700+ Mary Leakey [GMATPrep]

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700+ Mary Leakey [GMATPrep]

by challenger63 » Tue Feb 12, 2013 7:43 pm
Two almost equivalent questions.

In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and through her painstaking documentation of East African cave paintings.
A. Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and through her painstaking documentation of
B. Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology by her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting
C. Mary Leakey was a contributor to archaeology by discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and with her painstaking documentation of
D. Mary Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting
E. Mary Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstaking documentation of

In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting East African cave paintings.
A. Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting
B. Leakey contributed to archaeology by her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and by painstakingly documenting
C. Leakey was a contributor to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and with her painstaking documentation of
D. Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and her painstaking documentation of
E. Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstaking documentation of


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OA after discussion
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by Tommy Wallach » Tue Feb 12, 2013 7:51 pm
Hey Challenger,

This is a nice, straight-forward parallelism question. Let's hit it one by one.
In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and through her painstaking documentation of East African cave paintings.
A. Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and through her painstaking documentation of
B. Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology by her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting
C. Mary Leakey was a contributor to archaeology by discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and with her painstaking documentation of
D. Mary Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting
E. Mary Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstaking documentation of
(A) ...contributed...with her discovery...and painstakingly documenting...

Wrong. Discovering/documenting would be parallel.

(B) ...contributed...by her discovery...and by painstakingly documenting...

Wrong. Discovering/documenting would be parallel.

(C) ...with her discovery...and with her painstaking documentation...

Parallel!

(D) ...include her discovery....and her painstaking documentation...

Parallel!

(E) ...include her discovering...and painstaking documentation of...

Wrong. Discovering/documenting would be parallel.

So we're left with C and D.

(C) Leakey was a contributor to archaeology with her discovery...
(D) Leakey's contribution to archaeology include her discovery...

(C) doesn't make sense, or is at least very awkward. It's like saying: "I am a contributor to the football team with my running and kicking." Better is: "My contribution to the team includes my running and kicking."

The correct answer is D.

Hope that helps!

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by challenger63 » Tue Feb 12, 2013 8:07 pm
Hey, Tommy

I think you mixed two different questions.

Your quote contains the first question for which the answer is A, but explanation for the second question, for which the answer is yes, D.
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by Tommy Wallach » Wed Feb 13, 2013 10:15 am
Oops! You're right. But either way, the logic applies to both, unless you think I missed a major issue. In general, we ask people to only post one question at a time in a thread.

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