At its core, this very tough question tests whether you know that in a list, items must be parallel. Essentially, the snake puts on a bluff; what follows is a list of actions that are part of its bluff, so the following actions must be written in parallel: (1) to broaden flesh (2) to feign strikes. Since there are only 2 items in this list of action, we must have "and" in front of the last item.

Only B and C give us a correct list. C is the better choice because it more clearly links the end of the sentence to the snake by using the subject pronoun "it" --> "but...it will fall over" as opposed to B which says --> "but...will fall over"

To better understand, have a look at a detailed solution This is GMATPrep question 2356. You can also search for similar questions (use topic = "Parallelism, List" in your search)


-Patrick

My take is B.

If we see the entire sentence in totality, we will see that B fits better that does C.

The Snake PUTS on bluff....., hissing and rearing back, BROADENS the flesh as does cobra and FREIGNS repeated strikes, BUT (the snake) with no fangs and no vemon will fall over and play dead.

In C, I have a big doubt.

BROADENING the flesh of its head the way cobra DOES....is not parallel at all.

Whereas

BROADENS.......the way cobra DOES....it parallel.

Experts, please jump in.....

This is indeed a tough but good questions.

Sorry FightWithGMAT OA: C

I like your username

Parallel structures only matter when you have items that are part of the same comparison, list or contrast.

The items that you list as parallel in B, "Snake puts...broadens...and feigns", should actually not be parallel. "to broaden" and "to feign" need to be parallel because they are part of the list of things done while putting on the bluff. "to put" should not be part of that list.

Correct: John lost all his money, gambling in casinos and making poor investments.

Incorrect: John lost all his money, gambled in casinos and made poor investments.

If the intent is to show that "gambling" and "making" are the ways in which John lost money, then the last 2 pieces need to be parallel to each other, but they don't need to be parallel to the first. To make all 3 actions parallel damages the logical structure of the sentence (the rule of parallelism is that elements that are logically equivalent should also be structurally parallel). The 2nd sentence is incorrect because it implies that all three actions are equal whereas the intent is for the last 2 actions to modify (describe) the first action.

In the hognose snake sentence, "to broaden" and "to feign" are not logically equivalent to "puts on a bluff". Rather they intend to modify the first action, so they should be parallel to each other, but not to the primary action.

Finally, "the way a cobra does" doesn't need to be parallel to any other structure in the sentence. This clause is not part of a list, comparison or contrast, but rather an isolated description of one of the items in the list of bluff-actions (a description of "to broaden")

Hope this helps. In the Solutions Engine, look for questions from topic='Parallelism' and difficulty='700+' to test yourself on similar questions.

Best of luck,
-Patrick

Correct: John lost all his money, gambling in casinos and making poor investments.

Incorrect: John lost all his money, gambled in casinos and made poor investments.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I don't think I would have been able to get right from wrong from these 2 sentences. seems like a lot of GMAT sentences test parallelism.