Parallel Construction Sentence Correction Problem :)

the answer here to me is D here
because of ||-ism
providing ... is like guaranteeing
B is second best answer but plural their does not match with single child
all other choices are wrong because they violate ||-ism

Following a traditional 2/3 split technique does not really work on this question. You can't say whether it is better to start a sentence with "to provide" or with "providing", both can be correct depending on the rest of the sentence.

Therefore, you should approach this problem by first finding out which answer choices show parallelism and which ones do not.

In a) to provide...guanranteeing is not parallel. A is out.
In b) providing...guaranteeing, this works. Keep B.
In c) providing...to guaranteeing, there is no such grammatical construct in the english language that allows you to use "to" together with an "-ing-verb". Thus, C is out.
In d) providing...guaranteeing is parallel. Keep D.
In e) to provide...guaranteeing is not parallel. E is out.

So we are down to B and D. Now look what's different between those two answer choices. Providing "a child" vs. "children". Since all the answer choice say "their success", the antecedent must be in the plural form "children".

Hence, D ist the correct answer.

To provide a child with skills necessary for survival in modern society is like guaranteeing their success in life

A) To provide a child with skills necessary for survival in modern society is like guaranteeing their success -----> "child" is singular while "their" is plural

B) Providing a child with the skills necessary for survival in modern society is like guaranteeing their success ------> same reason as A

C) Providing children with skills necessary for survival in modern society is like to guaranteeing their success

D) Providing children with the skills necessary for survival in modern society is like guaranteeing their success

E) To provide children with the skills necessary for survival in modern society is like guaranteeing their success -----> it would have been parallel if "to provide.... to gurantee" would have been used

It seems as if i am the only guy who is bothered about the source . Is knowing the source not important to the rest of you guys or are you happy with inflated GMAT Prep scores / MGMAT Tests when you take the tests under so called Exam Conditions.
Hi Could You reveal the source ?

yes D is parallel.
@ mundasingh123. i agree to you. Its not about inflated Gmat prep scores. I think its important to know the source to know the validity of the question. I have posted earlier to request every poster to mention the source of each question they post on this forum.

Remember we are still working together to help each other.

cheers.

Thanks for all the help.

The source of this question comes from a worksheet that I was given to do as homework from my GMAT class here in Thailand. The school is called Sage Education.

Cheers

force5 wrote:yes D is parallel.
@ mundasingh123. i agree to you. Its not about inflated Gmat prep scores. I think its important to know the source to know the validity of the question. I have posted earlier to request every poster to mention the source of each question they post on this forum.

Remember we are still working together to help each other.

cheers.

What a valid point. I don't like this question either. On GMAT SC, "like" means "similar to." So the speaker of this sentence is apparently saying that providing children with skills resembles (is "similar to") guaranteeing their success. Does that make any sense at all??

The stop sign here is "is like"

A is like B -> A=B therefore A must be parallel to B

To provide.... is like to guarantee...
Providing......is like guaranteeing...

for this, only B et D fit.

pronoun agreement "their" decides the final answer

Thus, answer is D

IMO D too .

Parallelism + subject verb agreement.