OG Verbal Questions - Convince me, please?

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In recent years cattle breeders have increasingly used crossbreeding, in part that their steers should acquire certain characteristics and partly because crossbreeding is said to provide hybrid vigor.

(A) in part that their steers should acquire certain characteristics
(B) in part for the acquisition of certain characteristics in their steers
(C) partly because of their steers acquiring certain characteristics
(D) partly because certain characteristics should be acquired by their steers
(E) partly to acquire certain characteristics in their steers

What I did:

(A) in part that their steers should acquire certain characteristics
(B) in part for the acquisition of certain characteristics in their steers

(C) partly because of their steers acquiring certain characteristics
(D) partly because certain characteristics should be acquired by their steers
(E) partly to acquire certain characteristics in their steers

Did this split because thought that "and" was a parallelism marker. The second element of starts with "partly because," so I suppose that the correct answer choice should begin the same.

Sadly, I get stuck with answer choices C and D because: C sounds awkward and D is in passive form.

That's why the answer is OA is letter E. However, it doesn't have the same elements as its parallel partner.

According to some economists, the July decrease in unemployment so that it was the lowest in two years suggests that the gradual improvement in the job market is continuing.
(A) so that it was the lowest in two years
(B) so that it was the lowest two-year rate
(C) to what would be the lowest in two years
(D) to a two-year level
(E) to the lowest level in two years

What i did
(A) so that it was the lowest in two years
(B) so that it was the lowest two-year rate
(C) to what would be the lowest in two years

(D) to a two-year level
(E) to the lowest level in two years

Left with letter D and letter E, I chose letter D because it's more concise than letter E. However, the OA is letter E. Is this a case of false concision?


Lacking information about energy use, people tend to overestimate the amount of energy used by equipment, such as lights, that are visible and must be turned on and off underestimate that used by unobtrusive equipment, such as water heaters.
(A) equipment, such as lights, that are visible and must be turned on and off underestimate that
(B) equipment, such as lights, that are visible and must be turned on and off and underestimate it when
(C) equipment, such as lights, that is visible and must be turn on and off and underestimate it when
(D) visible equipment, such as lights, that must be turned on and off and underestimate that
(E) visible equipment, such as lights, that must be turn on and off and underestimate it when

What I did:

(A) equipment, such as lights, that are visible and must be turned on and off underestimate that
(B) equipment, such as lights, that are visible and must be turned on and off and underestimate it when
(C) equipment, such as lights, that is visible and must be turn on and off and underestimate it when

(D) visible equipment, such as lights, that must be turned on and off and underestimate that
(E) visible equipment, such as lights, that must be turn on and off and underestimate it when

Canceled A, B, and C because of concision problems.

Left with D and E. I get stuck. The OA is D. I am not convinced because what is the antecedent of the word "that?" Also, for letter E, the antecedent of the word "it" in letter is "amount of energy?" Quite confused.

Thanks in advance, BTG community. :) Cheers!
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by vikram4689 » Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:06 pm
(A) in part that their steers should acquire certain characteristics
(B) in part for the acquisition of certain characteristics in their steers
(C) partly because of their steers acquiring certain characteristics
(D) partly because certain characteristics should be acquired by their steers
(E) partly to acquire certain characteristics in their steers

Did this split because thought that "and" was a parallelism marker. The second element of starts with "partly because," so I suppose that the correct answer choice should begin the same.
AND,for sure, is a parallelism marker. Now the parallelism has to make sense logically and grammatically. Partly because is enticing because it is grammatically || but when you read the 2 clause the whole structure is awkward as it is not using similar structure and moreover meaning is difficult to comprehend.

We need to make "partly because crossbreeding is said to provide hybrid vigor" || with one of C,D,E
(C) partly because of their steers acquiring certain characteristics
(D) partly because certain characteristics should be acquired by their steers
(E) partly to acquire certain characteristics in their steers

READ the 2 parts one by one and you will realize that E serves the purpose and now coming back to grammatical ||ism. E is also grammatical || ( partly to aquire .... and partly(because crossbreeding is said) to provide .... )

(D) to a two-year low level - u missed the word low
(E) to the lowest level in two years

Left with letter D and letter E, I chose letter D because it's more concise than letter E. However, the OA is letter E. Is this a case of false concision?
Even i was not sure of this when i did this ques. for the first time. I will quote a line which Ron explained - "a 'two-year low level' could mean that it hit a low level and then stayed there for two years." e.g. a two-year recession is a recession that LASTS for two years.

(D) visible equipment, such as lights, that must be turned on and off and underestimate that
(E) visible equipment, such as lights, that must be turn on and off and underestimate it when

Canceled A, B, and C because of concision problems.

Left with D and E. I get stuck. The OA is D. I am not convinced because what is the antecedent of the word "that?" Also, for letter E, the antecedent of the word "it" in letter is "amount of energy?" Quite confused.
in D that refers to amount of energy. Also, see that ||ism amount of energy used by equipment.... and that used by
E has bigger problem, it refers to the EXACTLY SAME ENTITY "amount of energy". See it like this
people tend to overestimate the amount of energy used by equipment and underestimate it when used by unobtrusive equipment..this sentence means that people underestimate "amount of energy" when used by 1 equipment and underestimate "same amount of energy" when used by another equipment.

Hope it is clear.
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by amit2k9 » Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:51 pm
1 parallelism with respect to partly and the infinitive form of the verbs to acquire ..to provide.
hence E fits the bill.

2.E two year low level is perfect usage of quantifies low here.

3.visible ...unobtrusive and relative pronoun usage that..is parallel here. Hence D is perfect.

are ...is not a correct usage for equipment noun/subject in A and B.
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by vikram4689 » Sat Jul 09, 2011 1:57 am
amit2k9 wrote: 2.E two year low level is perfect usage of quantifies low here.
Ans is D, see reasoning above.
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