Question

Some students of literary criticism consider the theories of Blaine to be a huge advance in modern critical thinking and question the need to study the discounted theories of Rauthe and Wilson.

• A. to be a huge advance in modern critical thinking and question
• B. as a huge advance in modern critical thinking and question
• C. as being a huge advance in modern critical thinking and questioned
• D. a huge advance in modern critical thinking and question
• E. are a huge advance in modern critical thinking and questioned

Hint:

The GMAT and other standardized tests prefer conciseness. When you see the verb "consider," the construction "consider X Y" is usually preferred over "consider X to be Y." Avoid "consider as Y," which is always incorrect.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
This question tests parallelism and idiomatic usage of the verb "consider."
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Idiom with "Consider": The verb "consider" is used idiomatically in two main ways: 1. "consider X Y" (e.g., "I consider him a friend.") 2. "consider X to be Y" (e.g., "I consider him to be a friend.") The first form, without "to be," is generally preferred for being more concise.
Parallelism: The sentence describes two actions that the students take: 1. consider the theories... 2. question the need... The verbs "consider" and "question" must be parallel. In the original sentence, they are. "Some students consider... and question...". This is correct.
Now let's examine the underlined part. The structure is "consider [the theories] [to be a huge advance]". This is a valid, though slightly wordy, idiom.
Let's see if there's a better option.

(A) "to be a huge advance... and question" - Grammatically acceptable, but could be more concise.
(B) "as a huge advance... and question" - "Consider as" is unidiomatic and incorrect.
(C) "as being... and questioned" - "Consider as" is incorrect, and "questioned" breaks the verb parallelism ("students consider... and questioned").
(D) "a huge advance... and question" - This uses the preferred, more concise idiom "consider X Y" ("consider the theories a huge advance"). The verb "question" remains parallel with "consider." This is the best choice.
(E) "are... and questioned" - "are" is an incorrect verb, and "questioned" breaks parallelism.
Step 3: Final Answer:
The most concise and idiomatically correct form of "consider" is "consider [noun] [noun]," without "to be" or "as." Option (D) uses this preferred structure while maintaining the parallel verb structure of the sentence ("students consider... and question...").