BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Most expenditures to combat such vector-borne diseases

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Legendary Member
Posts: 774
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:32 am
Thanked: 46 times
Followed by:14 members

Most expenditures to combat such vector-borne diseases

by aditya8062 » Fri Apr 18, 2014 7:22 am
Most expenditures to combat such vector-borne diseases like malaria and rabies have focused either on the immunization of humans or on obliterating the carriers with pesticides.

A like malaria and rabies have focused either on the immunization of humans or on obliterating
B like malaria and dengue have focused either on immunization of humans or on the obliteration of
C as malaria and dengue have focused on either immunizing humans or on obliterating
D as malaria and dengue have focused on either immunizing of humans or on obliteration of
E as malaria and dengue have focused on either immunizing humans or obliterating

i somewhat wary about this question .i was forced to select E in this this but i feel that parallelism is not that oki in E
i feel that the perfect answer would have been as follows :as malaria and dengue have focused either on immunization of humans or on the obliteration of
the reason i don't feel oki about E is because of the expression "immunizing humans" ---> it seems to indicate a type of humans !! i strongly feel that the correct phrasing should have been "immunization of humans"
kindly tell me guru if my logic is correct
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2095
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pm
Thanked: 1443 times
Followed by:247 members

by ceilidh.erickson » Fri Apr 18, 2014 7:43 am
This problem tests two topics: IDIOMS and PARALLELISM.

The structure SUCH vector-borne diseases LIKE malaria and rabies is not idiomatically correct. We need to say SUCH... AS. Eliminate A and B.

You're correct that C, D, and E involve parallelism with EITHER / OR. Be careful, though! Just because the correct answer didn't say exactly what you wanted it to say, that doesn't make it wrong. All of the following would be correct:

... have focused on immunizing humans or obliterating --> parallel gerunds
... have focused on immunizing humans or on obliterating --> parallel prepositional phrases
... have focused either on immunizing humans or on obliterating --> parallel prepositional phrases
... have focused on either immunizing humans or obliterating --> parallel gerunds

You're correct that either on X or on Y would have been parallel, but so is on either X or Y.
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2095
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pm
Thanked: 1443 times
Followed by:247 members

by ceilidh.erickson » Fri Apr 18, 2014 7:48 am
In PARALLELISM, there is a difference between two-part parallel markers (either/or, not/but, etc) and one-part parallel markers (and, or, etc). For more on how to attack those, see:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/help-manhatt ... tml#713882
https://www.beatthegmat.com/think-of-x-a ... tml#575578
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Top
Legendary Member
Posts: 774
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:32 am
Thanked: 46 times
Followed by:14 members

by aditya8062 » Fri Apr 18, 2014 8:21 am
ceilidh.erickson ,with all due respect to you but i feel that my question is not answered . i know that there are two part parallel marker and one part parallel marker .
what i was specifically asking was about the expression "immunizing humans" .i am ,somehow , not feeling comfortable about this expression .
i feel the better expression is "immunization of humans"
also plz tell me if the correct expression to introduce example would be "such as" or "as" .i feel "such as" is better .but still can gmat question introduce examples with "as"



kindly tell me on this aspect
thanks and regards
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2095
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pm
Thanked: 1443 times
Followed by:247 members

by ceilidh.erickson » Fri Apr 18, 2014 9:06 am
I understand your confusion. In English, words ending in "-ing" can act as either nouns (in which case we call them gerunds) or modifiers (in which case we call them present participles). The context of the sentence determines which case we're looking at.

If we saw "the sleeping baby," then "sleeping" is telling us the type of baby. It does not have to be the case, though, that "immunizing humans" tells us the type of humans. When used with "on," it is understood that "immunizing" is a gerund, not a modifier. There is no significant difference between "immunizing humans" and "the immunization of humans." You or I might prefer the latter stylistically, but the former is not incorrect.

When introducing examples, you're right - the correct idiom is "such as." In this example, the expression was broken up: "such examples as." This is also correct.

We can't introduce examples simply with the word "as." We use "as" to compare clauses:
You like music, as do I.

or to express "in the manner of" or "in acting the part of":
As a teacher, I care about critical thinking.
As a woman, she was offended by the joke.
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1