Channel

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Channel

by AnjaliOberoi » Sat Jan 04, 2014 3:20 am
In 1926, in her second attempt to swim across the English Channel, Gertrude Ederle
not only crossed the Channel against currents that forced her to swim thirty-five miles
instead of the minimal twenty-one, but she set a record for speed as well, by
swimming the distance in almost two hours faster than anyone had yet done.

A. but she set a record for speed as well, by swimming the distance in almost two hours
faster than anyone had yet done.
B. but also set a record for speed, swimming the distance almost two hours faster than
anyone had yet done.
C. but also swam the distance in almost two hours faster than anyone had yet done, and
setting a record for speed.
D. but also setting a record for speed by swimming the distance in almost two hours
faster than anyone had yet done.
E. but, swimming the distance almost two hours faster than anyone had yet done, she
also set a record for speed.

Why B , Why not C
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by PerfectScores » Sat Jan 04, 2014 5:33 am
The correct Idiom will be 'not only ... but also ...'. So, you can come down to options B, C and D.
Option B: ... not only crossed ... but also set ... (both verbs in simple past tense)
Option C: ... not only crossed ... but also swam .. and setting (there is no parallelism between the last two verbs)
Option D: ... not only crossed ... but also setting ... (no parallelism here)

Hence, answer is B.
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by theCodeToGMAT » Sat Jan 04, 2014 9:53 am
AnjaliOberoi wrote:In 1926, in her second attempt to swim across the English Channel, Gertrude Ederle not only crossed the Channel against currents that forced her to swim thirty-five miles
instead of the minimal twenty-one, but she set a record for speed as well, by swimming the distance in almost two hours faster than anyone had yet done.
A. but she set a record for speed as well, by swimming the distance in almost two hours faster than anyone had yet done.
INCORRECT; Idiom issue/parallelism issue
B. but also set a record for speed, swimming the distance almost two hours faster than anyone had yet done.
CORRECT
C. but also swam the distance in almost two hours faster than anyone had yet done, and setting a record for speed.
INCORRECT; we cannot separate such embedded events by "and" .. for example: cause-effect cases
D. but also setting a record for speed by swimming the distance in almost two hours faster than anyone had yet done.
INCORRECT; parallelism issue
E. but, swimming the distance almost two hours faster than anyone had yet done, she also set a record for speed.
INCORRECT; idiom issue/parallelism issue
Anjali, talking on this not only X but also Y idiom, I would like to share one old observation:
==> not only X but also Y
==> not only X but Y
Both of them are correct; So, be careful while eliminating based on this "but also"

Here is one reply by Ron: https://www.beatthegmat.com/idiom-not-on ... t9913.html
R A H U L

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