Another comparison example
Last updated: 13 Oct 2008
A more difficult example of a comparison questions for you to try.
Not unlike Byron, Shelley's poetry struggles to romanticize an increasingly prosaic world.
- Not unlike Byron, Shelley's poetry struggles
- Not unlike Byron's, Shelley's poetry struggles
- Like Byron's, Shelley through his poetry struggles
- Not unlike Byron's poetry, Shelley's poetry struggles
- Like Byron, Shelley's poetry struggles
Try this question yourself before reading the explanation below.
Explanation
We can tell that this is a comparison problem because there are the words "like" and "unlike" in the answer.
We have to compare similar things.
We cannot compare a man with another man's poetry. We can compare poetry with poetry, or a man with a man.
A, C, and E all compare Byron with Shelley's poetry, which is not possible.
B might solve the problem, but is rather ambiguous: Byron's what? GMAT does not approve of this sort of ambiguity.
The only answer choice that does not fall into the trap of comparing unlike things or creating ambiguity is D, the correct answer.
