Official SC - Scientists who studied the famous gold field

Question

Scientists who studied the famous gold field known as Serra Pelada concluded that the rich lode was not produced by the accepted methods of ore formation but that swarms of microbes over millions of years concentrated the gold from jungle soils and rivers and rocks.

A. not produced by the accepted methods of ore formation but that swarms of microbes over millions of years
B. not produced by the accepted methods of ore formation but instead swarms of microbes over millions of years that
C. not produced by the accepted methods of ore formation but swarms of microbes over millions of years that
D. produced not by the accepted methods of ore formation but by swarms of microbes that over millions of years
E. produced not by the accepted methods of ore formation but that swarms of microbes over millions of years

OA is D

hi experts,
please share your analysis on A...I think, use of "THAT" after "but" makes the grammatical construction incorrect,distorting the intended MEANING.

we can say "concluded that X and that Y..." ; however,i guess, it'll be incorrect to say "concluded that X BUT that Y..." -- this simply doesn't seem to make sense. right ?

GMATGuruNY · Answer

ngk4mba3236 wrote:Scientists who studied the famous gold field known as Serra Pelada concluded that the rich lode was not produced by the accepted methods of ore formation but that swarms of microbes over millions of years concentrated the gold from jungle soils and rivers and rocks.

A. not produced by the accepted methods of ore formation but that swarms of microbes over millions of years
B. not produced by the accepted methods of ore formation but instead swarms of microbes over millions of years that
C. not produced by the accepted methods of ore formation but swarms of microbes over millions of years that
D. produced not by the accepted methods of ore formation but by swarms of microbes that over millions of years
E. produced not by the accepted methods of ore formation but that swarms of microbes over millions of years

not X but Y.
In this idiom, X and Y must be PARALLEL FORMS.

A: not produced...but that
B: not produced...but instead swarms
C: not produced...but swarms
E: not by the accepted methods...but that swarms
In these options, none of the forms in red is parallel with the preceding form in blue.
Eliminate A, B, C and E.

The correct answer is D.

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ngk4mba3236 · Answer

gmatguru, can understand your reply. but can you please let me know whether my reason to eliminate A (as mentioned in the first post) is also correct ?

GMATGuruNY · Answer

ngk4mba3236 wrote:gmatguru,
can understand your reply.

but can you please let me know whether my reason to eliminate A (as mentioned in the first post) is also correct ?

but must serve to connect CONTRASTING IDEAS.
A: that the rich lode was not produced by the accepted methods but that swarms of microbes over millions of years concentrated the gold
Here, the two that-clauses in red are SIMILAR in that each indicates how the Serra Plada was formed in an atypical way.
Thus, this usage of but is illogical.
Eliminate A.

Note the following:
that X but that Y may -- in another context -- be a valid construction.
This phrase appears in the OA here:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/lab-rats-que ... 11589.html

ngk4mba3236 · Answer

GMATGuruNY wrote: but must serve to connect CONTRASTING IDEAS. A: that the rich lode was not produced by the accepted methods but that swarms of microbes over millions of years concentrated the gold Here, the two that-clauses in red are SIMILAR in that each indicates how the Serra Plada was formed in an atypical way. Thus, this usage of but is illogical. Eliminate A. ok. so that means this phrase "concluded that X BUT that Y" is grammatically correct on GMAT SC -- one can conclude two CONTRASTING IDEAS. right ? now whether this above phrase is correct from the meaning perspective that depends on the sentence at hand. am I correct ? GMATGuruNY wrote:that X but that Y may -- in another context -- be a valid construction. This phrase appears in the OA here: https://www.beatthegmat.com/lab-rats-que ... 11589.html thank you for this example. however, i've shared one doubt in the respective thread. please let me known your thoughts over there!

ngk4mba3236 · Answer

gmatguru, can you please quickly confirm whether I'm correct in the above quote ? thank you!

GMATGuruNY · Answer

ngk4mba3236 wrote:so that means this phrase "concluded that X BUT that Y" is grammatically correct on GMAT SC -- one can conclude two CONTRASTING IDEAS. right ?

Correct!

now whether this above phrase is correct from the meaning perspective that depends on the sentence at hand. am I correct ?

Correct!

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