Dr. Wade

[Giorgio]

If Dr. Wade was right, any apparent connection of the eating of highly processed foods and excelling at sports is purely coincidental.
(A) If Dr. Wade was right, any apparent connection of the eating of
(B) Should Dr. Wade be right, any apparent connection of eating
(C) If Dr. Wade is right, any connection that is apparent between eating of
(D) If Dr. Wade is right, any apparent connection between eating
(E) Should Dr. Wade have been right, any connection apparent between eating

The answer is :D

[spoiler]But i don't understand whether it is better to compare "excelling at sports" with "eating of" like in C, or just with "eating" as it is in answer D[/spoiler]

[papgust]

C looks horribly wordy to me. It could be formed with a concise sentence.

Also, the two things "eating" and "excelling" cannot be just formed by a conjunction "and" because the sentence ends with "is purely coincidental". So, introducing "between" is a good option. So, the subject is retained in "apparent connection" and takes singular verb "is"

[thephoenix]

If Dr. Wade was right, any apparent connection of the eating of highly processed foods and excelling at sports is purely coincidental.
(A) If Dr. Wade was right, any apparent connection of the eating of
(B) Should Dr. Wade be right, any apparent connection of eating
(C) If Dr. Wade is right, any connection that is apparent between eating of
(D) If Dr. Wade is right, any apparent connection between eating
(E) Should Dr. Wade have been right, any connection apparent between eating

The answer is :D

[spoiler]But i don't understand whether it is better to compare "excelling at sports" with "eating of" like in C, or just with "eating" as it is in answer D[/spoiler]

i guess C is wrong not for eating of , but for connection that is apparent is wordier than apparent connection
moreover eating highly proceesed food is a verb phrase and so is excelling at sports , so in a sense these two r quite llel
eating what(highly processed foods)
excelling on what( at sports)

HIC

[gmattarget700]

Yes, D is perfect.

A: was, is - not parallel
B: connection of - this is not correct...IMU, connection is being set between two ...and so it needs "connection between"

Also, I am not very sure about "Should Dr. Wade be right"...
but I think if we correct "connection of" and replace with "connection between", then it would be correct, as I put below :

Should Dr. Wade be right, any apparent connection between eating of highly processed foods and excelling at sports is purely coincidental.

C: yes, it looks wordy and also, I am not sure "eating of" and "excelling at" are good to set connection between...
Any other view??

E: Wordy

[Giorgio]

Thanks for your responses.

I know that D is right and C is wordy, but I am asking question regarding that inserted "of". If the difference was only this " of " would it be enough to decide which one is correct?

[Osirus@VeritasPrep]

Thanks for your responses.

I know that D is right and C is wordy, but I am asking question regarding that inserted "of". If the difference was only this " of " would it be enough to decide which one is correct?

Yes, the extra "of" is enough to make a answer choice incorrect. Of is a preposition and if the preposition is being used incorrectly, that makes the entire answer choice wrong.