Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
ttanvir wrote:
Like ants, termites have an elaborate social structure in which a few individuals reproduce and the rest are serving the colony by tending juveniles, gathering food, building the nest, or they battle intruders.
(A) are serving the colony by tending juveniles, gathering food, building the nest, or they battle
(B) are serving the colony in that they tend juveniles, gather food, build the nest, or battle
(C) serve the colony, tending juveniles, gathering food, building the nest, or by battling
(D) serve the colony by tending juveniles, gathering food, by building the nest, or by battling
(E) serve the colony by tending juveniles, gathering food, building the nest, or battling
Concepts tested here: Tenses + Parallelism• Statements of universal fact are best conveyed through the simple present tense.
• The simple present continuous tense is used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature.
• All elements in a list must be parallel.
A: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present continuous tense verb "are serving" to refer to a statement of universal fact; please remember, statements of universal fact are best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the simple present continuous tense is used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature. Further, Option A fails to maintain parallelism among "tending juveniles", "gathering food", "building the nest", and "they battle intruders"; please remember, all elements in a list must be parallel.
B: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present continuous tense verb "are serving" to refer to a statement of universal fact; please remember, statements of universal fact are best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the simple present continuous tense is used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature.
C: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism among "tending juveniles", "gathering food", "building the nest", and "by battling intruders"; please remember, all elements in a list must be parallel.
D: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism among "by tending juveniles", "gathering food", "by building the nest", and "by battling intruders"; please remember, all elements in a list must be parallel.
E: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the simple present tense verb "serve" to refer to a statement of universal fact. Further, Option E correctly maintains parallelism among "tending juveniles", "gathering food", "building the nest", and "battling intruders".
Hence, E is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the concept of "Simple Continuous Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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