Hello Everyone!
Let's tackle this question, one problem at a time, and get to the correct answer quickly! Before we dive in, here is the original question with the major differences between each option highlighted in
orange:
At the end of the 1930's, Duke Ellington was looking for a composer to assist him-
someone not only who could arrange music for his successful band, but mirroring his eccentric writing style as well in order to finish the many pieces he had started but never completed.
A)
someone not only who could arrange music for his successful band,
but mirroring his eccentric writing style as well in order to finish
B)
someone who could not only arrange music for his successful band,
but also mirror his eccentric writing style in order to finish
C)
someone who not only could arrange music for his successful band,
but also to mirror his eccentric style in writingD)
that being someone who could not only arrange music for his successful big band,
but mirroring his eccentric writing style for finishing
E)
being someone not only who could arrange music for his successful big band,
but mirror his eccentric writing style as well, finishing
After a quick glance over all the options, it's clear that
we're dealing with an issue of idiomatic structure! Any time we see a phrase with "not only...but also," we know that we should start there to rule out any incorrect answers quickly.
The idiomatic structure is:
Not only X, but also Y.
For this to work, both X and Y must be written using parallel format. Let's take a closer look at each option to see which ones follow the format, and rule out the ones who don't:
A) someone
not only who could arrange music for his successful band,
but mirroring his eccentric writing style as well in order to finish
This is
INCORRECT because it doesn't follow the "not only...
but also..." format. It only says "not only...but...," which is wrong. It also doesn't use parallel format with the verbs (arrange/mirroring).
B) someone who could
not only arrange music for his successful band,
but also mirror his eccentric writing style in order to finish
This is
CORRECT because it uses the proper "not only...but also..." structure, and each part is written using a similar format.
C) someone who
not only could arrange music for his successful band,
but also to mirror his eccentric style in writing
While this does use the proper "not only...but also..." format, the two phrases are NOT written using parallel structure. For this to work, it would have to say "not only
could arrange music...but also
could mirror his eccentric style...." Therefore, this is
INCORRECT.
D) that being someone who could
not only arrange music for his successful big band,
but mirroring his eccentric writing style for finishing
This is
INCORRECT because it doesn't use the "not only...but also..." format - it says "not only...but...," which is wrong. It also doesn't use parallel format with the verbs (arrange/mirroring).
E) being someone
not only who could arrange music for his successful big band,
but mirror his eccentric writing style as well, finishing
This is
INCORRECT because it doesn't use the proper "not only...but also..." format - it says "not only...but...," which is wrong. It also doesn't use parallel format with the verbs and phrasing (who could arrange/mirror).
There you go - B is the correct option! If you familiarize yourself with common idiomatic structures, these are some of the quickest and easiest GMAT questions to answer!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
_________________
EMPOWERgmat
Total GMAT Content & Tactical Training | 120 Point Guarantee | All 6 Official GMAT Tests
empowergmat.com