Humans have been damaging the environment for centuries by overcutting trees and
farming too intensively, and though some protective measures, like the establishment
of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great
increases in population and in the intensity of industrialization are causing a
worldwide ecological crisis.


A. though some protective measures, like the establishment of national forests
and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great increases in
population

B. though some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests
and wildlife sanctuaries, were taken decades ago, great increases in population

C. though some protective measures, such as establishing national forests and
wildlife sanctuaries having been taken decades ago, great population increases

D. with some protective measures, like establishing national forests and wildlife
sanctuaries that were taken decades ago, great increases in population

E. with some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests
and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great population
increases
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B

"such as" is correct as it is giving example. E and C are not correct because they don't even make a sentence.

Here is my thinking -

d and e are out because we need a connecting word such as 'though' NOT 'with' to indicate the contrast mentioned in the sentence.

a is out because of 'like'

b vs c - I can't decide what is wrong with (c). In some forums they talk about c being a fragment. I don't understand how it is a fragment? Please explain how to rule out c.

In options C, look at the elements joined by the word "AND" Are they parallel???
.
increase in population and in the intensity of industrialization --> correct form of parallelism increases correctly modifies both increase in population and increase in the intensity of industrialization.

AND is an important word in the GMAT. When you find "AND" on the GMAT, pick out the elements joined by AND and check if they are parallel or if they play the same role in the sentence ( nouns, phrases )

I hope the above explanation help. Press kudos if you like my explanation.
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Hi all,

Humans have been damaging the environment for centuries by overcutting trees and farming too intensively, and though some protective measures, like the establishment
of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great increases in population and in the intensity of industrialization are causing a worldwide ecological crisis.



Error Analysis:
1. Use of “like” to present examples is incorrect.
2. “though” introduces a dependent clause with a subject and verb. “having been taken” is not a proper verb to make a dependent clause.

POE:

Choice A: though some protective measures, like the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great increases in
population: Incorrect for the reasons stated above.

Choice B: though some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, were taken decades ago, great increases in population: Correct. This choice uses the correct idiom “such as” to show examples. “were taken” is a proper verb that makes a dependent clause with “though”.

Choice C: though some protective measures, such as establishing national forests and wildlife sanctuaries having been taken decades ago, great population increases: Incorrect. Firstly, it repeats the same “having been taken” error as in Choice A. Secondly, There is a list here. The entities of this list are, per the original choice, great increases “in population” and “in the intensity”. In this choice, these two entities are not parallel. We are left to ask what “in the intensity” of industrialization are causing the ecological crisis.

Choice D: with some protective measures, like establishing national forests and wildlife sanctuaries that were taken decades ago, great increases in population: Incorrect. Firstly, use of “with” is incorrect because it fails to establish the contrast that the original sentence presents. Secondly, use of “like” is incorrect.

Choice E: with some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great population
increases: Incorrect. This choice repeats the wrong use of “with” as in Choice D, the “having been taken” error of choice A and the parallelism error of Choice C.



1. A clause, dependent or independent, must have an SV pair.
2. “Like” is used for comparison while “such as” is used to present examples.
3. The correct answer choice must convey the intended meaning.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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