Today I experienced this question on the GMATPrep.
OA: D

Question GMATPREP2- repeat:
Not only did the systematic clearing of forests in the United States create farmland (especially in the Northeast) and gave consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture, but it also caused erosion and very quickly deforested whole regions.

A. Not only did the systematic clearing of forests in the United States create farmland (especially in the Northeast) and gave consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture, but it also
B. Not only did the systematic clearing of forests in the United States create farmland (especially in the Northeast), which gave consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture, but also
C. The systematic clearing of forests in the United States, creating farmland (especially in the Northeast) and giving consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture, but also
D. The systematic clearing of forests in the United States created farmland (especially in the Northeast) and gave consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture, but it also
E. The systematic clearing of forests in the United States not only created farmland (especially in the Northeast), giving consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture, but it

I always thought that not only-but also always are parAllel.
But in this question it seems thats not the case.
Can anyone explain please?

Thanks

OA is D source GMATprep

This question tests parallel structures; at its core it's a list of two things that the clearing of forests accomplished. Those things must be listed in parallel. The correct answer is

This is QID 2118.

-Patrick

schumi_gmat wrote:In E it is the construction "Not only....But" which is correct then why is E wrong

E is wrong because it ends with but it...it does not have the also. The construction is Not only...But also. E is missing also

Stuart Kovinsky wrote:

netigen wrote:Not only did the systematic clearing of forests in the United States create farmland (especially in the Northeast) and gave consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture, but it also caused erosion and very quickly deforested whole regions.

A. Not only did the systematic clearing of forests in the United States create farmland (especially in the Northeast) and gave consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture, but it also

B. Not only did the systematic clearing of forests in the United States create farmland (especially in the Northeast), which gave consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture, but also

C. The systematic clearing of forests in the United States, creating farmland (especially in the Northeast) and giving consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture, but also

D. The systematic clearing of forests in the United States created farmland
(especially in the Northeast) and gave consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture, but it also

E. The systematic clearing of forests in the United States not only created farmland (especially in the Northeast), giving consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture, but it

The GMAT loves to test the "not only... but also" construction. Whenever half of this construction appears, the other half will as well.

So, we can quickly eliminate (c), (d) and (e).

(a) has a verb tense problem: "create... and gave..." are not parallel, yet they should be. i.e., the sentence should read "create...and give...".

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of (b) either. For the sentence to be truly parallel, there should be an "it" after the comma.

A better version would have been:

"The systematic clearing of forests in the United States not only created farmland (especially in the Northeast), giving consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture, but also"

Also, if (e) ended with "but also" instead of "but it", it would be perfect.

What's the source of this question?

Question:
Why "did create" is not considered past tense?

This is a Test of Parallelism.

A. "did create" not parallel to "gave"
B. "which" is ambiguous
C. "creating", "giving" are not parallel to "caused"
D. Left out after POE
E. "Also" is missing

Read somewhere:
If we are taking Not Only X But Also Y structure both ideas X and Y should be in same mood. Here the case is different. The two ideas are Contrasting: X is in +ve sense while Y is in -Ve sense.

Guys,

Could someone please confirm the below:

"which" cannot start just after a comma.

Regards

schumi_gmat wrote:In E it is the construction "Not only....But" which is correct then why is E wrong

hi

i have my gmat scheduled in 3 days.. cud u suggest any last min prep tips..

thnx..

Dude...keep reading nytimes.com and economist.com

thecrownprince wrote:hi

i have my gmat scheduled in 3 days.. cud u suggest any last min prep tips..

thnx..

How come D is correct? Why is there a "but also", the erosion etc only add to what comes before it...so instead of BUT we should say AND, any experts please?

Ron,

Thanks for clarifying this!
Really picked up something to keep in mind

Ron's Great!

lunarpower wrote:received a PM.
the answer to this problem is very clearly (d); there is some serious misinformation in earlier parts of the thread, so i hope that people read this far.

--

The GMAT loves to test the "not only... but also" construction. Whenever half of this construction appears, the other half will as well.

So, we can quickly eliminate (c), (d) and (e).

whoa, no. it's perfectly common and acceptable to have "but (also)" without "not (only)". if "not (only)" is eliminated, then the meaning is different.

* the construction not only X but also Y refers to an X and Y that are viewed in the same way or that reinforce each other in some way.

* the construction X but (also) Y refers to an X and Y that are viewed in opposite ways or that counter each other in some way.

e.g.,
this drug not only lowers blood pressure but also calms excessive nerves --> CORRECT
this drug lowers blood pressure but also calms excessive nerves --> INCORRECT
this drug lowers blood pressure, but it also calms excessive nerves --> INCORRECT
the last two are NOT unidiomatic; they are incorrect because they don't make sense -- the transition "but" seems to indicate contrast, but the two parts of the sentences are both good things (lowering blood pressure and calming nerves).

also:
this drug not only lowers blood pressure but also heightens stress --> INCORRECT
this drug lowers blood pressure but also heightens stress --> CORRECT
this drug lowers blood pressure, but it also heightens stress --> CORRECT
in this case, the "not only ... but also" construction is actually incorrect, because it is illogical: lowering blood pressure is a good thing, but heightening stress is a bad thing.
we need a transition that indicates contrast, so we just use "but" by itself.

--

so, in this problem, we can quickly eliminate (a) and (b) BECAUSE they use "not only ... but also ...".
this construction is illogical in this sentence, because farmland and cheap furniture are good things, but erosion and deforestation are bad things.

ALWAYS FIGURE OUT THE MEANING OF THE SENTENCE FIRST!
you can't tell whether these idioms MAKE SENSE without understanding the intended meaning!

Guys,
the software says D is the correct answer. Please clarify on the same.