The skill and the precision of the Anasazi, ancient inhabitants of the

you are Right

E - incorrect - Idiom: skill in doing something.
His skill in teaching is better than His skill to teach


https://gmatsentencecorrection.blogspot. ... 3-984.html

The skill and the precision of the Anasazi, ancient inhabitants of the Southwest, in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced not only at Chaco Canyon but at a number of other sites.

(A) in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced not only at
(B) in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon are evidenced not only at
(C) in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced at not only
(D) to measure the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced at not only
(E) to measure the movements of the Sun and Moon are evidenced not only at

My ans is B.
Parallelism: not only at... but at...
Subj. V. agreement: the skill and the precision-->are
Idiom: In measuring > to measure

Could anyone give a very strong reasoning for the options B and E as to why B is correct and E is wrong or either ways, B is wrong and E is correct.

Experts your help needed.

Thanks and regards,
Amit

I am not an expert but I can help you here.

B) The skill and the precision of the Anasazi, ancient inhabitants of the Southwest, in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon are evidenced not only at Chaco Canyon but at a number of other sites.

E) The skill and the precision of the Anasazi, ancient inhabitants of the Southwest, to measure the movements of the Sun and Moon are evidenced not only at Chaco Canyon but at a number of other sites.

They are very similar. They have the right verb "are" use the same structure in the comparison "not only at ... but at". As you can see there is only one difference : in measuring/to measure. To measure sounds awkward, I would say the skill in something rather than the skill to . This is a question from the 1000 series and from what I've learned so far, it's not a good source.

Let me know if it's clear

Hi,
This is in response to your PM.

The only difference between Choice B and Choice E is of "in measuring" and "to measure". Per the context of the sentence, "in measuring" is better that "to measure".
As the poster before my post has correctly said, this is not very good question to study because GMAT now does not use the idiom "not only X but Y". The correct idiom is "not only X but also Y".

So just study official questions.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Hi Shraddha,

Based on the article ' for verbing vs to verb', we can clearly infer that there is no intent to measure the movements of sun and moon and hence use of to verb will be incorrect..although the other options doesn't have 'for verb' construction but using the concept in the article, we can say in measuring will be the correct usage....

Please confirm

Posted from my mobile device

Hi there,

Yes, your understanding is correct here. We can easily that last two answer choices because of the incorrect use of "to measure". This leaves us with the answer choices that start with "in measuring". So yes, this usage has to be correct.

Hope this helps.
Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Thanks.
Shraddha

The skill and the precision of the Anasazi, ancient inhabitants of the Southwest, in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced not only at Chaco Canyon but at a number of other sites.

(A) in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced not only at
(B) in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon are evidenced not only at idiomatically correct
(C) in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced at not only
(D) to measure the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced at not only
(E) to measure the movements of the Sun and Moon are evidenced not only at unidiomatic

certainly, precision to measure sounds very very awkward.
This question does not test any concept of idiom, but B is the right answer.

Understood my mistake although I marked Option E....was stuck between two options B and E....Skill and Precision together are plural so Options A,C and D eliminated. Correct idiomatic usage is skill and precision in doing something and not skill and precision to do something

The skill and the precision of the Anasazi, ancient inhabitants of the Southwest, in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced not only at Chaco Canyon but at a number of other sites.

First split - SV Agreement. The Skill and The Precision = compound subject, therefore plural "are" is required, otherwise we are evidencing one, not two, things.
(A) in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced not only at
(C) in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced at not only
(D) to measure the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced at not only

I have a hard time rationalizing why I selected B, so if not a difference of idioms, E also implied to me that The skill and precision are TO achieve something. What is that something? To measure.....
Idiomatically, "the precision in his craft", "the precision of his measurement" --both correct, but "the precision in measuring..." seems incorrect since the precision is in the measurement itself not TO measure.

(E) to measure the movements of the Sun and Moon are evidenced not only at

Request you to please provide me the list of idioms which are frequently tested on GMat

Not sure if you have came across it already , here is a comprehensive thread on idioms, however , idioms alone are not tested on GMAT. SC will have mix of idioms and other areas. It is however good to know them anyways.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-idioms-comprehensive-list-of-gmat-idioms-80342.html#p603458

another one of those old (but official) question that really tests idiom....

as long as you can come down to B and E, I guess you should be fine.

the skills [in doing / to do] something...

The skill and the precision of the Anasazi, ancient inhabitants of the Southwest, in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced not only at Chaco Canyon but at a number of other sites.

Option Elimination -

(A) in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced not only at - SV issue. We need the plural verb "are" for the plural subject, "The skill and the precision."

(B) in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon are evidenced not only at -
Let's take an example to understand better - The artists skilled in sculpting are featured at the Metropolitan Gallery. When we want to convey that someone has a skill, we usually use the structure "skilled in (activity)" or "skilled at (activity)." For example, "skilled in painting," "skilled in swimming fast," "skilled at playing piano," or "skilled in sculpting." Moreover, "in measuring" also fits well with the ongoing nature of the skill that we see at multiple sites, while "to measure" breaks the parallel structure and is usually used to show the intent or purpose.

(C) in measuring the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced at not only - the same as A.

(D) to measure the movements of the Sun and Moon is evidenced at not only - the same as A.

(E) to measure the movements of the Sun and Moon are evidenced not only at - explained in B.