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Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbuswas sent by the king and queen of Spain to see if he could reach India by traveling west.
  • a)
    Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbuswas sent by the king and queen of Spain to see if he could reach India by traveling west.
  • b)
    Rather than accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbuswas sent by the king and queen of Spain to see if he could reach India by sailing west.
  • c)
    Instead of accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbussailed west to see whether he could reach India, having been sent by the king and queen ofSpain.
  • d)
    Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbussailed west to see whether he could reach India, having been sent by the king and queen ofSpain.
  • e)
    Instead of accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbuswas sent by the king and queen of Spain to sail west to see if he could reach India.
Correct answer is option 'D'. Can you explain this answer?
Verified Answer
Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Ch...
The original sentence contains several errors. First, the construction "X rather than Y" requires parallelism between X and Y, but the original sentence pairs an active verb ("accept") with a passive one ("was sent"). Second, the use of "if" in this context is incorrect. On the GMAT, "if" is used only to introduce conditional clauses (e.g. “if X, then Y”). Here, "whether" should be used instead of “if” to indicate uncertainty about reaching India by traveling west.
(A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.
(B) The construction "X rather than Y" requires parallelism between X and Y, but this choice pairs an active verb ("accepting") with a passive one ("was sent"). Second, the use of "if" in this context is incorrect. On the GMAT, "if" is used only to introduce conditional clauses (e.g. “if X, then Y”). Here, "whether" should be used instead of “if”
to indicate uncertainty about reaching India by traveling west.
(C) This choice begins with "instead of," which is incorrectly used to compare the verbs “accepting” and “sailed.” When comparing verbs, “rather than” is the correct choice.
(D) CORRECT. This choice uses the construction “X rather than Y” to correctly compare the parallel active verbs “accept” and “sailed.” The uncertainty about reaching India by traveling west is correctly indicated by the word “whether.”
(E) This choice begins with "instead of," which is incorrectly used to compare the verbs “accepting” and “sailed.” When comparing verbs, “rather than” is the correct choice. Even if “instead of” were correct, the construction "X instead of Y" requires parallelism between X and Y, but this choice pairs an active verb ("accepting") with a passive one ("was sent"). Finally, the use of "if" in this context is incorrect. On the GMAT, "if" is used only to introduce conditional clauses (e.g. “if X, then Y”). Here, "whether" should be used instead of “if” to indicate uncertainty about reaching India by traveling west.
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Most Upvoted Answer
Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Ch...
The correct answer is option 'D'.

Explanation:

In this sentence, we need to use the correct verb tense and sentence structure to convey the meaning that Christopher Columbus did not believe the earth was flat and was sent by the king and queen of Spain to see if he could reach India by sailing west.

The verb tense in the sentence should be past participle to show that Columbus had already sailed west. The correct verb tense is "sailed." The sentence should also use the correct sentence structure to convey the meaning that Columbus did not believe the earth was flat.

Option 'D' uses the correct verb tense and sentence structure to convey the intended meaning. The sentence starts with "Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat," which shows that Columbus did not believe the earth was flat. The sentence continues with "Christopher Columbus sailed west to see whether he could reach India, having been sent by the king and queen of Spain," which shows that he was sent to find a new trade route to India.

Option 'B' is incorrect because it uses the present participle form of the verb "accepting," which is not the correct verb tense. Option 'E' is also incorrect because it uses the present participle form of the verb "accepting," and the sentence structure is awkward. Option 'A' is incorrect because it uses the incorrect verb tense "was sent," which does not convey that Columbus had already sailed. Option 'C' is also incorrect because it uses the incorrect verb tense "sailed west," which does not convey that Columbus had already sailed.

In conclusion, option 'D' is the correct answer because it uses the correct verb tense and sentence structure to convey the intended meaning of the sentence.
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Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbuswas sent by the king and queen of Spain to see if he could reach India by traveling west.a)Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbuswas sent by the king and queen of Spain to see if he could reach India by traveling west.b)Rather than accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbuswas sent by the king and queen of Spain to see if he could reach India by sailing west.c)Instead of accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbussailed west to see whether he could reach India, having been sent by the king and queen ofSpain.d)Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbussailed west to see whether he could reach India, having been sent by the king and queen ofSpain.e)Instead of accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbuswas sent by the king and queen of Spain to sail west to see if he could reach India.Correct answer is option 'D'. Can you explain this answer?
Question Description
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