Sentence Correction

Dunbar argues that gossip is important in human societies in the maintenance of social cohesion, just as social grooming does for other primates.

A. gossip is important in human societies in the maintenance of social cohesion, just as social grooming does for other primates
B. gossip is important in the maintenance of social cohesion in human society, just as social grooming does for other primates
C. in human societies gossip is important in social cohesion like social grooming for other primate societies
D. similar to social grooming in primates, human gossip is important in maintaining social cohesion
E. gossip is important in human societies in the maintenance of social cohesion, just as social grooming is in other primate groups


Don't know what to do with this sentence! I picked [spoiler][/spoiler]

I think the answer is D.

Here's why:

[spoiler]The phrase "in the maintenance of" is unidiomatic, so we eliminate A, B, and E.

I'm pretty sure about the reason for that elimination; however, just in case...

We can eliminate A, B since the sentences aren't parallel (does is used instead of is).

We can eliminate E since it is wordy (okay.. I guess that the only way I can see is that 'in the maintenance of' is a bit awkward).

We now have C and D. Choice C doesn't fully express the thought... it should say ... like social grooming IS for other primates. Because of this, I would go with answer choice D.[/spoiler]

Domnu wrote:I think the answer is D.

Here's why:

[spoiler]The phrase "in the maintenance of" is unidiomatic, so we eliminate A, B, and E.

I'm pretty sure about the reason for that elimination; however, just in case...

We can eliminate A, B since the sentences aren't parallel (does is used instead of is).

We can eliminate E since it is wordy (okay.. I guess that the only way I can see is that 'in the maintenance of' is a bit awkward).

We now have C and D. Choice C doesn't fully express the thought... it should say ... like social grooming IS for other primates. Because of this, I would go with answer choice D.[/spoiler]

Sorry man,
that's not the OA.

it should be "e"

I feel answer should be E. D omits the the phrase human societies

I too feel the answer should be E.

X is important, just as Y is important.

IMO E
'in' has to be there

IMO E - since its parallel

What's the OA?

rahulg83 wrote:What's the OA?

OA [spoiler][E][/spoiler]