Due to the enormous coincidence of conditions that must exist to

My 2 cents.
Magic lies within the non underlined part.
Due to the enormous coincidence of conditions that must exist to support intelligent life, many people believe that Earth is the only such planet in the universe.
This means there is planet already refereed in sentence. Can u find one? E.
Due to the enormous coincidence of conditions that must exist for a planet to support intelligent life, many people believe that Earth is the only such planet in the universe.

Crux of the story , never underestimate non underline part

I think the main issue this question is testing is comparison. We’re comparing intelligent life on a hypothetical planet to intelligent life on Earth. For that reason, I would get rid of A, B and C because you don’t see ‘planet’ in any of those options. Between D and E, I like E; D seems to be comparing ‘supporting’ with ‘earth’ and that just doesn’t make sense. E gets rid of that error. What is the correct answer though?


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1. Seems to me that "to support" is one-time action, and "for support of" is something more global.
2. The "Earth is the only planet" in the second part means that there has to be mentioned "planet" in the first (underlined) part.

Leaves us with E.

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Read the original sentence carefully, looking for errors:

The major error in this sentence is revealed by the phrase "only such planet." This phrase is not underlined, so it can't be changed. A phrase using “such” in this manner sets up a comparison between Earth and another planet. The sentence as written doesn't mention another planet to complete the comparison with Earth.

Scan and group the answer choices:

(A), (B), and (C) do not include mention of a planet, while (D) and (E) do. Use this 3-2 split to begin eliminating choices.

Eliminate answer choices until only one remains:

On the basis of the original error, quickly eliminate (A), (B), and (C), all of which fail to provide a reference to a planet or planets.

(D)'s usage of "a planet's supporting" makes "supporting" the noun, modified by "planet's." "Supporting" can't be compared to "Earth," so eliminate (D).

(E) is the only remaining choice and is the correct answer. It fits perfectly into the original sentence and correctly compares "a planet" to "Earth."

TAKEAWAY: The best clue to the correct answer is frequently in the non-underlined part of the original sentence. The non-underlined parts of the sentence can't be changed and thus force the underlined section to agree with them.

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