Not a great way to write sentence, but we have to choose best answer ( NOT NECESSARILY PERFECT) in GMAT.

"That the new managing editor rose from the publications soft news sections to a leadership position" is a Noun Phrase or a the fact or a idea acting as a subject of the sentence. The usage is :


"This Idea " is more of a landmark than " Other idea ".
So, in this parallelism you have to maintain a logical and grammatical comparison.

Answer Choice E maintians a logical and grammatical comparions.

For Example,
That I scored 750 in GMAT is more of a importance than that I am a stupid guy.

jangojess wrote:That the new managing editor rose from the publications soft news sections to a leadership position is more of a landmark in the industry than her being a woman.
A. her being a woman
B. being a woman is
C. her womanhood
D. that she was a woman
E. that she is a woman

OA : E

Explanations Please.......

Some thoughts:
1.Comparison must be parallel:
Example:
I am taller than he is.
=> Here, the clause "I am" has been compared with another one clause "he is".
Again,
That he is a good student is more important than that he is a stupid boy.
2.The core idea in this sentence is that both the part of the sentence must be parallel.
Now, come to the sentence:
A, B, and C can be easily eliminated. In D, the verb "was" is changing the meaning of the sentence because "she was a woman" means that she is not a woman at present. So, D is out. Clearly answer is E.