I think only A and E are close, BCD can be easily eliminatyed.

In E, who aspire more to do X is idiomatic compared to
who are aspiring more to X because aspiring here is used as noun, Gerund.

what's the source?
confused between A & E

the source is question no. 22


https://www.testpreppractice.net/GMAT/fr ... Verbal.pdf

I think this is a parallelism issue. As stated above the choices come down between A and E.

Q Now even directors of off- Broadway productions, desperate for actors who are
talented, charismatic, and aspiring more to a solid career in the theater than to the
lucrative rewards and stardom proffered by movie moguls and studios, are turning to
independent casting directors for guidance in assembling their casts.


A. are talented, charismatic, and aspiring
E. are talented and charismatic, and who aspire

This specific sentence deals will parallel nouns: "who are charismatic, talented, and aspiring." However, aspiring may be mistaken for a verb in this case as the sentence is noun ends with ing. This is usually fixed by adding "the" in front of the word. In this case the sentence will be awkward and convoluted.

The alternative, is to break up the nouns and maintain parallel structure by rephrasing the sentence with actors....who and who... In this case aspiring can be changed into "who aspire" thus parallelism is maintained without creating a awkward sentence or fear of a misunderstood gerund.

I think this is a parallelism issue. As stated above the choices come down between A and E.

Q Now even directors of off- Broadway productions, desperate for actors who are
talented, charismatic, and aspiring more to a solid career in the theater than to the
lucrative rewards and stardom proffered by movie moguls and studios, are turning to
independent casting directors for guidance in assembling their casts.


A. are talented, charismatic, and aspiring
E. are talented and charismatic, and who aspire

This specific sentence deals will parallel nouns: "who are charismatic, talented, and aspiring." However, aspiring may be mistaken for a verb in this case as the sentence is noun ends with ing. This is usually fixed by adding "the" in front of the word. In this case the sentence will be awkward and convoluted.

The alternative, is to break up the nouns and maintain parallel structure by rephrasing the sentence with actors....who and who... In this case aspiring can be changed into "who aspire" thus parallelism is maintained without creating a awkward sentence or fear of a misunderstood gerund

Thats a fab explanation. And cherry on top is in A "Aspiring" doesnt come as adjective which is used to describe the qualities of actors which broadway guys are looking for.

Aspiring here seems to be a continuous action like this
I am looking for a secretary who is smart ,intelligent and acting quickly with sharp reflexes.
Acting quickly is a desired action which doesnt parallel to the adjectives i placed before. Hence i would change it to "Quick responder rather than mentioning it as acting quickly. hope that helps