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Down to two answer options: Which one to choose now?

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Down to two answer options: Which one to choose now?

by sidceg » Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:40 pm
With brains shaped by evolution to respond primarily to immediate physical peril, individual human beings often ignore or underestimate the gravity of more nebulous threats, such as climate change, yet are no less menacing.

A. individual human beings often ignore or underestimate the gravity of more nebulous threats, such as climate change, yet are no less menacing
B. individual human beings are prone to ignore, or else to underestimate, the gravity of more nebulous yet no less menacing threats, such as climate change
C. individual human beings, often ignoring or underestimating the gravity of more nebulous threats, such as climate change, are no less menacing
D. the gravity of threats, such as climate change, that are more nebulous yet no less menacing are often ignored, or else underestimated, by individual human beings
E. the gravity of more nebulous threats, such as climate change, are no less menacing, yet are often ignored or underestimated by individual human beings

I eliminated the last two options and even the middle option based on grammar but then the first two options were not clear to me in what they meant.

OA is B
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by vinay1983 » Sun Oct 13, 2013 8:46 pm
sidceg wrote:With brains shaped by evolution to respond primarily to immediate physical peril, individual human beings often ignore or underestimate the gravity of more nebulous threats, such as climate change, yet are no less menacing.

A. individual human beings often ignore or underestimate the gravity of more nebulous threats, such as climate change, yet are no less menacing
B. individual human beings are prone to ignore, or else to underestimate, the gravity of more nebulous yet no less menacing threats, such as climate change
C. individual human beings, often ignoring or underestimating the gravity of more nebulous threats, such as climate change, are no less menacing
D. the gravity of threats, such as climate change, that are more nebulous yet no less menacing are often ignored, or else underestimated, by individual human beings
E. the gravity of more nebulous threats, such as climate change, are no less menacing, yet are often ignored or underestimated by individual human beings

I eliminated the last two options and even the middle option based on grammar but then the first two options were not clear to me in what they meant.

OA is B
Whose brains?Human beings.so D and E are out.
Then what do they underestimate?Threats that are no less menacing So C is out (Does not give clear meaning)

A-"yet" does not modify climate change and has to modify "threats so wrong

B-correct grammatically
You can, for example never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to!
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by sidceg » Sun Oct 13, 2013 10:00 pm
I still don't get it. Can you explain for option A, B and C?

Thanks.
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by vinay1983 » Mon Oct 14, 2013 1:22 am
sidceg wrote:I still don't get it. Can you explain for option A, B and C?

Thanks.
No problem. See observe what the prompt tells us

With brains shaped...what do you think whose brains are?look at the later part of the sentence, there is mention of human beings only, so human beings is needed near the modifying phrase "with brains shaped". You can eliminate D and E based on this.Now on to A B and C

A-start is ok, see here is the problem "yet are no less menacing", what is menacing, climate change(which is only a example, see such as before it) or threats (which makes more sense). Even if you do not understand which is correct, at least for the sake of ambiguity you can eliminate this option. GMAT sentences are clear in meaning, no ambiguity is allowed to creep in.

B-see the construction here, "one thing leads to another" characteristic can be observed here clearly. "human beings are prone to what? ignorance and to underestimate. Ignore or underestimate what? Gravity of more abracadabra, "yet no less menacing threats" ?(see the clarity in modification here. This is what i was saying.

C-See "ignoring" what do you think, is it correct?if yes then how?Can "individual human beings often ignoring or "ignore"?


I hope it is clear to u now
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by sidceg » Mon Oct 14, 2013 7:48 am
This question needs to be looked into such a detailed level. Gosh! But there is a meaning difference as you said. Thanks for explaining.
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by vinay1983 » Mon Oct 14, 2013 8:04 am
sidceg wrote:This question needs to be looked into such a detailed level. Gosh! But there is a meaning difference as you said. Thanks for explaining.
No, it does not. I just explained it to you in a detailed manner. You will get to this once you start solving questions and get used to it, then one day you will answer other's queries in much more detail manner.

:wink:
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by sana.noor » Mon Oct 14, 2013 9:24 pm
it is B. the sentence is more about the right construction and meaning. "YET" is mostly equal in meaning to "But" here is exactly the same case.
B using the right construction "the gravity of more nebulous YET (but) no less menacing threats"

moreover, human beings have tendency to IGNORE OR UNDERESTIMATE, but they don't often ignore or underestimates such threats. B convey this meaning. Human beings are prone to ignore OR underestimate more nebulous but no less menacing threats.
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