Please help with the following question from GMAT Prep 1:

Many teenagers undergo stress, but results of a recent study indicate that the patterns of stress that girls experience are more likely to result in depression than are those that boys experience.
(A) are those that boys experience
(B) what boys experience
(C) boys' experience would
(D) boys' stress patterns do
(E) stress patterns of boys

I chose D because the stress patterns of girls and boys are compared
followed by verb "DO" to parallel with result.

Is OA B?

Re-reading the question at my own pace :-/
I think ans can be A.
Construction:
indicate that X....are more likely than Y
X= the patterns of stress that girls experience
Y = are those that boys experience


Your ans of B suggests as if you are looking for parallel construction:
"that girls experience"
"that " is restrictive pronoun needed to describe the patterns of boys.

It could be B or E . I am more inclined towards E.

Tough one. I like A best.

The sentence is making a comparison, so we have to make sure the comparison makes logical sense and is parallel.

Part of the comparison is girls' stress patterns, so I need to mention stress patterns of boys. B and C are out. (A uses the pronoun "those" to refer to stress patterns, so it stays in.)

Also, I'm specifically comparing how likely the two different patterns are to result in depression- it's not just a straight comparison between different patterns, but the effects of the different patterns - so the comparison needs to indicate this too. This is likely going to be accomplished via a verb, so E is out.

That leaves me with A and D. A uses the same verb in the same tense ("are") while D introduces a new verb ("do"). A also follows a similar format for the rest: "patterns of stress that girls experience" and "those that boys experience." D doesn't. A is more parallel, so that's what I would choose.

_________________
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director of Online Community
ManhattanGMAT

Thanks Stacey!
Your explanation is thorough as always.
Its really appreciated!
OA is A

Hi Stacey,


his plays are produced more often than those of any other play writer ..
his plays are produced more often than ARE those of any other play writer...


between these two...which one is correct ???

I have noticed that at many places the first construction is makred as the OA... please help....thanks

Stacey,

I would expect something like

more likely to result in depression than those that boys experience.

or

that the patterns of stress that girls experience are more likely to result in depression than the patterns of stress that boys experience

nope, you need the helping verb 'are'.
without 'are', you have the following AMBIGUITY:
(meaning 1) more likely to result in depression than are stress patterns typical of boys (the intended meaning)
(meaning 2) more likely to result in depression than in stress patterns typical of boys

including 'are' kills the ambiguity by specifying meaning number 1.

in general, if you notice answer choices that differ in their inclusion/exclusion of some little helping word - especially a helping verb - check for ambiguity if you remove the helping word. remember only to check for semantic ambiguity (i.e., the presence of 2 possible meanings, regardless of which is more expected or reasonable). DO NOT use 'common sense' to resolve ambiguities; if a sentence is ambiguous, it's ambiguous.

Dear experts,

(B)
can I say that 'what' is unidiomatic on GMAT?

Update:

I actually tried understand this answer choice, but couldn't put my fingers on it. Does this answer choice have a dual meaning without verb 'are'(as Ron mentioned above) or is it just a problem with 'what'?

Could you please break this one down in detail?

Appreciate your coaching, as always!

both problems exist.

without the helping verb, this choice has the ambiguity that i've described above.

as far as “what” --
this construction is idiomatically ok: what + SUBJ + VERB is a perfectly good way to generalize the object of that particular verb. for instance, what you eat means, basically, “the things that you eat”.
the reason why this construction is problematic has nothing to do with idioms; it's problematic because the construction is way too general and doesn't adequately specify that we are talking about stress patterns. in other words, “what boys experience” actually means everything that boys experience -- so, with that construction, the sentence doesn't adequately convey a proper comparison.

i eliminated D because I figured "Do" would be weird to stand for a linking verb.

i am tired as they do
i run like they do

is that even a rule?

NIce explaination stacy,
Thanks,its really a confusing one.