Confusing parallelism (never seen before)

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vinni.k: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 421; Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2011 4:27 amFollowed by: 2 members; Location: India; Thanked: 6 times; GMAT Score:620

by vinni.k » Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:41 am

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Source :- Veritas

The numeric working memory of young orangutans are astonishing: flashing a random scattering of numerals on a screen for half a second and then covering the numbers with white squares, a numerically schooled young orangutan will touch the squares sequentially to indicate the ascending order of the numbers hidden beneath.

A. are astonishing: flashing a random scattering of numerals on a screen for half a second and then covering the numbers with white squares,

B. are astonishing: flash a random scattering of numerals on a screen for half a second and then cover the numbers with white squares,

C. are astonishing: flash a random scattering of numerals on a screen for half a second and then cover the numbers with white squares, and

D. is astonishing: flashing a random scattering of numerals on a screen for half a second and then covering the numbers with white squares,

E. is astonishing: flash a random scattering of numerals on a screen for half a second and then cover the numbers with white squares, and

OA is E

Hi Experts,

Narrow it down to D and E. I was surprised to see E as an answer. I have never seen this kind parallelism construction before in GMAT SC.
The following is the veritas explanation for E:-

Only (E) with the use of the imperative verbs "flash" and "cover" and the word "and" creates a logical meaning for how the experiment works: [you] FLASH the numerals and then COVER the numbers, AND a young orangutan will be able to indicate... The correct answer is (E).

In my opinion there is no subject for "flash" and "cover" and it is considered parallel with "and a numerically schooled young orangutan will touch"
which has both subject and verb.
Can anyone please give OG or GMAT prep questions based on this construction.

Please experts look into this question..

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:41 am

deloitte247: Legendary Member; Posts: 2214; Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2018 2:22 pmFollowed by: 5 members

by deloitte247 » Sun Aug 26, 2018 3:16 am

It's a bit technical here, we have to be very careful so as not to mix things uo.

OPTION A - INCORRECT
Much can be made of the underlined statement because it's directly the same as in the question which then means we are not looking for anything more substantial.

OPTION B - INCORRECT
Here, we have a simple grammatical situation in which "memory" being an uncountable noun is being qualified by the verb "are" is not in agreement with each other. Memory should be followed by a singular verb not a plural one.

OPTION C - INCORRECT
Aside following the order described in option B , it also has a case of a changed meaning with the addition of "and" which seeks to add two subjects together. The article is talking wholly about young orangutans.

OPTION D - INCORRECT
This is grammatically correct because the various parts of the verb and noun agreement are adhered to but after the colon : it's expected that the tonality of the statement should be in the simple present tense so, using "flashing" with emphasis on the "ing was avoidable.

OPTION E - CORRECT
We would notice a similarity to the option in D with exception to the "ing" situated at the end of the verb "flash". This is a general expression expressing the views of the author about orangutans. It's thus a correct option.

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ceilidh.erickson: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2095; Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pmFollowed by: 247 members; Thanked: 1443 times

by ceilidh.erickson » Mon Aug 27, 2018 12:35 pm

vinni.k wrote: In my opinion there is no subject for "flash" and "cover" and it is considered parallel with "and a numerically schooled young orangutan will touch"
which has both subject and verb.
Can anyone please give OG or GMAT prep questions based on this construction.

Please experts look into this question..

I agree that this is unusual. "Flash" and "cover" here are not declarative verbs; they are imperatives (commands), and thus do not need a subject.

Normally, we wouldn't see imperatives on the GMAT, as they imply that one person is speaking to another: "Go to bed! Brush your teeth!" etc.

In colloquial usage, though, the imperative can be used for general truisms rather than actual commands: "Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to fish and you feed them for a lifetime." This is not actually commanding you to give someone a fish. It's implied: "(If you) give a person a fish..." etc.

I can't recall seeing an example of this usage on any GMAT SC in any OGs. It's likely that you'd see it in RC from time to time. I doubt you'd be tested on it in SC, though.

Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education

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Mo2men: Legendary Member; Posts: 712; Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 4:39 amFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 14 times

by Mo2men » Mon Aug 27, 2018 5:50 pm

ceilidh.erickson wrote:
I agree that this is unusual. "Flash" and "cover" here are not declarative verbs; they are imperatives (commands), and thus do not need a subject.

Normally, we wouldn't see imperatives on the GMAT, as they imply that one person is speaking to another: "Go to bed! Brush your teeth!" etc.

In colloquial usage, though, the imperative can be used for general truisms rather than actual commands: "Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to fish and you feed them for a lifetime." This is not actually commanding you to give someone a fish. It's implied: "(If you) give a person a fish..." etc.

I can't recall seeing an example of this usage on any GMAT SC in any OGs. It's likely that you'd see it in RC from time to time. I doubt you'd be tested on it in SC, though.

Hi,

I would like t highlight that this sentence is quoted from NYT article :

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/05/scie ... mbers.html

There are some changes in the SC by Veritas.

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