Scientists have recently discovered

[SmarpanGamt]

Scientists have recently discovered what could be the largest and oldest living organism on Earth, a giant fungus that is an interwoven filigree of mushrooms and rootlike tentacles spawned by a single fertilized spore some 10,000 years ago and extending for more than30 acres in the soil of a Michigan forest.

(A) extending
(B) extends
(C) extended
(D) it extended
(E) is extending

Please Explain all the choices. Thank you

[reply2spg]

A is correct. Spawned and extending are parallel. Addition to that you need 'extending' because Scientists have recently discovered and this organism is still living, so extending is correct

[psychomath]

I think its A as spg explained above....clear and concise !

[SmarpanGamt]

my doubt in the question was Spawned ( past tense verb) and Existing ( Present progressive verb ) joined with and voilets parallelisum . By the RULEs of GMAT SC - suggested by OG as well. Both the phrases , verbs etc joined with and should follow parallelisum

Please explain

.

[niksworth]

my doubt in the question was Spawned ( past tense verb) and Existing ( Present progressive verb ) joined with and voilets parallelisum . By the RULEs of GMAT SC - suggested by OG as well. Both the phrases , verbs etc joined with and should follow parallelisum

Please explain

.

Note that spawned and existing are not verbs but verbals (specifically participles) in the given question.

Verbals are verb forms which do not act as verbs but as other parts of speech such as nouns, adjectives etc.
Participles are verbals which act as adjectives.

spawned is a past participle and acts as an adjective.
extending is a present participle and also acts as an adjective.

Past and present participles can be construed to be in parallel with each other if the time lines allow them (as in this question).

[SmarpanGamt]

Thanks Niksworth................Both explaination are very helpfull.