swimming

IMO B

C,D,E are definitely wrong, A sound awkward

IMO B

Yep B it is, no tonly crossed but also setting is not parallel in C

when you see the paired words such as "not only...but also", check to see whether the words following each element of the pair is parallel structurally and logically.

after "not only" is "crossed". find verb which is similar. only "set" and "swam" is ok. B and C are left

"and setting" in C need a previous "doing" or "and" is wrong. C is out

ADDING ON TO THE DISCUSSION, "yet" generally comes in the end of the sentence

Yes the answer is definitely B but I don't agree with you "gmatmachoman".

Yet can appear anywhere in middle of the sentence.

To give you a simple example :

"John plays baseball well, yet his favorite sport is badminton." - used in the middle of sentence

"Yet Shakespeare was also an atheist". - used at the beginning.

In the second sentence, Yet not used as a conjunction and should not be followed with a comma.
Here "yet" represents "up to the present time" or "until the present time"

IMO crossed in Non underlined portion is a Verb not a participial. So we need something like this-

Not Only Verb....But also verb.

Not only...But also Idiom is correctly used in BCD.

primarily we should hunt for verb that follows but also swam and set seems to be that verb.

We are now down to B and C.


B.In 1926, in her second attempt to swim across the English Channel, GE not only crossed the channel against currents that forced her to swim thirty-five miles instead of minimal twenty-one, but also set a record for speed, swimming the distance almost two hours faster than anyone had yet done.

C. In 1926, in her second attempt to swim across the English Channel, GE not only crossed the channel against currents that forced her to swim thirty-five miles instead of minimal twenty-one, but also swam the distance in almost two hours faster than anyone had yet done, and setting a record for speed.

Red Part is breaking a ||'sm. Here portion after the and should be a clause, but setting disrupts that. SO C is wrong for the reason.

is my reasoning Correct here?

richachampion wrote:IMO crossed in Non underlined portion is a Verb not a participial. So we need something like this-

Not Only Verb....But also verb.

Not only...But also Idiom is correctly used in BCD.

primarily we should hunt for verb that follows but also swam and set seems to be that verb.

We are now down to B and C.


B.In 1926, in her second attempt to swim across the English Channel, GE not only crossed the channel against currents that forced her to swim thirty-five miles instead of minimal twenty-one, but also set a record for speed, swimming the distance almost two hours faster than anyone had yet done.

C. In 1926, in her second attempt to swim across the English Channel, GE not only crossed the channel against currents that forced her to swim thirty-five miles instead of minimal twenty-one, but also swam the distance in almost two hours faster than anyone had yet done, and setting a record for speed.

Red Part is breaking a ||'sm. Here portion after the and should be a clause, but setting disrupts that. SO C is wrong for the reason.

is my reasoning Correct here?

There are two things the explanation is pointing at:

1. "Not only" should be followed by "but also".
2. In this particular case "not only" followed by past tense requires that "but also" be followed by past tense, since both these parts are covered by "in 1926".

In my childhood, I not only played football, but also learnt piano. (the phrase " in my childhood" makes it mandataory to use past in both "not only..." and " but also...

As per choice B,

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 also set a record for speed, swimming the distance almost two hours faster than anyone had yet done.

swimming.....-> VERB+ING modifiers can relate consequences or other events that happen at the same time during the action of the main clause.

So, to break the record, the swimmer needs to swim first and then the record is set. This is something which is inversed in B, I guess.

E, though awkward, corrects this sequence. Any thoughts please ?