Hello Everyone!
This is a great example of a GMAT question that has to do with parallelism! Before we dive in, here is the original question, with the major differences between each option highlighted in orange:
The foundation works to strengthen local and regional agricultural markets and cooperating with governments, improving access for farmers for productive resources such as land and credit.
(A) cooperating with governments, improving access for farmers for
(B) cooperates with governments to improve access for farmers to
(C) cooperate with governments for improvements of access for farmers to
(D) cooperate with governments and improve accessibility for farmers for their
(E) in cooperation with governments to improve access for farmers for
After a quick glance over each option, here are a few key differences:
1. cooperating/cooperates/cooperate
2. improving/to improve/for improvements of/and improve
3. for/to/for their
Since we know this is question deals with parallelism, let's make that the focus of our search for the correct option! If we start with #1 on our list, we can narrow down any options that don't use parallel wording or structure. To figure out which options do this properly, let's ask ourselves:
What does the foundation DO?
We know from the non-underlined portion of the sentence that one of the things the foundation does is this:
"works to strengthen local and regional agricultural markets"
The correct option will use similar verb tenses and wording for the other thing the foundation does. Let's see how each option stacks up:
(A) works to strengthen...and cooperating with governments, improving access for farmers for
(B) works to strengthen...and cooperates with governments to improve access for farmers to
(C) works to strengthen...and cooperate with governments for improvements of access for farmers to
(D) works to strengthen...and cooperate with governments and improve accessibility for farmers for their
(E) works to strengthen...and in cooperation with governments to improve access for farmers for
We can eliminate options A, C, D, and E because they don't use parallel wording! Option B is our correct choice!
I'd love to end the discussion here, but what if you chose to tackle #2 or #3 on the list instead? Here is how each method would break down:
#2: improving/to improve/for improvements of/and improve
This is another issue of parallel structure. Remember - both things the foundation does MUST be written using parallel structure!
(A) works to strengthen...and cooperating with governments, improving access for farmers for
(B) works to strengthen...and cooperates with governments to improve access for farmers to
(C) works to strengthen...and cooperate with governments for improvements of access for farmers to
(D) works to strengthen...and cooperate with governments and improve accessibility for farmers for their
(E) works to strengthen...and in cooperation with governments to improve access for farmers for
We can eliminate options A, C, and D because they don't use parallel structure. Let's move on to our last item.
#3: for/to/for their
Since we already narrowed down to 2 options, let's look at options B & E only. This issue has to do with idiomatic structure. Whenever we give someone "access," we say we give them "access to" something. We don't say that we give people "access from" something. Let's see how each option breaks down:
(B) cooperates with governments to improve access for farmers to
This is CORRECT! This sentence uses parallel structure by using "cooperates" and "to improve." It also uses the correct idiomatic structure "access to."
(E) in cooperation with governments to improve access for farmers for
This is INCORRECT for a couple reasons. First, it doesn't use parallel structure when it says "in cooperation with." Second, it uses the phrase "access for," which isn't how we say that in English.
There you have it - no matter which way you choose to tackle this question, option B will always come out as the correct choice!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
