Sentence Correction

Q28: Building on civilizations that preceded them in coastal Peru, the Mochica developed their own elaborate society, based on cultivating such crops like corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and shellfish, and exploiting other wild and domestic resources.

(A) based on cultivating such crops like corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and shellfish, and exploiting
(B)based on the cultivation of such crops as corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and seafood, and the exploitation of
(C) and basing it on the cultivation of crops like corn and beans, harvesting fish and seafood, and the exploiting of
(D) and they based on their cultivation of crops such as corn and beans, the harvest of fish and seafood, and exploiting
(E) and the based it on their cultivating such crops like corn and beans, their harvest of fish and shellfish, and the exploited

After choosing the right answer myself and watching the explanation on Grockit GMAT OG TV, it is clear that the question is testing: 1) Parallelism and 2) SUCH X AS Y as against SUCH X LIKE Y.

What I want to ask is:
1) Even though I agree that choice B is || and choice A only seems ||. (Choice A has: cultivating..., the harvesting..., and exploiting... whereas choice B has the cultivation..., the harvesting..., and the exploitation) I understand that "the" in each phrase or verb makes the choice B correctly parallel and thus the right answer but I do not understand how cultivation, harvesting, and exploitation become parallel to each other. Even if I memorize this rule as a template for future questions, does this mean that any other question with similar ||ism situation can have -ing, -tion, and -ing || to each other?

(Choice B is also correct because of the SUCH X AS Y idiomatic phrase used correctly.)

2) Why do the answer choices switch between: "fish and shellfish" and "fish and seafood"?

1) harvesting of is a noun form. It is different saying harvesting crops where it means someone is harvesting crops. harvesting of refers to the act itself making it a noun form. Thus it is parallel to cultivation and exploitation. The only way to see is not to just look at the words and say parallel or not parallel but to find the context of which it is used and understand the meaning of the word and the sentence.

2) Good observation. But I guess the answer would be that by changing from shellfish to seafood, meaning is not changed much and the statement is gramatically still correct. I mean the grammatical mistakes in other choices make this answer the best possible answer.

such as is the idiom. hence A,C and E POE.

between B and D, in D 'their' does not have a clear antecedent.

hence B is clean.

In terms of parallelism -

B - correctly uses complex gerunds ... the cultivation of ..the harvesting of and the exploitation of.
thus complex gerund is parallel in precision.

Usually when the gerund is used as a subject it must preceded by an adjective to be supplied with a definite article 'the'. But here the gerund was used as an object therefore we don't need an adjective before the gerund either - we just use a definite article 'the' before the gerund.

krnverma wrote:Q28: Building on civilizations that preceded them in coastal Peru, the Mochica developed their own elaborate society, based on cultivating such crops like corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and shellfish, and exploiting other wild and domestic resources.

(A) based on cultivating such crops like corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and shellfish, and exploiting
(B)based on the cultivation of such crops as corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and seafood, and the exploitation of
(C) and basing it on the cultivation of crops like corn and beans, harvesting fish and seafood, and the exploiting of
(D) and they based on their cultivation of crops such as corn and beans, the harvest of fish and seafood, and exploiting
(E) and the based it on their cultivating such crops like corn and beans, their harvest of fish and shellfish, and the exploited

What I want to ask is:
1) Even though I agree that choice B is || and choice A only seems ||. (Choice A has: cultivating..., the harvesting..., and exploiting... whereas choice B has the cultivation..., the harvesting..., and the exploitation) I understand that "the" in each phrase or verb makes the choice B correctly parallel and thus the right answer but I do not understand how cultivation, harvesting, and exploitation become parallel to each other. Even if I memorize this rule as a template for future questions, does this mean that any other question with similar ||ism situation can have -ing, -tion, and -ing || to each other?

To turn cultivate into a noun, we can say cultivating (gerund) or cultivation (a dedicated noun form of the verb).
To turn exploit into a noun, we can say exploiting (gerund) or exploitation (a dedicated noun form of the verb).

The GMAT prefers the dedicated noun form when it exists. Hence the OA uses cultivation (not cultivating) and exploitation (not exploiting).

There is no dedicated noun form for harvest. To turn harvest into a noun, our only option is to say harvesting. Hence the OA uses harvesting, the only noun form available. (Although harvest itself can be used as a noun, a harvest of fish means the quantity of fish harvested, not the intended meaning of the sentence.)

The result is the following list: the cultivation of such crops as corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and seafood, and the exploitation of wild and domestic resources.

krnverma wrote:Q28: Building on civilizations that preceded them in coastal Peru, the Mochica developed their own elaborate society, based on cultivating such crops like corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and shellfish, and exploiting other wild and domestic resources.

(A) based on cultivating such crops like corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and shellfish, and exploiting
(B)based on the cultivation of such crops as corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and seafood, and the exploitation of
(C) and basing it on the cultivation of crops like corn and beans, harvesting fish and seafood, and the exploiting of
(D) and they based on their cultivation of crops such as corn and beans, the harvest of fish and seafood, and exploiting
(E) and the based it on their cultivating such crops like corn and beans, their harvest of fish and shellfish, and the exploited

2) Why do the answer choices switch between: "fish and shellfish" and "fish and seafood"?

Great observation @krnvrma. I have done this question at least 3 times and I never caught that difference. I think this might be a typographical error in the question.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

krnverma wrote:Q28: Building on civilizations that preceded them in coastal Peru, the Mochica developed their own elaborate society, based on cultivating such crops like corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and shellfish, and exploiting other wild and domestic resources.

(A) based on cultivating such crops like corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and shellfish, and exploiting
(B)based on the cultivation of such crops as corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and seafood, and the exploitation of
(C) and basing it on the cultivation of crops like corn and beans, harvesting fish and seafood, and the exploiting of
(D) and they based on their cultivation of crops such as corn and beans, the harvest of fish and seafood, and exploiting
(E) and the based it on their cultivating such crops like corn and beans, their harvest of fish and shellfish, and the exploited

What I want to ask is:
1) Even though I agree that choice B is || and choice A only seems ||. (Choice A has: cultivating..., the harvesting..., and exploiting... whereas choice B has the cultivation..., the harvesting..., and the exploitation) I understand that "the" in each phrase or verb makes the choice B correctly parallel and thus the right answer but I do not understand how cultivation, harvesting, and exploitation become parallel to each other. Even if I memorize this rule as a template for future questions, does this mean that any other question with similar ||ism situation can have -ing, -tion, and -ing || to each other?

To turn cultivate into a noun, we can say cultivating (gerund) or cultivation (a dedicated noun form of the verb).
To turn exploit into a noun, we can say exploiting (gerund) or exploitation (a dedicated noun form of the verb).

The GMAT prefers the dedicated noun form when it exists. Hence the OA uses cultivation (not cultivating) and exploitation (not exploiting).

There is no dedicated noun form for harvest. To turn harvest into a noun, our only option is to say harvesting. Hence the OA uses harvesting, the only noun form available. (Although harvest itself can be used as a noun, a harvest of fish means the quantity of fish harvested, not the intended meaning of the sentence.)

The result is the following list: the cultivation of such crops as corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and seafood, and the exploitation of wild and domestic resources.

GmatGuruNY , In B , whats the based on modifer modifying . It cant modify society since it follows a comma

mundasingh123 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

krnverma wrote:Q28: Building on civilizations that preceded them in coastal Peru, the Mochica developed their own elaborate society, based on cultivating such crops like corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and shellfish, and exploiting other wild and domestic resources.

(A) based on cultivating such crops like corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and shellfish, and exploiting
(B)based on the cultivation of such crops as corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and seafood, and the exploitation of
(C) and basing it on the cultivation of crops like corn and beans, harvesting fish and seafood, and the exploiting of
(D) and they based on their cultivation of crops such as corn and beans, the harvest of fish and seafood, and exploiting
(E) and the based it on their cultivating such crops like corn and beans, their harvest of fish and shellfish, and the exploited

What I want to ask is:
1) Even though I agree that choice B is || and choice A only seems ||. (Choice A has: cultivating..., the harvesting..., and exploiting... whereas choice B has the cultivation..., the harvesting..., and the exploitation) I understand that "the" in each phrase or verb makes the choice B correctly parallel and thus the right answer but I do not understand how cultivation, harvesting, and exploitation become parallel to each other. Even if I memorize this rule as a template for future questions, does this mean that any other question with similar ||ism situation can have -ing, -tion, and -ing || to each other?

To turn cultivate into a noun, we can say cultivating (gerund) or cultivation (a dedicated noun form of the verb).
To turn exploit into a noun, we can say exploiting (gerund) or exploitation (a dedicated noun form of the verb).

The GMAT prefers the dedicated noun form when it exists. Hence the OA uses cultivation (not cultivating) and exploitation (not exploiting).

There is no dedicated noun form for harvest. To turn harvest into a noun, our only option is to say harvesting. Hence the OA uses harvesting, the only noun form available. (Although harvest itself can be used as a noun, a harvest of fish means the quantity of fish harvested, not the intended meaning of the sentence.)

The result is the following list: the cultivation of such crops as corn and beans, the harvesting of fish and seafood, and the exploitation of wild and domestic resources.

GmatGuruNY , In B , whats the based on modifer modifying . It cant modify society since it follows a comma

Based does in fact modify society.

NOUN + PAST PARTICIPLE (with no intervening comma) is used when the past participle modifier is needed to define the noun that it modifies:

The Mohica developed a society based on the cultivation of crops.

What kind of society? A society based on the cultivation of crops. Since the past participle modifier is defining the kind of society being discussed, it is not preceded by a comma.

NOUN + COMMA + PAST PARTICIPLE is used when the past participle modifier does NOT define the noun that it modifies but simply provides additional information:

The Mohica developed their own elaborate society, based on the cultivation of crops...

What kind of society? THEIR OWN ELABORATE society. We don't need an additional modifier to define what society is being discussed. Since the past participle modifier does not define the society but only provides additional information about the society, it is preceded by a comma.

In less formal writing, a comma might be inserted before a past participle in order to indicate that the past participle refers to an earlier noun in the sentence:

John entered the room, exhausted.

In the sentence above, the comma is used to indicate that exhausted refers not to the room but to John. This sort of construction is unlikely to appear in an OA. On the GMAT, NOUN + COMMA + PAST PARTICIPLE generally will be used when the past participle provides non-defining information about the immediately preceding noun.

Thanks GmatGuruNY

very insightful thanks