Target Test Prep EA Verbal Challenge Question 4
Challenge Question
As is “ordinary” chocolate, which can be soft and sweet or dark and bitter, white chocolate contains most of the same ingredients, with the exception of cocoa solids, the darker, more flavorful parts of the cocoa mass.
As is “ordinary” chocolate, which can be soft and sweet or dark and bitter, white chocolate contains most of the same ingredients, with the exception of
Like the way in which “ordinary” chocolate, which can be soft and sweet or dark and bitter, is made, the way in which white chocolate is made is similar, except in that there is no use of
Just as they are in “ordinary” chocolate, which can be soft and sweet or dark and bitter, the ingredients used in making white chocolate are mostly the same, the difference being the
Used in the making of “ordinary” chocolate, which can be soft and sweet or dark and bitter, but not included among the ingredients of white chocolate are
The making of “ordinary” chocolate, which can be soft and sweet or dark and bitter, is like white chocolate, and uses most of the same ingredients, containing also
Solution:
Each version of the sentence expresses a comparison. However, only one version expresses a comparison that makes sense. The other versions express comparisons that are somehow illogical.
(A) As is “ordinary” chocolate, which can be soft and sweet or dark and bitter, white chocolate contains most of the same ingredients, with the exception of cocoa solids, the darker, more flavorful parts of the cocoa mass.
Remember, it's important to pay attention to the verbs used in comparisons, because the use of the wrong verb in a sentence that expresses a comparison can render the sentence illogical.
This version illogically compares how “ordinary” chocolate is with what white chocolate contains.
(B) Like the way in which “ordinary” chocolate, which can be soft and sweet or dark and bitter, is made, the way in which white chocolate is made is similar, except in that there is no use of cocoa solids, the darker, more flavorful parts of the cocoa mass.
This version conveys that, like the way “ordinary” chocolate is made, the way white chocolate is made is “similar,” but this version doesn't complete the comparison by saying what the way “ordinary” chocolate is made and the way white chocolate is made are similar to.
Furthermore, “there is no use of cocoa solids” doesn't make clear in what there is no use of cocoa solids.
We have to be careful not to be tempted into choosing a choice like this one just because the wording is well matched. The mirrored language in “the way in which ‘ordinary' chocolate … is made” and “the way in which white chocolate is made” is used with the intention of making this choice seem correct even though the sentence is flawed.
(C) Just as they are in “ordinary” chocolate, which can be soft and sweet or dark and bitter, the ingredients used in making white chocolate are mostly the same, the difference being the cocoa solids, the darker, more flavorful parts of the cocoa mass.
This version seems to convey that the ingredients in one kind of chocolate are mostly the same as the ingredients in the other.
However, the only logical referent of the pronoun “they” is “the ingredients used in making white chocolate. ”
As a result, the comparison expressed is illogical, as we can see by substituting “the ingredients used in making white chocolate” for “they”:
Just as the ingredients used in making white chocolate are in “ordinary” chocolate … the ingredients used in making white chocolate are mostly the same.
This statement is, of course, nonsensical because the ingredients used in making white chocolate are compared with themselves.
Given that meaning, “the difference being the cocoa solids” adds yet another nonsensical aspect to an already nonsensical sentence, because the sentence does not indicate what is different from what.
CORRECT ANSWER(D) Used in the making of “ordinary” chocolate, which can be soft and sweet or dark and bitter, but not included among the ingredients of white chocolate are cocoa solids, the darker, more flavorful parts of the cocoa mass.
This choice may sound odd at first because of the inverted clause structure, in which the main verb of the clause, “used,” precedes the subject of the clause, “cocoa solids. ”
However, when we combine the answer choice with the non-underlined portion of the sentence, we get a sentence that clearly conveys the logical meaning that cocoa solids are used in the making of “ordinary” chocolate but not included among the ingredients of white chocolate.
(E) The making of “ordinary” chocolate, which can be soft and sweet or dark and bitter, is like white chocolate, and uses most of the same ingredients, containing also cocoa solids, the darker, more flavorful parts of the cocoa mass.
This version illogically compares the making of “ordinary” chocolate with white chocolate itself.
Additionally, since the participial phrase “containing also cocoa solids” takes the subject of the preceding independent clause, ‘the making of “ordinary” chocolate,' as the agent of “containing,” this version conveys the illogical meaning that the making of ordinary chocolate contains cocoa solids. Of course, the chocolate itself, not the making of it, contains the cocoa solids.