Inuits of the Bering Sea were in isolation from contact with Europeans longer than Aleuts or Inuits of the North Pacific and northern Alaska.
(A) in isolation from contact with Europeans longer than
(B) isolated from contact with Europeans longer than
(C) in isolation from contact with Europeans longer than were
(D) isolated from contact with Europeans longer than were
(E) in isolation and without contacts with Europeans longer than
In-depth Explanation and Correct Answer Below (so you don’t see it while reviewing the question)
Inuits of the Bering Sea were in isolation from contact with Europeans… Explanation
Here’s another challenging GMAT comparisons question that deals with the structure of the comparison, namely: verb v. no verb.
For GMAT SC Comparison Questions:
1. Identify the comparison. If it feels a little off it probably is and either there’s a mistake or you have the wrong comparison. If you nail the proper comparison structured in the right way it should feel pretty seamless.
2. Analyze the comparison to make sure you’ve got like things compared in a similar way. Keep track of verbs first and foremost but prepositions can also play a part.
3. Don’t forget other easy things that don’t relate at all to the main error. There are almost always multiple mistakes so go for the easy first.
Inuits of the Bering Sea were in isolation from contact with Europeans longer than Aleuts or Inuits of the North Pacific and northern Alaska.
(A) in isolation from contact with Europeans longer than
Verb v no Verb. Inuits were….Aleuts/Inuits were. You need the second verb or else the comparison is off.
Carla plays baseball better than Rachel INCORRECT. Rachel and Baseball are treated as two things that Carla plays.
Carla plays baseball better than Rachel does (plays). CORRECT This is Carla vs Rachel and how they each play baseball. This structure is what we want for the above. The two Inuit groups needs to be parallel (each with a verb).
If you don’t have the second verb related to the second group of Inuits the meaning is different. The sentence becomes about how the Bering sea Inuits were isolated from the europeans vs the other group of Inuits.
The intended meaning is: Inuits A were isolated longer than were Inuits B from the Europeans.
(B) isolated from contact with Europeans longer than
Missing the second verb (were).
(C) in isolation from contact with Europeans longer than were
Are you in isolation from something or isolated from something? Just think of sentences you know with the word isolated. How are most of them structured?
Matching sentences you know is a good way to judge idioms. That’s not a “does it sound good” approach. It’s a “I’ve written and/or seen this written this way or said this or heard it said this way” approach.
Not foolproof. But higher percentage than sounding things out.
(D) isolated from contact with Europeans longer than were
(E) in isolation and without contacts with Europeans longer than
Missing the second verb (were).
Correct Answer: D
Explanation Summary
1. For GMAT sentence correction comparisons nail down what’s being compared. Be sure about it. Do this for easy, medium, and hard questions so you develop the skill.
2. Comparisons must compare like things in a similar way. So you need compare things that make sense and do so with a structure that supports the intended comparison.
3. Be flexible. If you’re stuck look for a different mistake. There are almost always multiple ways through a GMAT sentence correction question and even the hardest ones usually have easy things to tackle.
Additional Challenging GMAT Sentence Correction Comparison Questions
One of the primary distinctions between our intelligence
For some SC guidance, here’s a link to a breakdown of GMAT sentence correction.