![\"Manhattan](\"\/\/cdn2.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2018\/04\/gmat-sentence-correction-find-core-sentence-part-6-stacey-koprince.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Guess what?\u00a0You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free\u2014we\u2019re not kidding!\u00a0Check out our upcoming courses here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Harder GMAT Sentence Correction questions often have longer underlines and \u201cjumble up\u201d the answer choices. That is, the answers change so significantly that it\u2019s difficult to figure out what\u2019s different about each one\u2014and, therefore, it\u2019s difficult to figure out where to start or how to eliminate wrong answers efficiently. When this happens, what do you do?<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re going to talk about exactly that today, continuing our series on <\/span>finding the sentence core.<\/span><\/a> (Start there if you haven\u2019t seen anything in this series yet.)<\/span><\/p>\n Then, try this GMAT Sentence Correction problem from the free GMATPrep<\/span>\u00ae<\/span> practice exams.<\/span><\/p>\n * \u201c<\/span>In contrast to ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States trade deficit with Mexico declined by $500 million as a result of record exports to that country.<\/u><\/p>\n \u201c(A) In contrast to ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States trade deficit with Mexico declined by $500 million as a result of record exports to that country.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c(B) In contrast to ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States sold record exports to Mexico, reducing its trade deficit by $500 million. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201c(C) When compared with ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States sold record exports to Mexico, reducing their trade deficit by $500 million.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c(D) Compared with ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States sold record exports to Mexico, reducing the trade deficit by $500 million.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c(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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Our standard <\/span>GMAT Sentence Correction Process<\/span><\/a> starts with a step to take a First Glance, allowing you the possibility of figuring out quickly one issue that the sentence might be testing.<\/span><\/p>\n The First Glance on this problem shows that the entire sentence is underlined\u2014and that clue makes it much more likely that the answer choices will change quite a bit relative to each other. That tells you that the sentence is more likely to test one of the \u201cglobal\u201d issues that tend to cross large swathes of a sentence: Sentence Structure, Meaning, Modifiers, or Parallelism. (Though it could test other things, too!)<\/span><\/p>\n The first glance here also gives one other clue: The first few words of the original sentence are <\/span>in contrast to<\/span><\/i>. That\u2019s a comparison marker (comparisons are a subset of parallelism), so one potential starting point would be to check that comparison.<\/span><\/p>\n Next, you\u2019re going to read the entire original sentence. Since the entire sentence is underlined, pay particular attention to the \u201ccore\u201d of the sentence vs. the extra modifiers tacked on top of the core. (We\u2019ll talk about how to do this below.)<\/span><\/p>\n Also, as you go, jot down any notes to help you remember what\u2019s there. For instance, the first thing I might jot down is \u201cComp\u201d to remind me that the sentence begins with a comparison.<\/span><\/p>\n Ready? Let\u2019s do this!<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>In contrast to ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States trade deficit with Mexico declined by $500 million as a result of record exports to that country.\u201d<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n What did you think?<\/span><\/p>\n The whole opening part (to the comma) is a modifier\u2014it can\u2019t stand alone as a sentence (i.e., it\u2019s not the sentence core). It does contain that comparison language, though, so if I want to deal with the comparison first, that\u2019s where I\u2019ll focus my attention.<\/span><\/p>\n Where is the sentence core, then? It starts after that comma:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c\u2026the United States trade deficit with Mexico declined by $500 million\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n How far do we go? Go as far as you need to in order to have a complete sentence. I don\u2019t need to go any farther than the above. The other part starting <\/span>as a result<\/span><\/i> does explain why the trade deficit declined, but I don’t need that information in order to have a complete sentence. It\u2019s extra\u2014more modifier.<\/span><\/p>\n So now I\u2019m going to think of this sentence as three \u201cchunks\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n First chunk: Comparison marker plus part of the comparison itself<\/span><\/p>\n Second chunk: The core sentence, explaining <\/span>what<\/span><\/i> happened with the US trade deficit with Mexico<\/span><\/p>\n Third chunk: Another modifier, explaining <\/span>why<\/span><\/i> the core sentence stuff happened<\/span><\/p>\n My scrap paper might look like this:<\/span><\/p>\n Comp\u00a0 \u00a0 |\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Core: what\u00a0 \u00a0 |\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Mod: why<\/span><\/p>\n In answers (B), (C), (D), and (E), some of those chunks might move around or change structure. In some cases, information that\u2019s in the core sentence might move to a modifier or vice versa. Now, I\u2019m prepared to notice how those changes occur.<\/span><\/p>\n Finally: Did you spot anything about the original sentence that you didn’t like? Is there anything we can tackle right now to eliminate the original sentence?<\/span><\/p>\n Part of me is wondering whether you\u2019re supposed to say <\/span>in contrast to<\/span><\/i> or <\/span>in contrast with<\/span><\/i>. I\u2019m not entirely sure. Glancing down the answers, I see that (B) also says<\/span> in contrast to<\/span><\/i>, but the others change to different words: <\/span>when compared with<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>compared with<\/span><\/i>, or <\/span>compared to<\/span><\/i>. The word <\/span>with<\/span><\/i> has finally made an appearance\u2026but I\u2019m still not sure whether both forms are okay or what\u2014so I\u2019m going to ignore this and look for something else to use instead.<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s check the comparison itself. The marker is <\/span>in contrast to X, Y<\/span><\/i>, where the X and Y portions have to be parallel and the same kind of thing. Are they?<\/span><\/p>\n In the original sentence, yes. We\u2019ve got:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn contrast to<\/u><\/span><\/i> ongoing trade imbalances<\/i><\/b> with China and Japan, <\/span><\/i>the<\/i><\/b> United States <\/span><\/i>trade deficit<\/i><\/b> with Mexico\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Trade imbalances<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>trade deficit<\/span><\/i> are parallel (both nouns) and they\u2019re the same \u201ckind\u201d of thing\u2014they\u2019re both talking about trade differences between countries.<\/span><\/p>\n Check the comparison in the other answers:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c(B) <\/span>In contrast to ongoing trade imbalances\u2026, the United States sold\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u201c(C) <\/span>When compared with ongoing trade imbalances\u2026, the United States sold\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u201c(D) <\/span>Compared with ongoing trade imbalances\u2026, the United States sold\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u201c(E) <\/span>Compared to ongoing trade imbalances\u2026, the United States record exports to Mexico caused<\/span><\/i>\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Answers (B), (C), and (D) all have the same problem: they compare<\/span> trade imbalances<\/span><\/i> to the country of the <\/span>United States<\/span><\/i>. Those aren\u2019t the same kind of thing, so they can\u2019t be compared to each other. All three of these can be eliminated for making a faulty comparison.<\/span><\/p>\n What about answer (E)? This one compares <\/span>trade imbalances<\/span><\/i> to <\/span>exports<\/span><\/i>. This is certainly better than comparing trade imbalances to an entire country. It\u2019s still not quite the same kind of thing, though. They\u2019re related: A country can have record exports that result in a trade imbalance or record exports that result in balanced trade. But the record exports themselves are not the same idea as a trade imbalance\u2014rather the trade deficit is the same kind of idea as a trade imbalance. <\/span><\/p>\n Hey\u2014where <\/span>is<\/span><\/i> the trade deficit in answer (E)? Did they remove it?<\/span><\/p>\n No, they didn\u2019t\u2014the <\/span>trade deficit<\/span><\/i> does appear later in the sentence. So the best thing would be to put that after the comma so that you can directly compare the<\/span> trade imbalances <\/span><\/i>in 2 countries with the <\/span>trade deficit<\/span><\/i> in a 3<\/span>rd<\/span> country.<\/span><\/p>\n Eliminate answers (B), (C), (D), and (E) for a faulty comparison. The correct answer is (A).<\/span><\/p>\n We were able to solve that without dealing with all those changing chunks, especially towards the end of the sentence! So why did I choose this as an example of dealing with answers that change a lot?<\/span><\/p>\n I chose it because the test writers are hoping to distract you with those changing answers\u2014possibly to get you to fall into a trap and get this one wrong. (And, at the very least, they\u2019re hoping to get you to spend way too much time trying to answer this one.)<\/span><\/p>\n The first glance gave us a clear issue: there\u2019s a comparison going on. If you feel comfortable dealing with comparisons, go for it! Then you won\u2019t have to worry about the more annoying changes occurring later in the sentence, most of which are actually fine.<\/span><\/p>\n (1) Much of the time, full underlines test at least one of Sentence Structure, Meaning, Modifiers, and Parallelism\u2014in this case, the problem tested Comparisons, a subset of Parallelism. Still use your First Glance to spot major markers that can tell you what\u2019s going on.<\/span><\/p>\n (2) If you do need to deal with significant changes in \u201cchunks\u201d of the answer choices, you will\u2014but don\u2019t get so distracted by those changes that you miss clues sitting right in front of you.<\/span><\/p>\n (3) Comparisons require the X and Y portions to be parallel (that is, in the same form, such as noun to noun or prepositional phrase to prepositional phrase). They also require the X and Y elements to be the same kind of thing: a country to a country, for example, or (as in this case) a type of trade issue to a type of trade issue.\u00a0?<\/span><\/p>\n Read on for Part 7 of How to Find the Core Sentence here!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Can\u2019t get enough of Stacey\u2019s GMAT mastery? Attend the first session of one of\u00a0her upcoming GMAT courses<\/a>\u00a0absolutely free, no strings attached. Seriously.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Guess what?\u00a0You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free\u2014we\u2019re not kidding!\u00a0Check out our upcoming courses here. Harder GMAT Sentence Correction questions often have longer underlines and \u201cjumble up\u201d the answer choices. That is, the answers change so significantly that it\u2019s difficult to figure out what\u2019s different […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[873,929,52871,930,2,26,10],"tags":[53302,53303,53304],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-15431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-for-current-studiers","category-gmat-prep","category-gmat-strategies","category-gmat-study-guide","category-how-to-study","category-sentence-correction","category-verbal-on-gmat","tag-core-sentence","tag-how-to-find-the-core-sentence","tag-long-underline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15431"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15660,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15431\/revisions\/15660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15431"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=15431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nKey Takeaways for Full Underlines in GMAT Sentence Correction<\/b><\/h4>\n
* GMATPrep<\/span>\u00ae<\/span> questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC.<\/span><\/h6>\n
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\n![\"stacey-koprince\"](\"https:\/\/cdn2.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2015\/06\/stacey-koprince-150x150.png\")
<\/a>Stacey Koprince<\/a>\u00a0is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California.<\/strong>\u00a0Stacey has been teaching the GMAT, GRE, and LSAT for more than 15 years and is one of the most well-known instructors in the industry. Stacey loves to teach and is absolutely fascinated by standardized tests.\u00a0Check out Stacey\u2019s upcoming GMAT courses here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"