Test: Parallelism- 1 - GMAT MCQ

Major studies researching ways to reduce carbon footprints from sources that add such gases as carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere have recommended not only that home appliances should be used judiciously but also reduction of emissions from automobiles. 

Meaning Analysis

• Major studies researching ways to reduce carbon footprints from sources
  • that add such gases as carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere
  • have recommended
    • not only that home appliances should be used judiciously
    • but also reduction of emissions from automobiles.

The sentence talks about major studies that have been conducted to research ways to reduce the carbon footprints from sources that add gases such as carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere.

These studies have recommended:

1. not only using home appliances judiciously
2. but also reducing emissions from automobiles.

Error Analysis

This sentence uses the dual word parallel marker “not only X but also Y” in which X and Y should be both logically and grammatically parallel. Here X is “that home appliances that should be used judiciously” and Y is “reduction of emissions from automobiles”. The clause beginning with the relative pronoun modifier “that” is not parallel to the noun phrase “reduction of…” 

Answer Choices

A

as carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere have recommended not only that home appliances should be used judiciously but also reduction of

Incorrect:

This choice has the error pointed out in the error analysis.

B

as carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere have recommended not only using home appliances judiciously but also reducing

Correct:  

This choice corrects the parallelism error of Choice A by making X = using home appliances…” and Y = “reducing emissions…”

C

as carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere have not only recommended using home appliances judiciously but also reduction of

Incorrect:

The placement of “not only” before “recommended” leads to a logical as well as grammatical parallelism error. As per the original sentence, the studies have recommended two things: not only X but also Y. So, “recommended” should be placed before “not only.” Also, the verb “recommended” is neither logically nor grammatically parallel to the noun “reduction”.

D

like carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere have recommended not only using home appliances judiciously but also reducing

Incorrect:

This choice uses the incorrect idiom “such like” to present examples. The correct idiom is “such as”.

E

like carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere have not only recommended using of home appliances judiciously but also reduced

Incorrect:  

1)     This choice completely distorts the intended meaning. The verbs “recommended” and “reduced” appear grammatically parallel, but there is no intended logical parallelism between these two entities. As explained in the POE for Choice C, “not only” cannot be placed before “recommended” in this context. Also, this choice indicates that the studies performed two actions: “recommended” and “reduced”. It is completely illogical to state that the studies reduced emissions.

2)     This choice retains the “such like” idiom error of Choice D.

3)     The phrase “using of home appliances” is idiomatically incorrect. The idiomatically correct phrase is “using home appliances”.

Selma Lagerlof, who originally intended to write about a fictitious country, did not do it and wrote about the peasant life and landscape of Northern Sweden in her award-winning novel. 

Meaning Analysis

• Selma Lagerlof,
  • who originally intended to write about a fictitious country,
  • did not do it and wrote about the peasant life and landscape of Northern Sweden in her award-winning novel.

This sentence presents literary facts. It says that Selma Lagerlof originally planned to write about a fictitious country. However, she actually wrote about the peasant life and landscape of Northern Sweden in her book that got her an award. So there is an intended contrast in this sentence.  

Error Analysis

1)     The pronoun “it” refers to the action denoted by the ‘to verb’ “to write”. This is ungrammatical because a pronoun can only refer to nouns or other pronouns.

2)     The conjunction “and” fails to convey the intended contrast in the sentence.

Answer Choices

A

did not do it and wrote 

Incorrect:

This choice has the errors pointed out in the error analysis.

B

did not do that but wrote

Incorrect:  

Firstly, the demonstrative pronoun “that” should be followed by the noun that it refers to.   In this choice, nothing follows “that”, resulting in an error.  Secondly, pronouns can only be used to refer to nouns.  In the context of this sentence, “that” is used incorrectly to refer to the action represented by “to write”.

C

did not do so but rather wrote

Correct:

This choice corrects both the errors of the original sentence. “Did not do so” is the correct expression to suggest that Lagerlof did not write what she had intended to. Also, the idiom “not X but rather Y” is correctly used in this choice to bring out the intended contrast in the sentence.

D

not doing so but wrote

Incorrect:  

“Not doing so” is not a verb and is not even parallel to “wrote”.

E

not doing so and writing 

Incorrect: 

This choice has no verb for the subject “Selma Lagerlof”. 

Giant pandas, who have recently acquired their herbivorous lifestyle, maintain a complicated food habit over the year, eating different parts of two bamboo plants in each season thus procure adequate levels of essential nutrients.  

Meaning Analysis

• Giant pandas,
  • who have recently acquired their herbivorous lifestyle,
  • maintain a complicated food habit over the year,
    • eating different parts of two bamboo plants in each season
    • thus procure adequate levels of essential nutrients.

The sentence presents general facts about giant pandas. It says that these creatures have recently become herbivorous. They maintain a complex eating habit all through the year by eating different parts of two different bamboo plants in each season. This is how they procure adequate levels of essential nutrients.     

Error Analysis

The verbs “maintain” and “procure” are not connected properly. Since both are actions performed by the same subject, “giant pandas,” they should be joined using a parallelism marker.

Answer Choices

A

eating different parts of two bamboo plants in each season thus procure

Incorrect:

This choice has the parallelism error pointed out in the error analysis. 

B

eating different parts of two bamboo plants in each season, they procure

Incorrect:  The two independent clauses “Giant pandas… maintain” and “they procure” are joined only by a comma. Also, in this choice the sense of “result” is lost.  Note that per the intended meaning, pandas are able to procure adequate levels of nutrients by maintaining the complex eating habit discussed in the sentence.  This relationship is no longer evident in this choice.

C

eating different parts of two bamboo plants in each season, and thus procure

Correct:  This choice corrects the parallelism error of the original sentence by joining the verbs “maintain” and “procure” with “and”.

D

eat different parts of two bamboo plants in each season, procuring

Incorrect:

Use of the verb “eat” is incorrect for two reasons:

1. According to the intended meaning, the modifier “eating” should modify the action in the preceding clause. This meaning is lost when “eating” is changed to the verb “eat”.
2. If it is supposed to be parallel to “maintain”, it must be preceded by “and” to be properly connected to the first entity in the list. 

E

eat different parts of two bamboo plants in each season, and thus procure  

Incorrect:  This choice is grammatically correct. However, it changes the intended meaning of the sentence. The action of “eating” is meant to modify how the giant pandas maintain a complicated food habit. However, as per this choice, this action is independent and at the equal level of “maintain” and “procure”. This forced parallelism leads to a change in the intended meaning. 

Visionaries believe that integrated solution shops, where different specialties converge in a coordinated way to diagnose a patient as accurately as possible, are the future of hospitals but more research is needed to determine that this structure is or is not more efficient than the form in which the hospitals are divided by specialties. 

Meaning Analysis

The sentence states a belief of visionaries about the future of the hospitals. It states that integrated solution shops may be the future of hospitals. However, the visionaries also believe that more research is needed to find out whether this approach is better than the current approach.

The question tests your ability to identify whether the list in this sentence is parallel. It also tests your knowledge of idiomatic usage of whether and if. In addition, it tests your knowledge of verb tenses and SV-number agreement. Lastly, it tests your ability to eliminate an answer choice if it changes the meaning of the sentence.

Error Analysis

The original sentence has two errors – Parallelism and wordiness

1: This sentence has a list of two elements – “visionaries believe” element 1 “but” element 2, where element 1 is a clause that begins with “that”. Thus in order to maintain parallelism, element 2 should also begin with “that”. Since “that” is missing from “but more research…”, this choice has parallelism error.

2: The expression “is or is not more efficient” is very wordy. 

Answer Choices

A

are the future of hospitals but more research is needed to determine that this structure is or is not

This choice has two errors – Parallelism and wordiness - as explained in Sentence Analysis

B

is the future of hospitals but more research is needed to determine if this structure is

This choice has 3 errors – Parallelism, SV-Number, and Idiomatic use of if

1: Parallelism error is same as in choice A

2: The subject "integrated solution shops" is plural and hence use of singular verb "is" is incorrect.

3: The usage of if in "if this structure ..." is non-idiomatic because usage of "if" typically needs a consequence. To express the intent of this sentence "whether" should be used.

C

are the future of hospitals but that more research is needed to determine that this structure is

This choice changes the intended meaning of the sentence. Both the original sentence and this choice states that additional research is needed. However the purpose of this research is different per both:

1: Original sentence - to determine whether integrated solution shops are more efficient than the current approach.

2: This choice – to prove that integrated solution shops are more efficient than current approach.

D

are the future of hospitals but that more research is needed for determining if this structure will be

This choice has 3 errors.

1: The usage of if in "if this structure ..." is non-idiomatic because usage of "if" typically needs a consequence. To express the intent of this sentence "whether" should be used.

2: Meaning – The original sentence intends to express the purpose of doing more research. For this purpose "to determine" is more apt than "for determining"

3: Verb Tense – The usage of future tense "will be more efficient" is incorrect. Present tense is more apt in the context of this sentence since this a theory that may be true in the present time and hence simple present tense should be used

E

are the future of hospitals but that more research is needed to determine whether this structure is 

Correct

The U.S. Energy Department has already begun its much-awaited and well-planned endeavor to illuminate the remote villages of its states and the world, a project supported by government labs, private companies, and investors and consisted of hundreds of wind and solar energy systems.  

Meaning Analysis

• The U.S. Energy Department has already begun its much-awaited and well-planned endeavor to illuminate the remote villages of its states and the world,
  • a project
    • supported by government labs, private companies, and investors
    • and consisted of hundreds of wind and solar energy systems.

This sentence says that the US energy department has started a project that was much-awaited and is well planned to provide electricity to remote villages of its own states and to villages across the globe. This project is supported by government labs, private companies and investors. It consists of hundreds of wind and solar energy systems.

Error Analysis

Two features of the “project” have been presented in a parallel list. The first entity in the list is “supported”, a verb-ed modifier, and the second entity is “consisted”, a simple past tense verb. Hence, the list is not grammatically parallel. 

Answer Choices

A

consisted

Incorrect: This choice has the error pointed out in the error analysis. 

B

will consist

Incorrect:

1)     This choice changes the intended meaning by using the future tense.

2)     Also, it retains the parallelism error since the verb “will consist” is not parallel to the modifier “supported”.     

C

consisting

Correct:

This choice corrects the parallelism error. Now the verb-ed modifier “supported” is parallel to the verb-ing modifier “consisting”. Both the modifiers correctly modify “a project”.   

D

are consisting

Incorrect:

1)     The verb “are consisting” is not parallel to the modifier “supported.”

2)     The plural verb “are” does not agree in number with the singular subject “a project.”

is consisting

Incorrect:

The verb “is consisting” is not parallel to the modifier “supported.”

The novelist Jerome David Salinger became world-famous as much because of his struggles with unwanted attention as his honest depictions of adolescence in the twentieth century.

Meaning Analysis

• The novelist Jerome David Salinger became world-famous
  • as much because of his struggles with unwanted attention
  • as his honest depictions of adolescence in the twentieth century.                                

This sentence talks about the author Jerome David Salinger. It says that the following two things are equally responsible for Salinger becoming famous:

1. His struggles with unwanted attention.
2. His honest depictions of adolescence in the twentieth century.

Error Analysis

In the expression “as much X as Y”, X and Y should be parallel. Here, “because of…” is not parallel to “his honest depictions…”   

Answer Choices

A

because of his struggles with unwanted attention as his honest depictions of adolescence in the twentieth century

Incorrect:

This choice has the error pointed out in the error analysis.

B

for struggling with unwanted attention as his honest depictions of adolescence in the twentieth century

Incorrect:

The prepositional phrase “for his struggles…” is not parallel to the noun phrase “his honest depictions”.

C

for his struggles with unwanted attention as for his honest depictions of adolescence in the twentieth century

Correct:

This choice corrects the only error in the original sentence. X and Y both follow the same structure “for + noun”.

D

for struggling with unwanted attention as his depictions of adolescence in the twentieth century that were honest

Incorrect: 

This choice repeats the parallelism error of Choice B.

E

because of his struggles with unwanted attention as he was for his honest depictions of adolescence in the twentieth century 

Incorrect:

The phrase “because of…” is not parallel to the clause “he was… ”. 

Many beef-exporting countries found themselves in the middle of a series of trade bans because of the cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy reported in the year 2000 and spreading panic around the world over the consumption of beef products from specific regions.

Meaning Analysis

• Many beef-exporting countries found themselves in the middle of a series of trade bans
  • because of the cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy
    • reported in the year 2000
    • spreading panic around the world over the consumption of beef products from specific regions.

The sentence begins by saying that many beef-exporting countries were struck by a series of trade bans. The reason for these bans was the cases of disease named bovine spongiform encephalopathy. These cases were reported in the year 2000 and spread panic around the world over the consumption of beef from certain areas.

Error Analysis

1)     The verb-ed modifier “reported” and the verb-ing modifier “spreading” are logically as well as grammatically parallel and correctly refer to the preceding noun “the cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy”.

2)      There is no error in the sentence.

Answer Choices

A

because of the cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy reported in the year 2000 and spreading panic around the world

Correct:  This choice has no error as pointed out in error analysis.    

B

that was caused by the cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy reported in the year 2000 and spreading panic around the world

Incorrect:

Singular verb “was does not agree in number with plural subject “bans” referred to by “that”.

C

due to the cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy reported in the year 2000 and spreading panic around the world

Incorrect:

This choice contains an idiom error since “due to” cannot refer to a clause. 

D

reported in the year 2000 because the cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy spread panic around the world

Incorrect:

This grammatically correct answer choice distorts the meaning of the original sentence by saying the bans were reported in 2000 instead of saying that the cases of the bovine disease were reported that year. 

E

because of the cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy reporting in the year 2000 and spreading panic around the world

Incorrect:

The verb-ing modifier “reporting” illogically modifies the bovine disease, suggesting that the disease reported something in 2000.  

Prompted by recent discoveries, paleontologists have started research on the fossils of feathered dinosaurs, a study that, igniting the debate over when and why dinosaurs developed plumage, and that makes many researchers believe that possibly all or most of them had feathers.

Meaning Analysis

• Prompted by recent discoveries,
• paleontologists have started research on the fossils of feathered dinosaurs,
  • a study
    • that, igniting the debate over
      • when and why dinosaurs developed plumage,
    • and that makes
      • many researchers believe
        • that possibly all or most of them had feathers.

This sentence tells us that paleontologists, who have been motivated by recent discoveries, have started research on the fossils of feathered dinosaurs. This research has done two things:

1. It has heated up the debate over when and why dinosaurs grew feathers.
2. It makes many researchers believe that possibly all or most dinosaurs had feathers.

Error Analysis

Let's focus on the subject verb pairs in this sentence.  As you can see, the first occurence of the subject "that" does not have any verb.  Notice here that “that” refers to “a study”.   

Note that the noun + noun modifier “a study that…” correctly modifies the preceding clause, explaining in detail the research that the palentologists have started.

Answer Choices

A

research on the fossils of feathered dinosaurs, a study that, igniting the debate over when and why dinosaurs developed plumage, and that makes

Incorrect:    

This choice has the error pointed out in the error analysis.

B

research on the fossils of feathered dinosaurs, a study that has ignited the debate over when and why dinosaurs developed plumage and that makes

Correct:       

This choice corrects the only error of the original sentence by replacing “igniting” with “has ignited”, providing the verb for the subject “that”.  Notice the sentence structure per this choice.  Notice how “a study” has two modifiers – that has ignited…and that makes…

• Prompted by recent discoveries,
• paleontologists have started research on the fossils of feathered dinosaurs,
  • a study
    • that has ignited the debate over
      • when and why dinosaurs developed plumage,
    • and that makes
      • many researchers believe
        • that possibly all or most of them had feathers.       

And also notice that the verb tenses are different for these two verbs.  Now some of you may wonder whether this is an acceptable parallel structure.  The two verbs in this case are absolutely parallel and such construction is absolutely correct as long as the meaning communicated is logical and matches the intended meaning of the author.

Notice that the author mentions two things about the study.  First that it has ignited or started some debate.  This implies that the debate started in the past and its effect is still felt, i.e. the debate is still on.  Thus, the use of present perfect tense is absolutely correct here.  Note that simple present tense would have been absolutely incorrect for the verb “ignite”.

Now let’s come to the second aspect thing that the author says about the study.  He says that the study makes many researchers believe in something.  Now notice that the use of simple present tense is absolutely correct since this a fact that is true in the present context.  Now if case you are wondering whether “has made” would have been correct, we will address that as well.  In the context of this sentence, “has made” communicates the same meaning as “makes”.  In this case “has made” communicates that this action of “making researchers believe in something” started something in the past and is still continuing in the present.          

C

researching the fossils of feathered dinosaurs, a study igniting the debate over when and why dinosaurs developed plumage, and made

Incorrect:

This choice makes the verb “ “made” parallel to the main verb “have started”. Now, it incorrectly states that the paleontologists have made many researchers believe something. According to the original sentence, the study has made researchers believe something.

D

research on the fossils of feathered dinosaurs, the study has ignited the debate over when and why dinosaurs developed plumage, making

Incorrect:

1)     Two independent clauses “paleontologists have started…” and the study has ignited…” are joined just by a comma. This structure is ungrammatical.    

2)     The comma + verb-ing modifier “making” incorrectly modifies the preceding clause “a study has ignited…”.  This construction implies that the researchers believed in “abc” as a result of the study igniting “xyz”.  Notice that this modification is non-sensical since it is the study that made the researchers believe in “abc”.  Thus, the modified entity should be just “the study”.

E

researching the fossils of feathered dinosaurs, igniting the debate over when and why dinosaurs developed plumage, and the study makes

Incorrect:    

1)     The comma + verb-ing modifier “igniting” is incorrectly used here. Per the intended meaning of the original sentence, it is the study that ignited the debate. However, per this choice, the action - "paleontologists have started researching" has ignited the debate. Hence, it clearly changes the intended meaning of the sentence. 

2)     It’s not clear what “the study” refers to.

Ancient Incan pottery showcased in galleries is stored in rooms protected with the latest security devices in order to minimize the risk of theft.

Meaning Analysis

• Ancient Incan pottery
  • showcased in galleries
• is stored in rooms
  • • protected with the latest security devices
  • to minimize the risk of theft.

The sentence says that old Incan pottery that is exhibited in galleries is stored in special rooms. These rooms are protected by the latest security devices. By storing the artifacts in these high-security rooms, galleries minimize the risk of these items being stolen.

Error Analysis

There are no errors in this sentence. It clearly conveys the intended meaning and has no logical or grammatical errors. The prepositional modifier “in order to” correctly refers to the verb “is stored” to convey the meaning that the pottery is stored in special rooms with an intent to minimize the risk of theft.

Answer Choices

A

devices in order to minimize

Correct: As found in the error analysis, this choice has no errors. 

B

devices so that it minimizes

Incorrect:

There is no logical antecedent in the sentence for the singular pronoun “it”.     

C

devices while minimizing

Incorrect:

Use of “while” presents simultaneity in action. As per this choice, two independent things are done: the pottery is stored and the risk of theft is minimized. This choice takes away the intended meaning that the pottery is stored in order to minimize the risk of theft.

D

devices and minimizes

Incorrect:

In this choice, “minimizes” is a verb. Its subject is “ancient Incan pottery”. This SV pair makes no logical sense since the pottery does not minimize the risk of theft; storing the pottery in rooms with security minimizes the risk of theft.

E

devices, which minimizes

Incorrect:

The relative pronoun modifier “which” is placed after the noun “devices” but logically refers to the action of storing the pottery. This usage is grammatically incorrect since a pronoun cannot refer to an action.

The new mongoose cricket bat has a handle that is twice as long and twice as thick as that of a traditional cricket bat, has a much larger sweet spot. 

Meaning Analysis

This sentence provides features of the new mongoose cricket bat. The handle is twice as long and twice as thick as that of the traditional bat. The mongoose cricket bat has a larger sweet spot.

The question tests your understanding of how lists should be connected. It also tests whether you understand the meaning of the sentence well enough to eliminate the choices that do not communicate the intended meaning. In addition, you must be able to identify all subject verb pairs in the sentence.

Error Analysis

The original sentence has a list that is not connected properly. The two verbs for the subject – mongoose cricket bat – “has” and “has” - are not connected. 

Answer Choices

A

bat has a handle that is twice as long and twice as thick as that of a traditional cricket bat,

This choice has parallelism error since the list is not connected as explained in error analysis.

B

bat has a handle that is twice as long and twice as thick as that of a traditional cricket bat having

This sentence changes the intended meaning of the sentence. The original sentence states that the mongoose cricket bat has a much larger sweet spot, but this choice makes it appear as if the traditional cricket bat has a much larger sweet spot. 

C

bat, whose handle is twice as long and twice as thick as that of a traditional cricket bat, has

Correct. In this choice, there is only one verb for the subject “bat” and hence there is no list. The first verb in the original choice has been converted into a “whose clause modifier”. 

D

bat, whose handle is twice as long and twice as thick as that of a traditional cricket bat, and has 

 In this choice "and" is used prior to the verb "has", implying that there should be one more verb in this list. However, there is no such verb in the sentence.

E

, whose handle is twice as long and twice as thick as that of a traditional cricket bat, and having 

This choice results in a fragment since there is no verb for the subject "mongoose cricket bat".

As analysts have predicted, the economy’s stability in the third quarter of the year will probably not depend on the amount of available federal funding for financial organizations but is more than likely determined by the impact of the recent oil crisis on the global market.

Meaning Analysis

• As analysts have predicted,
• the economy’s stability in the third quarter of the year
  • will probably not depend on the amount of available federal funding for financial organizations but
  • is more than likely determined by the impact of the recent oil crisis on the global market.

This sentence tells us the analysts have made a prediction about the economy’s stability in the third quarter of the year. As per this prediction, we get to know two things about this stability:

1. It will probably not depend on the amount of the federal funding that is available for financial organizations. 
2. And it is more than likely that this stability will be decided by the impact of the recent oil crisis on the global market.

Error Analysis

The simple present tense “is determined” is incorrect to make a future prediction.

Answer Choices

A

is more than likely

Incorrect:          

This choice has the error found in the error analysis.

B

more than likely to be

Incorrect: 

The verb “will not depend” is not parallel to the phrase “more than likely to be”. Since “but” presents two contrasting items, these should be stated using parallel entities. 

C

more than likely will be

Correct:        

This choice uses the correct verb tense i.e. the simple future tense to present a prediction for the future.

D

it is more than likely

Incorrect: 

1)     This choice joins two independent clauses using just a connector “but”. This is incorrect since we need either “comma + FANBOYS” or a semicolon to join two ICs.

2)     It has the same verb tense error as in choice A.

Note that there is no error in the use of the pronoun “it”. It correctly refers to “the economy’s stability,” the subject of the previous clause.

E

it is more than likely that it be

Incorrect:     

1)     This choice has the same sentence structure error as in choice D.

There are two uses of the pronoun “it” in this choice. Note that unlike Choice D, this choice uses the first “it” as a placeholder pronoun and the second “it” to refer to the noun “the economy’s stability.” There is no error in pronoun usage. However, the dependent clause “that it be determined” incorrectly uses the subjunctive verb form. There is no word in the sentence that requires the use of the subjunctive form. As noted above, the verb “determined” should be written in the simple future tense to correctly represent the intended meaning of the sentence. 

Despite the increasing number of discoveries of fossils of feathered dinosaurs, many paleontologists believe that most dinosaurs did not have, nor likely to have, feathers on their bodies.

Meaning Analysis

• Despite the increasing number of discoveries of fossils of feathered dinosaurs,
• many paleontologists believe
  • that most dinosaurs did not have, nor likely to have, feathers on their bodies.

The sentence presents a contrast. It says that there has been an increase in the number of discoveries of fossils of dinosaurs with feathers. However, many paleontologists believe that not all dinosaurs had feathers on their bodies, nor were they likely to have feathers.  

Error Analysis

The sentence uses the connector “nor” to join two groups of words. Since “nor” is a parallelism marker, the two entities it joins should be parallel to each other. Here “most dinosaurs did not have” is a clause and “likely to have” is a phrase, leading to a parallelism error.

Answer Choices

A

nor

Incorrect:

This choice has an error pointed out in the error analysis.   

B

nor were they 

Correct:   This choice corrects the only error in Choice A. Now X = “all dinosaurs did not have” is parallel to Y = “were they likely….” Both X and Y are clauses.

C

nor were not 

Incorrect:

1)     The choice retains the parallelism error of Choice A.

2)     Also, use of “not” in the presence of “nor” creates double negative. This distorts the intended meaning of the sentence.

D

or were

Incorrect:  Use of “or” distorts the meaning of the sentence. The intended meaning is that all the dinosaurs were not likely to have plumage. Use of “or” does not express this meaning correctly.  

E

or

Incorrect:  This choice has the parallelism error of Choice A and the meaning error of Choice D.  

Between 2000 and 2010, the $10.7 billion ski and snowboarding industry, with centers in 38 states and which employs 187,000 people directly or indirectly, lost $1.07 billion in revenue, owing to the warming trend that forces half the nation’s ski areas to open late and almost half to close early.

Meaning Analysis

• The sentence is about the ski and snowboarding industry.
• Certain characteristics of industry presented - # of centers and # people employed.
• This industry lost specific amount of money in revenue between 2000 and 2010.
• The reason for the loss in revenue has been specified as – warming trend that forces the ski areas to open late or close early

Error Analysis

• Clause 1 - Between 2000 and 2010, the $10.7 billion ski and snowboarding industry, with centers in 38 states and
• Clause 2 - which employs 187,000 people directly or indirectly,
• Clause 1 (contd.) - lost $1.07 billion in revenue, owing to the warming trend that forces half the nation’s ski areas to open late and almost half to close early.

Error 1 - Parallelism error – “with” prepositional phrase modifier is not parallel to “which” relative pronoun modifier.  Both should be either relative pronoun modifiers or prepositional phrase modifiers. 

Answer Choices

A

Between 2000 and 2010, the $10.7 billion ski and snowboarding industry, with centers in 38 states and which employs 187,000 people directly or indirectly, lost $1.07 billion

Parallelism error

B

The $10.7 billion ski and snowboarding industry, with centers in 38 states and employing 187,000 people directly or indirectly between 2000 and 2010, lost $1.07 billion

Modifier Error – The prepositional phrase modifier “between 2000 and 2010” does not modify the action “lost”.  It now implies that 187,000 people were employed between the given time period.  This results in change in meaning of the sentence.

C

Between 2000 and 2010, the $10.7 billion ski and snowboarding industry, which has centers in 38 states and which employs 187,000 people directly or indirectly, losing $1.07 billion

SV Error – The main clause does not contain any verb.  The subject “ski and snowboarding industry” does not have a verb.  The verb “lost” in original sentence has been changed to non-verb form “losing”. 

D

The $10.7 billion ski and snowboarding industry between 2000 and 2010, with centers in 38 states and employing 187,000 people directly or indirectly, losing $1.07 billion

SV Error – As in choice C.

Modifier Error – The prepositional phrase modifier “between 2000 and 2010” instead of modifying the verb “lost” modifies the industry.  It somehow implies that the sentence is about ski and snowboarding industry that existed between 2000 and 2010.  This does not make sense.  As such logically there is only one ski and snowboarding industry and not about the industry that was between a certain time period.

E

The $10.7 billion ski and snowboarding industry, which has centers in 38 states and employs 187,000 people directly or indirectly, lost, between 2000 and 2010, $1.07 billion

Correct Choice

Glacier and ice patch archaeologists face extreme challenges to find, document, and conserve artifacts when melting ice fails to keep them undetected, shielding them from decay due to changing climatic conditions, and safe from misappropriation.   

Meaning Analysis

• Glacier and ice patch archaeologists face extreme challenges to find, document, and conserve artifacts
  • when melting ice fails to keep them
    • undetected,
    • shielding them from decay due to changing climatic conditions,
    • and safe from misappropriation.   

This sentence talks about the challenges that the glacier and ice patch archaeologists face in finding, documenting, and conserving artifacts. These challenges rise when melting ice can’t keep the artifacts

1. undetected,
2. shielded from decay due to changing climatic conditions, and
3. safe from misappropriation.

Error Analysis

There are two errors in this sentence:

1. The second element of the list, the verb-ing form “shielding” is not parallel to the other two items of the list that are adjectives (undetected and safe).

P.S.: Note that “shielding” cannot act as a verb-ing modifier here since it does not make sense to say that the melting ice cannot keep the artifacts undetected by shielding them from decay.

1. The list in the sentence is as follows: 
   1. Melting ice fails to keep them

                                                    i.     Undetected

                                                   ii.     Shielded…

                                                 iii.     Safe

Notice that the object “them” is already mentioned in the beginning of the list so it should not repeated when the elements are listed.  In this choice however, in the second element “them” is repeated, leading to redundancy error.

Answer Choices

A

shielding them from decay due to changing climatic conditions, and safe  

Incorrect:

This choice has the error pointed out in the error analysis.

B

shielding them from decay because of changing climatic conditions, and saving them

Incorrect:  

1)     The verb-ing forms “shielding” and “saving” distort the parallelism, since they are not parallel to the adjective “undetected”.

2)     Here, “because of” incorrectly modifies the noun “decay”. It can only be used to modify clauses.

C

shielded from decay due to changing climatic conditions, and safe

Correct:

This choice replaces “shielding” with “shielded”, making it parallel to the rest of the entities.

D

shielded from decay due to changing climatic conditions, and saving them

Incorrect:  

1. The verb-ing form “saving” is not parallel to “undetected” and “shielded”.   
2. This choice also has the redundancy error with regards to “them” as Choice A does.

E

shielded from decay because of changing climatic conditions, and safe

Incorrect:    

Here again, “because of” incorrectly modifies the noun “decay”. It can only be used to modify clauses.

John prepared for Hurricane Sandy in advance, storing enough food and water, purchased flashlights and candles for possible power outages, and charging his cellphone to reach out to authorities in case of emergency.

Meaning Analysis

The sentence says that John prepared himself for Hurricane Sandy. Following is the list of things he did for his preparation. He
A. stored enough food and water,
B. purchased flashlights and candles to handle power crisis, and
C. charged his cellphone for emergency use.

Error Analysis

John prepared for Hurricane Sandy in advance, storing enough food and water, purchased flashlights and candles for possible power outages, and charging his cellphone to reach out to authorities in case of emergency.

There is a list of things that John did to prepare himself for Hurricane Sandy. The comma + verb-ing modifier "storing..." correctly modifies the preceding clause, giving additional information as to what all John did in his preparation. Since there is list of things John did, the entities in this list must be parallel. However, "purchased..." is not parallel to "storing..." and "charging...".

Answer Choices

A

storing enough food and water, purchased flashlights and candles for possible power outages, and charging

Error as identified in the Error Analysis

B

storing enough food and water, purchased flashlights and candles for possible power outages, had charged

Same parallelism error as in choice A.

C

storing enough food and water, purchasing flashlights and candles for possible power outages, and charging

This choice is CORRECT because it is not only grammatically parallel but also logically parallel. The three comma + verb-ing modifiers in this choice correctly modifies the preceding clause, presenting the HOW aspect of the modified clause. 

D

stored enough food and water, purchased flashlights and candles for possible power outages, and charged

This choice is grammatically sound because all the entities in this choice are grammatically parallel. Notice that "stored...", "purchased...", and "charged..." are now parallel to "prepared" as well. However, despite being grammatically parallel, this choice is incorrect because the meaning conveyed by this choice is ILLOGICAL.

Per this choice, the entities in the list do no present information as to HOW John prepared for Sandy. These entities are now independent entities and the choice now conveys that John performed all these four actions independent of each other. This is not the intended meaning of the sentence.

stored enough food and water, and purchased flashlights and candles for possible power outages, being charged.

In this choice, “stored” should be “storing”, “purchased” should be “purchasing”, “being charged” should be “charging” so that the grammatically parallel list conveys the logical meaning as all these actions were done as a preparation for Hurricane Sandy.

The scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment, ecology, which is a very dynamic subject, an interdisciplinary field that encompasses biology and Earth sciences, are said to have its foundation in the studies made by Aristotle and Hippocrates.

Meaning Analysis

• The scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment,
• ecology,
  • which is a very dynamic subject, an interdisciplinary field
    • that encompasses
      • biology,
      • and Earth sciences,
    • and that are said to have its foundation in the studies made by Aristotle and Hippocrates.

The sentence presents some information about the ecology subject. Ecology:

1. is scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment
2. is a very dynamic subject.
3. is an interdisciplinary field that encompasses biology as well as Earth sciences.
4. is said to have its foundation in the studies done by Aristotle and Hippocrates.

Error Analysis

The plural verb “are” does not agree in number with the singular subject “ecology.” This is the only error in the sentence.

Answer Choices

A

ecology, which is a very dynamic subject, an interdisciplinary field that encompasses biology and Earth sciences, are

Incorrect: This choice has the error pointed out in the error analysis. 

B

ecology,  a very dynamic subject and an interdisciplinary field that encompasses biology and Earth sciences, are 

Incorrect:  

This choice repeats the subject-verb agreement error of option A.

C

ecology is a very dynamic subject, an interdisciplinary field that encompasses biology and Earth sciences, and are 

Incorrect: 

This choice repeats the subject-verb agreement error of the original sentence.

D

ecology, a very dynamic subject, is an interdisciplinary field that encompasses biology and Earth sciences and is 

Correct:  This choice corrects the errors of the original choice.  Note that the structure of the sentence is different from that of the original sentence.  But the meaning communicated by this structure is the same as that by Choice A. 

E

ecology is a very dynamic subject, an interdisciplinary field encompassing biology and Earth sciences, is 

Incorrect:  The verb “is” is used twice, and both uses are for the subject “ecology.” Hence both verbs should be connected using a parallelism marker. 

Although Babylonian scholars were remarkable observers of human illness and behavior, researchers believe that their proficiency in anatomy was superficial and did not entirely disprove the involvement of evil forces in a number of diseases. 

Meaning Analysis

• • Although Babylonian scholars were remarkable observers of human illness and behavior,
• researchers believe
  • that their proficiency in anatomy
    • was superficial and
    • did not entirely disprove the involvement of evil forces in a number of diseases.

This sentence presents contrasting information about Babylonian scholars. It says that they were very good observers of human illness and behavior. The contrasting information is that according to researchers, Babylonian scholars were not very good at anatomy as their proficiency in this field was superficial and they did not negate the involvement of bad spirits in many diseases i.e. they believed in the involvement of evil forces in many diseases.

Error Analysis

1)    Since all the information about the scholars is from the past, use of the simple past tense verb “did not disprove” is correct. Since the researchers’ belief is a fact from the present, use of the simple present tense verb “believe” is correct.

2)    The verbs “was” and “did not disprove” are logically and grammatically parallel.

However, the verb “did not disprove” does not make sense with the subject “their proficiency”.  Logically this verb is for the subject – scholars.

Answer Choices

A

superficial and did not entirely disprove  

Incorrect:

This choice has errors as pointed out in the error analysis.  

B

superficial and that it disproved not entirely

Incorrect:

Singular pronoun “it” refers to plural noun “scholars”, leading to pronoun antecedent number agreement error.  Also, since “scholars” are people, “it” cannot be used as a pronoun for scholars.

C

superficial, not entirely disproving

Incorrect:

The modifier “disproving” incorrectly refers to the clause “their proficiency… was superficial.” According to the intended meaning, the two facts “their proficiency… was superficial” and “did not entirely disprove…” are independent of each other. However, this option makes it seem as though the second describes the first.  Furthermore, “disproving” does not make sense with the subject of the modified clause “proficiency”.

D

superficial, not entirely a disproval of

Incorrect:

It is not clear from the structure of this choice what exactly was not a disproval.

E

superficial, and that they did not entirely disprove

Correct:

This choice correctly states the two beliefs of the researchers by using two clauses beginning with “that”.  It also corrects the SV error of choice A by explicitly stating the subject “they” for the scholars. 

Please note that even though another plural noun – researchers – exists in the sentence, from the context of the sentence it is clear that “they” in “they did not disprove…” refers to the scholars. So there is no pronoun ambiguity error. In fact both pronouns “their” in the non-underlined portion of the sentence and “they” in the underlined portion of the sentence refer to the scholars. 

Giant petrels, the enormous seabirds found in the South Atlantic, prey heavily on young macaroni penguins either by attacking them on shore and drowning them at sea. 

Meaning Analysis

• Giant petrels,
  • the enormous seabirds found in the South Atlantic,
• prey heavily on young macaroni penguins
  • either by attacking them on shore
  • and drowning them at sea.

This sentence tells us about giant petrels, which are huge seabirds found in the South Atlantic region. The petrels prey heavily on young macaroni penguins. They do so in two ways: by attacking them on shore or by drowning them at sea.

Error Analysis

1. The idiom “either X or Y” is used incorrectly. “Either” should be followed by “or,” not “and”.
2. The entities X and Y should be parallel. Here X is the preposition “by” and Y is “drowning,” a noun in the “-ing” form. 

Answer Choices

A

penguins either by attacking them on shore and drowning them  

Incorrect: This choice has the errors pointed out in the error analysis. 

B

penguins, by attacking themselves on shore and drowning them

Incorrect:   

1. The pronoun “themselves” does not make any sense in this context since it illogically indicates that the petrels attack themselves.
2. “And” is incorrect in this context since the petrels use either of the two methods to prey on the penguins. They cannot use both the methods together. So the use of “or” is required here.

C

penguins,  attacked on shore or drowned 

Incorrect:

While this choice is grammatically correct, it does not convey the intended meaning. According to this choice, the penguins are attacked or drowned. But this option does not make it clear that attacking and drowning are the two ways in which petrels prey on penguins.

D

penguins either by attacking them on shore or by drowning them

Correct:  

This choice corrects both the errors in the original sentence.  

E

penguins, attack them on shore, and drown

Incorrect:   

Like option C, this choice is grammatically correct but logically incorrect. In this choice, the verbs “prey,” “attack”, and “drown” are parallel. Therefore, they are independent entities. However, according to the intended meaning, attacking and drowning are the methods using which the petrels attack the penguins. This meaning is lost in this option.

During the industrial revolution, most of the government stimulus money was spent on mining industrial metals that were needed to build heavy machinery and on building the infrastructure needed to carry large pieces of machinery across the country.

Meaning Analysis

This sentence presents the two projects on which most of the stimulus money was spent.

This question tests your ability to make the list parallel. It also tests whether you can select the answer choice that correctly conveys the intended meaning.

Error Analysis

The original sentence has no errors.

Answer Choices

A

mining industrial metals that were needed to build heavy machinery and on building the infrastructure needed to carry

Correct

B

mining industrial metals that were needed to build heavy machinery and when they built the infrastructure needed to carry

This choice has parallelism error since the two elements are not parallel as shown:
Money was spent
Element 1 = on mining metals
Element 2 = when they built
Element 1 shows the project on which the money was spent and Element 2 shows the timing of when the money was spent. These two elements therefore do not talk about a common topic. Furthermore, element 2 does not express the intended meaning.

C

 mining industrial metals that were needed to build heavy machinery as well as on building of the infrastructure needed to carry

"mining industrial metals" is not grammatically parallel to "building of infrastructure".

D

the need to build heavy machinery that required mining of industrial metals and the building of infrastructure that was needed for carrying

This choice is very awkward, and it heavily distorts the meaning of the sentence. This choice indicates that money was spent on 'the need to build heavy machinery' as against the intended meaning that implies that money was spent 'on mining metals'.

E

mining industrial metals that were needed for building of heavy machinery and on building the infrastructure that was needed for carrying of

This choice is very wordy and awkward.

e-GMAT is creating comprehensive GMAT Quantitative course that will require students to score 45 in their initial mock test to be eligible for the guarantee, ensure that they have progressed in their understanding, and be so effective that it would allow e-GMAT to provide a money back guarantee if students score less than 49 on GMAT, a promise that will complement their world class guarantee for verbal.

Solution

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Answer Choices

A

ensure that they have progressed in their understanding, and be so effective that it would allow e-GMAT to provide a money back guarantee if students score less than 49 on GMAT, a promise that will complement their

1. Conditional “would” is not correct to denote a sure action.
2. Plural pronoun “their” cannot refer to singular “e-GMAT”.

B

to ensure that they have progressed in their understanding, and to be so effective as to allow e-GMAT to provide a money back guarantee if students score less than 49 on GMAT, a promise complementing its

1. Use of “to” before “ensure” & “be” violates the parallel list.
2. “as to” is not correct idiom to express effect of a reason

C

will ensure that they have progressed in their understanding, and will be so effective that it will allow e-GMAT to provide a money back guarantee if students score less than 49 on GMAT, a promise that will complement its

Correct Choice

D

to ensure that they have progressed in their understanding, and to be so effective that e-GMAT can provide a money back guarantee if students score less than 49 on GMAT, complementing its

Use of “to” before “ensure” & “be” violates the parallel list.

E

ensuring that they have progressed in their understanding, and being so effective that it will allow e-GMAT providing a money back guarantee if students score less than 49 on GMAT, complementing its

1.  “comma +ensuring” illogically modifies preceding clause
2.  Forced parallelism between “ensuring” and “being”
3. “providing” illogically modifies “e-GMAT” and distorts logical meaning
4. “complementing” illogically modifies preceding clause.