Sentence Correction

Inhospitable places on our planet, from steaming hot springs to the thick ice of the polar regions, tend to be populated by specially adapted microbes flourishing, it seems, in these extreme conditions and are therefore called "extremophiles."

(A) flourishing, it seems, in these extreme conditions and are
(B) that seem to flourish with these extreme conditions and
(C) that seem to flourish in these extreme conditions and that are
(D) seeming to flourish in these extreme conditions and are
(E) seeming to flourish with these extreme conditions and that are


OA C

Source: GMAT Prep

Let's break down the sentence structure and evaluate each answer choice:

The sentence aims to describe the characteristic of certain microbes that inhabit inhospitable places on our planet, highlighting their unique adaptation to extreme conditions and why they are called "extremophiles."

Option A) flourishing, it seems, in these extreme conditions and are

This option is incorrect due to a lack of parallelism and clarity. The phrase "flourishing, it seems, in these extreme conditions and are" awkwardly combines a participial phrase with a main clause without clear coordination, leading to confusion about how the parts of the sentence are related.
Option B) that seem to flourish with these extreme conditions and

This option corrects the parallelism issue by introducing "that seem to flourish with these extreme conditions and." However, the use of "with" is incorrect here because it does not accurately describe the relationship between the microbes and their environments. Microbes do not flourish "with" conditions but "in" them, indicating their presence within those environments.
Option C) that seem to flourish in these extreme conditions and that are

This choice corrects the preposition issue found in Option B by using "in" instead of "with," which correctly describes the relationship between the microbes and their extreme environments. It maintains parallelism and clarity by using "that" to introduce both characteristics of the microbes: they seem to flourish in these conditions, and they are called "extremophiles." This maintains a clear and structured sentence.
Option D) seeming to flourish in these extreme conditions and are

This option introduces awkwardness and a lack of clarity similar to Option A. "Seeming to flourish" is less definitive and grammatically coherent than "that seem to flourish," and the conjunction "and are" does not tie clearly back to the main subject, disrupting the flow and clarity of the sentence.
Option E) seeming to flourish with these extreme conditions and that are

This option also suffers from the incorrect use of "with" when describing the relationship between the microbes and their environments. Additionally, the phrase "seeming to flourish" lacks the definitiveness and clarity provided by "that seem to flourish." The split between "seeming to flourish" and "that are" also creates a lack of parallel structure and clarity.
Given these analyses, the best choice is C) "that seem to flourish in these extreme conditions and that are" because it maintains parallel structure, uses the correct preposition to describe the relationship between microbes and their environment, and clearly conveys the intended meaning of the sentence.


Bernard Baah
MS '05, Stanford
GMAT and GRE Instructor
MapAdvantage Prep
https://mapadvantagegmat.com