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21. St. John’s, Newfoundland, lies on the same latitude as Paris, France, but in spring St. John’s residents are less likely to be sitting at outdoor cafes than to be bracing themselves against arctic chills, shoveling snow, or seeking shelter from a raging northeast storm.
(A) residents are less likely to be sitting at outdoor cafes than to be bracing themselves against arctic chills, shoveling snow, or seeking
(B) residents are less likely to sit at outdoor cafes, and more to be brace themselves against arctic chills, shovel snow, or be seeking
(C) residents are less likely to be sitting at outdoor cafes, and more likely to be bracing themselves against arctic chills, shoveling snow, or to be seeking
(D) residents, instead of sitting at outdoor cafes, they are more likely to be brace themselves against arctic chills, shovel snow, or seek
(E) residents, instead of sitting at outdoor cafes, are more likely to brace themselves against arctic chills, shovel snow, or to be seeking

A

[gmat740]

A) residents are less likely to be sitting at outdoor cafes than to be bracing themselves against arctic chills, shoveling snow, or seeking

Not parallel. To be seeking instead of seeking

B

)residents are less likely to sit at outdoor cafes, and more to be brace themselves against arctic chills, shovel snow, or be seeking

Not parallel

C) residents are less likely to be sitting at outdoor cafes, and more likely to be bracing themselves against arctic chills, shoveling snow, or to be seeking

Parallel and correct answer

(

D) residents, instead of sitting at outdoor cafes, they are more likely to be brace themselves against arctic chills, shovel snow, or seek

Not parallel and Unidiomatic construction

E) residents, instead of sitting at outdoor cafes, are more likely to brace themselves against arctic chills, shovel snow, or to be seeking

Are you sure that OA is [spoiler]A?[/spoiler]

Karan

[Jatinder]

C is not coorect

C) residents are less likely to be sitting at outdoor cafes, and more likely to be bracing themselves against arctic chills, shoveling snow, or to be seeking

Here is the correct structure:
residents are less likely to X than Y


Moreover choice C gives the false sense of parralelism

Red is parallel to red, not the bold part

[gmat740]

Now the Idioms are coinciding with parallelism,I know we are going to chose idioms instead of a parallel statement.
But I am still not convinced by the answer

[nervesofsteel]

(A) residents are less likely to be sitting at outdoor cafes than to be bracing themselves against arctic chills, shoveling snow, or seeking<- correct idiom and parallelism ...

(B) residents are less likely to sit at outdoor cafes, and more to be brace themselves against arctic chills, shovel snow, or be seeking <- wrong idiom

(C) residents are less likely to be sitting at outdoor cafes, and more likely to be bracing themselves against arctic chills, shoveling snow, or to be seeking


(D) residents, instead of sitting at outdoor cafes, they are more likely to be brace themselves against arctic chills, shovel snow, or seek
,- incorrect

(E) residents, instead of sitting at outdoor cafes, are more likely to brace themselves against arctic chills, shovel snow, or to be seeking

[ken3233]

21. St. John’s, Newfoundland, lies on the same latitude as Paris, France, but in spring St. John’s residents are less likely to be sitting at outdoor cafes than to be bracing themselves against arctic chills, shoveling snow, or seeking shelter from a raging northeast storm.
(A) residents are less likely to be sitting at outdoor cafes than to be bracing themselves against arctic chills, shoveling snow, or seeking
(B) residents are less likely to sit at outdoor cafes, and more to be brace themselves against arctic chills, shovel snow, or be seeking
(C) residents are less likely to be sitting at outdoor cafes, and more likely to be bracing themselves against arctic chills, shoveling snow, or to be seeking
(D) residents, instead of sitting at outdoor cafes, they are more likely to be brace themselves against arctic chills, shovel snow, or seek
(E) residents, instead of sitting at outdoor cafes, are more likely to brace themselves against arctic chills, shovel snow, or to be seeking

A

My guess is that "A" is correct because the verb -- "to be" -- is supposed to be used only at the beginning of the two sides of the parallel structure, and not before each simple gerund phrase in the sentence. From there, as long as simple gerund phrases are used consistently -- and not mixed with other gerund forms or verb forms -- the parallel structure rule is satisfied.

This website is helpful on the subject of parallel structure:
https://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/parallelism.htm

I don't mean to sound like an expert of this stuff...I'm just learning it myself.