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Parallellism confusion

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by viv_gmat » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:42 am
His mother made great sacrifices to educate him, moving house on three occasions, and severing the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need to persevere.

a severing the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need to persevere.
b severed the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need to persevere.
c severed the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need for persevering.
d severing the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make them understand the need to persevere.
e served the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected the lessons to make him understood need to persevere.


[spoiler]A...but I think the answer is C because there is a (,) comma before the "and" so - made...parallel to..severed[/spoiler]
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by aspirant2011 » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:46 am
viv_gmat wrote:His mother made great sacrifices to educate him, moving house on three occasions, and severing the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need to persevere.

a severing the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need to persevere.
b severed the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need to persevere.
c severed the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need for persevering.
d severing the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make them understand the need to persevere.
e served the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected the lessons to make him understood need to persevere.


[spoiler]A...but I think the answer is C because there is a (,) comma before the "and" so - made...parallel to..severed[/spoiler]
nopes moving and severing are parallel and therefore, A........there are two things which his mother did first, moving house on three occasions and second, severing the thread......
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by sameerballani » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:52 am
OA:A?
Source?
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by ov25 » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:53 am
issues C suffers with

1) 'severing' -- a participial should modify the preceding phrase unless 'severed' is in addition to the 'sacrifices'
2) 'need to persevere' is idiomatic
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by viv_gmat » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:58 am
aspirant2011 wrote:
viv_gmat wrote:His mother made great sacrifices to educate him, moving house on three occasions, and severing the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need to persevere.

a severing the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need to persevere.
b severed the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need to persevere.
c severed the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need for persevering.
d severing the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make them understand the need to persevere.
e served the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected the lessons to make him understood need to persevere.


[spoiler]A...but I think the answer is C because there is a (,) comma before the "and" so - made...parallel to..severed[/spoiler]
nopes moving and severing are parallel and therefore, A........there are two things which his mother did first, moving house on three occasions and second, severing the thread......
But dont you think that if there wasn't a comma...then your answer(A) would be correct.
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by viv_gmat » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:59 am
People who are selecting A

Dont you think that if there wasn't a comma...then your answer(A) would be correct??
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by aspirant2011 » Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:08 am
viv_gmat wrote:People who are selecting A

Dont you think that if there wasn't a comma...then your answer(A) would be correct??
Yup I missed that point and feel that comma shouldn't have been there........experts please comment
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by sameerballani » Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:13 am
sameerballani wrote:OA:A?
Source?
What's the OA and the source?
Also, can you check question again for that comma.
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by viv_gmat » Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:17 am
sameerballani wrote:
sameerballani wrote:OA:A?
Source?
What's the OA and the source?
Also, can you check question again for that comma.
I saw this question on another forum(pagalguy) and I've a doc, which has this question...OA is A only and it has a comma.
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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Jun 21, 2011 12:58 pm
viv_gmat wrote:His mother made great sacrifices to educate him, moving house on three occasions, and severing the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need to persevere.

a severing the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need to persevere.
b severed the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need to persevere.
c severed the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make him understand the need for persevering.
d severing the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected his lessons to make them understand the need to persevere.
e served the thread on her loom's shuttle whenever Mencius neglected the lessons to make him understood need to persevere.


[spoiler]A...but I think the answer is C because there is a (,) comma before the "and" so - made...parallel to..severed[/spoiler]
I received a PM asking me to comment.

Please ignore this SC:

There is too much distance between his and its referent Mencius.
In the US we do not say moving house.
A possessive construction such as loom's shuttle is to be avoided on the GMAT.
The intended meaning is that the mother severed the thread...[in order] to make him understand, but the placement of to make him understand suggests that it is modifying neglected.

Including this SC in your studies will teach you bad habits.
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