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Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
uledssul wrote:
Tropical bats play important roles in the rain forest ecosystem, aiding in the dispersal of cashew, date, and fig seeds; pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and indirectly help produce tequila by pollinating agave plants.
(a) pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and indirectly help produce
(b) pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and indirectly helping to produce
(c) pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and they indirectly help to produce
(d) they pollinate banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and indirectly help producing
(e) they pollinate banana, breadfruit, and mango trees: indirectly helping the producing of
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that tropical bats aid in the dispersal of cashew, date, and fig seeds, pollinate banana, breadfruit, and mango trees, and indirectly help to produce tequila by pollinating agave plants.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Parallelism + Verb Forms• All elements in a list must be parallel.
• Semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses; commas are used to link an independent clause with a dependent one; comma cannot be used to join two independent clauses.
• The colon is used to introduce a list, a definition/explanation, or an answer/solution.
• For referring to the purpose/intent of an action, the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb" - "to + produce" in this sentence) is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "producing" in this sentence).
A: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism among "aiding in the dispersal of cashew, date, and fig seeds", "pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees", and "indirectly help to produce tequila by pollinating agave plants"; please remember, all elements in a list must be parallel.
B: Correct. This answer choice maintains parallelism among "aiding in the dispersal of cashew, date, and fig seeds", "pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees", and "indirectly helping to produce tequila by pollinating agave plants". Further, Option B uses the construction "pollinating..indirectly helping to produce...plants", conveying the intended meaning - that tropical bats pollinate banana, breadfruit, and mango trees, and
as a separate action, indirectly help to produce tequila by pollinating agave plants. Additionally, Option B avoids the grammatical construction error seen in Option C, as it does not join any independent clauses. Besides, Option B uses the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb" - "to + produce" in this sentence) to refer to the purpose/intent of the action "helping".
C: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism among "aiding in the dispersal of cashew, date, and fig seeds", "pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees", and "they indirectly help to produce tequila by pollinating agave plants"; please remember, all elements in a list must be parallel. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the "semicolon + conjunction ("and" in this case)" construction to join the independent clauses "Tropical bats play important roles in the rain forest ecosystem..." and "they indirectly help to produce tequila by pollinating agave plants"; please remember, semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses.
D: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism among "aiding in the dispersal of cashew, date, and fig seeds", "they pollinate banana, breadfruit, and mango trees", and "indirectly help producing tequila by pollinating agave plants"; please remember, all elements in a list must be parallel. Further, Option D uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "producing" in this sentence) to refer to the purpose of the action "help"; please remember, for referring to the purpose/intent of an action, the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "producing" in this sentence).
E: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase ":indirectly helping...plants"; the use of the semicolon incorrectly implies that tropical bats pollinate banana, breadfruit, and mango trees
because they indirectly help to produce tequila by pollinating agave plants; the intended meaning is that tropical bats pollinate banana, breadfruit, and mango trees, and
as a separate action, indirectly help to produce tequila by pollinating agave plants; please remember, the colon is used to introduce a list, a definition/explanation, or an answer/solution. Further, Option E uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "producing" in this sentence) to refer to the purpose of the action "help"; please remember, for referring to the purpose/intent of an action, the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "producing" in this sentence).
Additional Note: In this sentence, semicolons, rather than commas, have been used to separate the elements of a list; for the sake of clarity, this usage of semicolons is considered acceptable if the elements of the list contain commas within them, as is the case in the phrases "aiding in the dispersal of cashew, date, and fig seeds" and "pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees".
Hence, B is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Infinitive vs Present Participles" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
To understand the concept of "Punctuations" on GMAT SC, you may want to watch the following video (~9 minutes):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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