construction. what exactly do you think is incorrect?

and what is it that you don't understand about the parallelism in B? did you read my previous post about it? what part of my explanation didn't make sense? perhaps i can explain it a different way if you can help me understand the way in which my previous explanation was inadequate..

[sachin.w]

Quote:
critiquing all the chemistry done since Robert Boyle as well as envisioning

Above would change the meaning of the correct sentence which actually is describing /modifying the 'Essay on heat and light'

Won't 'critiquing all the chemistry done since Robert Boyle as well as envisioning' change the intended meaning?
This is a ',ing' modifier which essentially modifies the action of the subject the preceding clause and so 'critiquing all the chemistry done since Robert Boyle as well as envisioning' modifies the presentation of the results whereas I believe 'a critique of all chemistry since Robert Boyle as well as a vision of a ' modifies "Essay on Heat and Light,"

Am I right here?

B. a critique of all chemistry following Robert Boyle and also his envisioning of a

I understand the above is wrong for the presence of 'following' but my question is whether the parallelism is maintained in this modifier or not.

[tim]

to your first question, you cannot claim that the intended meaning has been violated unless you tell us what the intended meaning is and how the answer choice fails to adhere to that meaning. as for your second question, there is definitely a parallelism problem in the portion you quoted..

[sachin.w]

This is a ',ing' modifier which essentially modifies the action of the subject the preceding clause which is presented and so 'critiquing all the chemistry done since Robert Boyle as well as envisioning' modifies the presentation of the results whereas I believe 'a critique of all chemistry since Robert Boyle as well as a vision of a ' modifies "Essay on Heat and Light,"

Isn't the above right? Though intended meaning , as I now understand, might be same in both sentences.

a critique of all chemistry following Robert Boyle and also his envisioning of a

critique and envisioning : both are nouns.
Is the presence of 'also' causing the parallelism error?

[tim]

you seem to have the right idea regarding the modifier, and you also are correct that you can't be sure the intended meaning is violated with either one. as for parallelism, the presence of "also" should not ever have a direct bearing on parallelism, although its presence may be wrong for idiomatic reasons..

[sachin.w]

Could you please let me know what is causing the parallelism error in B?

[allegro2012]

In my opinion -- the incorrect portion in choice B is the usage of "Following" when it actually should be either SINCE or POST.