mbaprep2016 wrote:
Hi Mike
Please respond to the thread as this will be helpful for others also. I have posted my doubt below.
Libraries remain valuable repositories of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet—approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home—and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and seek information about government benefits.
(A) of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet—approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home—and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and
(B) of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet—approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home—and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and
(C) for books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet—approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home—and for developing computer skills, looking for jobs, and to
(D) of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access e-mail and use the Internet—approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home—and to develop computer skills, look for jobs, and
(E) for books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email and use the Internet—approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home—and to develop computer skills and look for jobs, and to
In this question I have a doubt between B and D . B makes more sense to me. Please explain.
As some one on the thread explains
If D is plugged into the original sentence one arm of the parallel structure reads as:
"libraries are places to develop computer skills" doesn't it sound awkward?
On the other hand, if B is plugged into the original sentence and individual arms are -
"libraries are places to access email"
"libraries are places to use the internet and develop computer skills"
"libraries are places to look for jobs"
"libraries are places to seek information about government benefits"
Dear
mbaprep2016,
I'm happy to respond.
Here's what I'll say. First of all, I like many Veritas questions, but this is not my favorite. I think it's a solid question in its own right, but it doesn't feel like the GMAT in what it demands.
I would say that while your reading of (B) would be plausible in theory, in practice the item "
to use the internet and develop computer skills" doesn't have the feel of a single item in the parallelism precisely because it's broken by the parenthetical statement set off by dashes. If a writer wants to put the four items in parallel {
J, K and L, M, N}, then that writer has to take special care to separate the "
and" between K & L from an "
and" forming a link in the overall parallel. Consider this:
J, K and L, M, and N That's not clear at all: it looks as if the author simply doesn't understand parallelism. We would have to use semicolons separating the four separate elements, or a connector between K & L other than the word "
and"---we would have to do something to make clear the distinction of a link between two elements vs. the link in the parallelism chain. This sentence not only avoids that distinction, but also splits the two linked elements with a long parenthetical statement---this is a complete disaster in terms of sentence organization! Rather than take steps to clarify what might be confusing, the author compounds it! Yes, I get that author might have been trying to do what you read in (B), but if that was the author's intent, he failed miserably in (B). That's why (B) is wrong.
The distinction in (D) is very interesting. It's a parallelism of two different parallel lists.
... they are also places ...List #1:
to access e-mail and use the Internet ...(
long parenthetical statement between the two lists)
"and"List #2:
to develop computer skills, look for jobs, and seek information about government benefits.
Notice a few things. The long parenthetical statement appropriate forms a break between the two lists. Each list has its own parallel structure. Most importantly, there is a different in meaning between the two lists. List #1 refers primarily to recreational use of a computer, use of a computer primarily for personal life and enjoyment. List #2 refers primarily to the professional use of a computer, using a computer to further one's livelihood. In other words, there's a meaning-based distinction between the two lists, and that's precisely why they are separate lists.
Does all this make sense?
Mike
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Updated on: 25 Jul 2021, 14:33
53%
(02:17)
wrong 
