question: parallelism in the choice

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question: parallelism in the choice

by RayChan » Sun Aug 23, 2015 10:31 am
This is my daily practice from BTG, and I can choose the right answer E, but I m still have some question about the parallelism in the choice E. Don't you think as ineffective and meddlesome and as a conserver of life and energy are not parallel to each other?

Besides, I think the "v-ing" form can be parallel to "the + noun ver form + of", the rule i think i saw once in Manhattan. Do you agree?

Regarded by opponents as ineffective and meddlesome and by supporters as a conserver of life and energy, the fight over the speed limit continues in our legislatures and on our freeways.

A. Regarded by opponents as ineffective and meddlesome and by supporters as a conserver of life and energy, the fight over the speed limit continues in our legislatures and on our freeways.
B. Regarded by opponents as ineffective and meddlesome and by supporters as a conserver of life and energy, the speed limit continues to be fought over in our legislatures and on our freeways.
C. Regarded by opponents as ineffective meddling and by supporters as the conservation of life and energy, the speed limit continues to be fought over in our legislatures and on our freeways.
D. The fight over the speed limit, regarded by opponents as ineffective and meddlesome and by supporters as a conserver of life and energy, continues in our legislatures and on our freeways.
E. The fight over the speed limit, a measure regarded by opponents as ineffective and meddlesome and by supporters as a conserver of life and energy, continues in our legislatures and on our freeways.

Look forward to your answer. Thank u very much!

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by MartyMurray » Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:27 pm
ineffective and meddlesome and conserver of life and energy are not parallel.

That they are not parallel does not matter, however, because they are not elements of the same list.

The list that needs to be parallel includes two elements, by opponents as... and by supporters as...That list is parallel.

Not every aspect of a list needs to be parallel. Check out this one. caught..., ran..., and scored...

So far it looks parallel.

Now add to it.

Jim caught the ball, ran down the field, and easily scored.

the ball, down the field, and easily are not parallel, but that is ok, because they are just adding to or modifying the central elements of the list, all of which are parallel.

Sometimes it helps to think about how language actually works, rather than somehow think that in GMAT land things are always different. Yes, in day to day life people often say things in ways that would not fly on the GMAT, but not everything in GMAT sentence correction is different from how people talk. Obviously the sentence about Jim is effective and clear, as is the one about the speed limit.

A key takeaway here is to be careful about getting too mechanical or caught up in rules to the point where you are correcting things that are not really wrong.

Regarding your second question, I am not sure, but yes it does seem possible for the "v-ing" and "the + noun ver form + of" to be parallel, basically because they are both noun forms. Choice C, which has those two forms, does however have issues.[/i]
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