Hello Everyone!
Let's take a closer look at this question, one issue at a time, and narrow down the options quickly to get to the right answer! To begin, here is the original question with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:
The 19-year-old pianist and composer performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year, winning prestigious awards in both London as well as Tokyo for his achievement at so young an age, and he is hoping to continue composing now that he has returned to Chicago.
A. winning prestigious awards in both London as well as Tokyo for his achievement at so young an age, and he is hoping
B. winning prestigious awards both in London and Tokyo for his achievement at such a young age, and hoping
C. having won prestigious awards both in London and Tokyo for his achievement at so young an age, hoping
D. winning prestigious awards in both London and Tokyo for his achievement at such a young age, and he hopes
E. having won prestigious awards both in London as well as Tokyo for his achievement at so young an age, and he hopes
After a quick glance over the options, there are several things we can focus on:
1. winning vs. having won
2. in both vs. both in
3. and vs. as well as
4. at so young an age vs. at such a young age
5. and he is hoping / and hoping / hoping / and he hopes
When there are so many differences, it's best to start with ones you are most comfortable dealing with. The one that jumps out the most to us is #4 on our list: at so young an age vs. at such a young age. This is an easy place for us to start because it's an idiom that we're familiar with. We know that the phrase "at such a young age" is the correct way to say that, so let's eliminate the other options that use the wrong format:
A. winning prestigious awards in both London as well as Tokyo for his achievement at so young an age, and he is hoping
B. winning prestigious awards both in London and Tokyo for his achievement at such a young age, and hoping
C. having won prestigious awards both in London and Tokyo for his achievement at so young an age, hoping
D. winning prestigious awards in both London and Tokyo for his achievement at such a young age, and he hopes
E. having won prestigious awards both in London as well as Tokyo for his achievement at so young an age, and he hopes
We can eliminate options A, C, & E because they use the phrase "as so young an age," which isn't idiomatically correct! If you begin your focus on issues you're most familiar with, you can eliminate options quickly and move on to more complicated issues.
Now that we're down to only 2 options, let's move on to #2 on our list: in both vs. both in. While both phrases can be used correctly in English, they need to use parallel structure. If the word "in" comes after "both," it needs to be included with both items. If the word "in" comes before "both," it doesn't go with both items:
both in X and in Y = PARALLEL
both in X and Y = NOT PARALLEL
in both X and Y = PARALLEL
in both X and in Y = NOT PARALLEL
Let's see how each option handles this:
B. winning prestigious awards both in London and Tokyo for his achievement at such a young age, and hoping --> both in X and Y = NOT PARALLEL
D. winning prestigious awards in both London and Tokyo for his achievement at such a young age, and he hopes --> in both X and Y = PARALLEL
There you go - option D is the correct choice! There are many different ways you can get to the correct option, depending on what grammar skills you're most comfortable with. When faced with several options, always start with the easiest ones for you to tackle!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
