Sentence Correction

By pressing a tiny amount of nitrogen between 2 diamonds to a pressure of 25 million pounds per square inch, scientists not only were able to transform the gas into a solid, but they also created a semiconductor similar to silicon

a. not only were able to transform the gas into a solid, but they also created

b. not only were able to transform the gas into a solid but also creating

c. were able not only to transform the gas into a solid but to create

d. were able not only to transform the gas into a solid but also creating

e. were not only able to transform the gas into a solid, but they were also able to create

I found this question on another forum... OA given is
C but IMO its E please explain the answer

Where did you see this posted ? The OA can't be C E seems right

- pradeep

its in testmagic.....
the question is from gmat prep

As per latest MGMAT Page 198
Not Also ... But ... construction
is used by GMAT in correct answer choice.
I was looking for an example, now have one.
More over you look into the choices only 'C' maintains parallelism.

were not only able to transform the gas into a solid, but they were also able to create

Two red parts are not parallel. Here is the question:

How would you fix E ?

because that was the only option i thought was best amoung all.... i never knew about the construction "Not only....but" is also correct on GMAT.

IMO elimination of E is based on wordyness instead of parallalism.

logitech wrote:were not only able to transform the gas into a solid, but they were also able to create

Two red parts are not parallel. Here is the question:

How would you fix E ?

I suppose by removing they in the second clause.

were not only able to transform the gas into a solid, but were also able to create

amitabhprasad wrote:As per latest MGMAT Page 198
Not Also ... But ... construction
is used by GMAT in correct answer choice.
I was looking for an example, now have one.
More over you look into the choices only 'C' maintains parallelism.

I agree , not also ... but .. is a valid construction but here's my problem with C

"were able not only to transform the gas" - Shouldn't 'able' be immediately followed by the infinitive ?

- pradeep

amitabhprasad wrote:As per latest MGMAT Page 198
Not Also ... But ... construction
is used by GMAT in correct answer choice.
I was looking for an example, now have one.
More over you look into the choices only 'C' maintains parallelism.

Which book are you specifically talking about ?
I never knew about this 'not only...but' business.
grrrr

even latest kaplan book says Not only... but is ok
pl see page 143 in that book

i duno hw many exceptions are there in the idioms we learn