Nuclear fusion is the force that powers the Sun, the stars,

[sssowmya1]

Could you please explain why choice B is incorrect ?

OG says comparison is unclear and the usage is incorrect in choice B.

Please explain me why is unclear and incorrect? What two things are getting compared here if we use Like?

[bellthecatnow]

Could you please explain why choice B is incorrect ?

OG says comparison is unclear and the usage is incorrect in choice B.

Please explain me why is unclear and incorrect? What two things are getting compared here if we use Like?

This is my question too. Please help friends.

[RonPurewal]

Could you please explain why choice B is incorrect ?

OG says comparison is unclear and the usage is incorrect in choice B.

Please explain me why is unclear and incorrect? What two things are getting compared here if we use Like?

This is my question too. Please help friends.

ick.

apparently, the lack of clarity is that we don't know what nuclear reactors do.

in other words, we're not sure whether "like nuclear reactors" applies to
* merging the nuclei of atoms instead of splitting them apart
or just to
* splitting them apart

it's supposed to be the second, but we can't tell.

--

my problem is that this consideration would seem to exclude choice (c) as well.

i really HATE HATE HATE this problem. i'd imagine there's a reason why it was excised from the newest edition of the o.g.

[bellthecatnow]

Thanks RonPurewal. That's a great help.

It appeared to be striking similarities between Nuclear Fusion n Reactors by the statement Nuclear Fusion merges nuclei and doesn't split them apart like nuclear reactors. (That is Nuclear reactors too merge nuclei and don't split them apart). This comparison (similarity thing) is obviously wrong because it alters the meaning.

I wanted to confirm my reasoning on eliminating this one which seems to have gone wrong :-(.

[gin.vc123]

Hi Ron,

For choice A, the OG explanation says that 'as should be followed by a clause' and hence cannot be followed by the prepositional phrase 'in nuclear reactors'.

Can you please throw some light on this usage. i'm a li'l confused with this. can we never use as with a clause?

Thanks.

[gin.vc123]

Hi Ron,

For choice A, the OG explanation says that 'as should be followed by a clause' and hence cannot be followed by the prepositional phrase 'in nuclear reactors'.

Can you please throw some light on this usage. i'm a li'l confused with this. can we never use as with a clause?

Thanks.

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron,

For choice A, the OG explanation says that 'as should be followed by a clause' and hence cannot be followed by the prepositional phrase 'in nuclear reactors'.

Can you please throw some light on this usage. i'm a li'l confused with this. can we never use as with a clause?

Thanks.

nah. i think the o.g. answer writers fell asleep on that one. (you can definitely tell that they have their best verbal writers writing the problems, and their second-rate writers writing the explanations.)

you can use "as" with clauses OR with prepositional phrases, as long as there's something to which the as-clause can be parallel.

the main problem with (a) is the fact that it uses "and" as a connector.
merging the nuclei of atoms and not splitting them apart
* this is rhetorically ineffective: the point here is the contrast. you don't use "and" to point out a contrast (note the better connectors in the other choices).
* also, it's redundant: there's no reason to add "and not splitting them apart" after "merging...", since that's exactly what merging means. (by contrast, if you're using a connector such as "rather than", you should explicitly point out the contrast.)

the other problem is that "as IN nuclear reactors" isn't parallel to anything.

[running2k]

Hi Ron,

You talked about (S+V1, V2ing) before, and claimed that V2 has to happen WHILE or AS A CONSEQUENCE OF V1.

But here, powers the Sun...., merging the nuclei of atoms rather than splitting them apart..... Logically, MERGE is not WHILE or AS A CONSEQUENCE of POWER. It doesn't follow the rule above. Could you please help address this?

Thanks.

[nishantgourav2]

Both D and E are wrong. Right away because they begin with 'and'. The main aim of the statement is to say that nuclear fusion powers stars and hydrogen bombs rather than how it is produced and therefore it is better to choose the modifier form.

Also in E, you are comparing nuclear reactors with nuclear fusion.

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron,

You talked about (S+V1, V2ing) before, and claimed that V2 has to happen WHILE or AS A CONSEQUENCE OF V1.

But here, powers the Sun...., merging the nuclei of atoms rather than splitting them apart..... Logically, MERGE is not WHILE or AS A CONSEQUENCE of POWER. It doesn't follow the rule above. Could you please help address this?

Thanks.

sure, it's simultaneous action. it's a pretty weird way to write the sentence, i'll admit, but "WHILE" is operative here.

[purduesr]

I'm confused with choice C. If we follow the ellipsis rule, the ending would be like the following:

"as nuclear reactors do split".

But the word "split" doesn't appear anywhere in the sentence!

Shouldn't the ending be:

"as nuclear reactors are"?

This way, when we show the omitted word, the sentence would be:

"as nuclear reactors are splitting"

And "splitting" did show up in the sentence.

I had recently learned this rule but was shocked with this question this question :(

Can someone explain how can C be correct in this regard?

Thanks a lot.

hmmm yeah, i'm sort of dismayed by that, too.

i guess that this sort of thing is fine, as well - given that it appears in an officially correct answer (!)

we have just learned a new TAKEAWAY about the use of "do" + elision: apparently, that construction may also be used to refer to preceding -ing forms.

thanks for noticing this.

Ron, could you please explain what you mean by "apparently, that construction may also be used to refer to preceding -ing forms." ?

Are you saying the the ommitted word is splitting? If so, it doesn't make sense to say as "nuclear reactors do splitting" Thanks in advance!

[RonPurewal]

Ron, could you please explain what you mean by "apparently, that construction may also be used to refer to preceding -ing forms." ?

Are you saying the the ommitted word is splitting? If so, it doesn't make sense to say as "nuclear reactors do splitting" Thanks in advance!

Well, as I've said on many occasions, we have to learn new things from correct answers. This one caught us by surprise, too, but the only sensible way in which to interpret the correct answer is that do indeed stands for "splitting".

Clearly it's not a literal replacement -- you can't just remove the word "do" and insert "splitting" in its stead -- so it must be viewed as a replacement in which the participle "splitting" can make the transformation into an infinitive, in order to fit into the word "do".

I definitely don't see this type of construction ever becoming especially common, so you may be best off just learning it as a special idiom.

[tonscot]

I'm confused with choice C. If we follow the ellipsis rule, the ending would be like the following:

"as nuclear reactors do split".

But the word "split" doesn't appear anywhere in the sentence!

Shouldn't the ending be:

"as nuclear reactors are"?

This way, when we show the omitted word, the sentence would be:

"as nuclear reactors are splitting"

And "splitting" did show up in the sentence.

I had recently learned this rule but was shocked with this question this question :(

Can someone explain how can C be correct in this regard?

Thanks a lot.

hmmm yeah, i'm sort of dismayed by that, too.

i guess that this sort of thing is fine, as well - given that it appears in an officially correct answer (!)

we have just learned a new TAKEAWAY about the use of "do" + elision: apparently, that construction may also be used to refer to preceding -ing forms.

thanks for noticing this.

may I please provide my humble input on why I think Answer C is correct after much thinking?

John says, "why did you do it?"
Mary asks, "do what?"
John replies, "merging the nuclei of atoms and not splitting them apart."

So the "it" that John asks Mary about is the action of "merging and not splitting", which is something you can do (in present tense), and that's why it's Answer C, "as nuclear reactors (do)".

i hope i didn't make it more confusing than it already is but does my logic fly/pass? any thoughts please?

[shubham_sagijain]

Hi Ron,

This is not there in the OG 12, so i guess we can kinda skip this one else we might really pick up a wrong rule. Do you agree ?

Thanks,
Shubh

[RonPurewal]

tonscot --

i hope i didn't make it more confusing than it already is but does my logic fly/pass? any thoughts please?

well, that's definitely what is happening here, yes.
what makes this problem "interesting" is that "do" is used to stand for something that isn't actually a verb, namely, an ING form.