SC trade imbalances from gmat prep test

[zhongshanlh]

Btw, I don't see anybody talking about the difference between "In contrast to" and "Compared to/with"? Aren't they supposed to imply different comparisons?

that particular topic hasn't yet been discussed because (a) those choices can be eliminated without it, and (b) no one has asked about it yet. (:

in this sentence, "compared to/with" doesn't really make sense -- here's how to use it: a sentence that uses "compared to/with" should explicitly mention both items in the comparison.

for instance:
the unemployment rate in county X is 6 percent, compared to 11 percent in neighboring county Y.
this is a correct sentence; note that it explicitly mentions both of the statistical quantities in the comparison.

for this reason, it is inappropriate to use "compared to/with", because, while statistical information is given about america's trade relationship with mexico, there is no corresponding statistical information about the trade deficits with china and japan.

Shouldn't that be 1st reason why C, D, E should be eliminated? Thanks.

there's no such thing as a "first reason". if something is incorrect, then it's incorrect.

Hi, Ron, i have a little question about the use of "compared to" and "compared with".
as i see ,the preposition in these two phrased is different, so, is there any difference between the two phrases or they are just interchangeable?
thanks.

[RonPurewal]

there is no difference.

[thanghnvn]

Thank you, Ron
designed to withstand hard weather, the ship is expensive
the ship is built with good material, taken from that mine

do_ed is used to modifies the subject of the following clause as in sentence 1 and to modifie the immediately preceding noun as in the sentence 2.

"compared to/with" can have 2 above fuctions.
is that right?

can we have the following sentence on gmat

12 percent of US population got maried in 2000, compared to 6 percent 10 2012.

it seem on gmat, above sentence appears. if that sentence appears, "compared to/with" can modifies the subject of preceding clause, not preceding noun.

what is difference between "compared with/to" and "do-ed" on gmat? pls help. I am confused here .

[RonPurewal]

"compared to/with" should be treated as a unique, special entity, different from other "-ed" modifiers. as you have noticed, it is allowed more latitude, grammatically speaking, than other such modifiers, as long as the quantities that it compares are clear.

[thanghnvn]

"compared to/with" should be treated as a unique, special entity, different from other "-ed" modifiers. as you have noticed, it is allowed more latitude, grammatically speaking, than other such modifiers, as long as the quantities that it compares are clear.

Thank you Ron,

can you give me a question from og or gmatprep, in which "compared to/with " is different from "do-ed" . I like to see the difference in og or gmatprep.

[RonPurewal]

"compared to/with" should be treated as a unique, special entity, different from other "-ed" modifiers. as you have noticed, it is allowed more latitude, grammatically speaking, than other such modifiers, as long as the quantities that it compares are clear.

Thank you Ron,

can you give me a question from og or gmatprep, in which "compared to/with " is different from "do-ed" . I like to see the difference in og or gmatprep.

hi,
unfortunately, we don't have the official problems indexed in this sort of way.

[ajmal.shams]

can choices C,D,E be eliminated based on the rule that compared to/with cannot be used with other comparison words like reducing ,lesser,decline

[jlucero]

can choices C,D,E be eliminated based on the rule that compared to/with cannot be used with other comparison words like reducing ,lesser,decline

In general, no. In this sentence, it does change the meaning and makes everything but (a) 'awkward'. The decline is essential in this sentence in order to compare how the trade imbalance with Mexico is different than the imbalances with China/Japan.

[ES354]

Hi Ron,
I hate to revive a dead topic, but I have a question about answer A).

Isn't there a punctuation error in answer choice A? Should it not read "In contrast to..., the United States' trade deficit with Mexico..." (notice the apostrophe after States)

The answer on GMAT Prep doesn't contain the apostrophe that I feel is required to make the United States possessive. Although I believe the GMAT doesn't test punctuation (right?) this threw me off.

[RonPurewal]

Although I believe the GMAT doesn't test punctuation (right?) this threw me off.

correct... so that's all you really need to know here: you don't care.

the use of geographical names as adjectives has a long and storied history. consider all of the following institutions:
the United States Post Office
the California Highway Patrol
Florida State University
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
etc.

also, while those are all proper names, the phenomenon isn't limited to names. for instance, i have a California driver's license and California license plates, and i know some people on the United States track and field team.

...and there are just as many instances in which you can't do this. e.g., i can have a United States passport, but i can't have a "Canada passport" (it'd be a Canadian passport).

you get the point: it's a style issue. style issues are never tested on this exam.

[ES354]

Dude, you're a rockstar. Great response... I'll try not to get hung up on things like this (as hard as it may be for me).

[RonPurewal]

Dude, you're a rockstar. Great response... I'll try not to get hung up on things like this (as hard as it may be for me).

less is more.

this exam tests a VERY narrow band of the things that could possibly go wrong with an english sentence. very narrow indeed.

[RonPurewal]

... and thanks for the kind words.

[RAHULS852]

Hi Sage / Manhattan expert,

After reading explanation about E, I am not clear about comparison.

E) Compared to ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States record exports to Mexico caused a $500 million decline in the trade deficit with that country.

Few posts said that comparison is between trade imbalances and US but comparison looks between trade imbalances vs US record exports.
Meaning wise: In Compared X vs Y both X & Y should be equivalent but here trade imbalances( -ve) vs Record exports (+ve)

eg: Compared to employment rate of US , employment rate of UK is too slow.( we can't compare unemployment rate of UK)
Kindly review my understanding.

Regards,
Rahul Singh

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

The comparison issue in E is a bit more subtle than in the other answer choices. Unlike answers B, C, and D, which compare a trade imbalance with a country, answer E compares a trade imbalance with 'record exports'. However, this is still an illogical comparison as a trade imbalance and record exports are different kinds of thing. Well done for noticing this.

eg: Compared to employment rate of US , employment rate of UK is too slow.

Just to check, this sentence is fine: it's comparing two unemployment rates, which are the same kind of thing.