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OG-12 SC Q#28

by screwdriver » Wed Jun 15, 2011 9:15 pm
Hi Guys,

I am having some issue in finding parallelism issue here.

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 fi sh and shellfi sh, 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 it on their cultivation of crops
such as corn and beans, the harvest of fish and
seafood, and exploiting
(E) and they based it on their cultivating such crops
like corn and beans, their harvest of fi sh and
shellfish, and they exploited

Can you please help me out?

Thanks in advance!!
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by Geva@EconomistGMAT » Wed Jun 15, 2011 10:03 pm
screwdriver wrote:Hi Guys,

I am having some issue in finding parallelism issue here.

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 fi sh and shellfi sh, 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 it on their cultivation of crops
such as corn and beans, the harvest of fish and
seafood, and exploiting
(E) and they based it on their cultivating such crops
like corn and beans, their harvest of fi sh and
shellfish, and they exploited

Can you please help me out?

Thanks in advance!!
When in doubt, look for another way out. Unsure about the parallelism? Look for other grounds for elimination.

"like" cannot be used to say "such as" or "for example": you really need the latter phrasings to convery that message. Any answer choice that uses "like" to say "crops such as corn and beans" is thus eliminated on the spot: A, C, and E are eliminated.

Between B and D, B is better because it uses the article "the" before each item on the list: the cultivation, the harvesting, the exploitation - thus indicating that even if the item uses a gerund "harvesting", that gerund is still meant as a "thing" - a noun replacement.

On the other hand, D has a parallelism issue: their cultivation, the harvest, and exploiting is missing the article "the" at the end (even if we let the shift from the possessive pronoun "their" to the article "the" slide). Plus the ubiquitous use of the pronouns is not really necessary - they don't really add anything to the understanding of the sentence.
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by screwdriver » Wed Jun 15, 2011 10:55 pm
Thanks Geva!!

Superb explanation.

I was confused how cultivation/harvesting/exploitation are parallel. So this means these 3 are parallel or it is some exception and gerund can replace it.
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by Geva@EconomistGMAT » Wed Jun 15, 2011 11:05 pm
screwdriver wrote:Thanks Geva!!

Superb explanation.

I was confused how cultivation/harvesting/exploitation are parallel. So this means these 3 are parallel or it is some exception and gerund can replace it.
the articles make for a smooth transition from the controlling part (before the parallel list) to the rest of the list. It's not just the list itself - parllel contructions need to be parallel so they can be inserted after the controlling part; in this case "based on":

"based on" the cultivating
"based on" the harvesting
"based on" the exploitation

Since the three pairs (article + noun/gerund) all perform the same function, they are considered parallel. In other cases, such a breach can actually be a very incrrect parallel construction:

"I will go to Paris, Rome and flying to Greece" is definitely wrong - you need three nouns (in this case, places that i will go to)
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by screwdriver » Wed Jun 15, 2011 11:16 pm
I understood now.

Thanks for your help Geva.
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