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parallism

by gmat62 » Mon Sep 08, 2014 11:56 am
To end violent tendencies in young children, mothers want peaceful conflict resolution,
readily available counseling, and decreasing the prominence of television
shows that contain abundant and often casual violence.
(A) decreasing the prominence of television shows that contain abundant and
often casual violence
(B) decreasing the prominence of television shows containing often casual but
abundant violence
(C) a decrease of the prominence of television shows, containing as they do often
casual violence in abundance
(D) a decreased prominence of the abundant and often casual violence contained
in television shows
(E) a decreased prominence of television shows that contain abundant but often
casual violence

difficult to pick between D and E . i find E equally parallel as D . plus how do we decide which meaning is correct and which is wrong?
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by [email protected] » Mon Sep 08, 2014 6:57 pm
Hi gmat62,

You are correct that this SC is based primarily on Parallelism rules.

1) Parallelism: This sentence presents a list of 3 items, so all 3 must be written in the same style/format. The first two items are "peaceful conflict resolution" and "readily available counseling" - 2 nouns, so we need the third item to also be a noun. Eliminate A, B and C.

2) Modification/Style: While D and E "sound" similar, the wording of each convey different ideas.

First, D focuses on "a decreased prominence of....violence", while E focuses on "a decreased prominence of....television shows..." Based on the first 2 items in the list, the "intent" is probably to decrease the violence, not the television shows.

Second, answer E uses a "contrast keyword" incorrectly. The phrase "...shows that contain abundant BUT...casual violence" implies that "abundant" and "casual" are contrasting ideas, but they're not. Taking a closer look at answer D, you'll notice the phrase "abundant AND casual violence" which describes two aspects of the violent content that the mothers are concerned about.

Either way, Eliminate E.

Final Answer: D

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by gmat62 » Mon Sep 08, 2014 7:31 pm
hi rich
First, D focuses on "a decreased prominence of....violence", while E focuses on "a decreased prominence of....television shows..."
this is exactly my contention . how do we know what the sentence wants to convey . Both are equally viable in real world situation .
Second, answer E uses a "contrast keyword" incorrectly. The phrase "...shows that contain abundant BUT...casual violence" implies that "abundant" and "casual" are contrasting ideas, but they're not
the idea "abundant" and "casual violence" can be put in contrasting sense as well . what is wrong if i say that TV programs now have abundant but casual violence .if i say so then the intent is that TV programs now days have violence content in abundance but that content is normally casual violence
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by David@GMATPrepNow » Tue Sep 09, 2014 8:51 am
Hi gmat62,

The correct answer to this sentence correction question is D.

Good on you for narrowing down the answer choices to D and E, for the grammar reasons noted in this thread. Differentiating between D and E comes down to the context of the passage. It makes sense that the mothers want to see a decrease in the VIOLENCE displayed in television shows (answer D), but not a decrease in the number of TELEVISION SHOWS (answer E).
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