Hundreds of species of fish generate and discharge electric currents

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Verb Forms + Parallelism + Idioms

• “to + base form of verb” is the correct infinitive verb form construction, which is used as a noun, to show purpose/intent of an action, and to modify adjectives and verbs.
• “neither A nor B” and “either A or B” are idiomatic uses and are only used when referring to two elements; A and B must be parallel.
• All elements in a list must be parallel.

A: This answer choice incorrectly uses the construction "either...or" to refer to a list of three elements; remember, “neither A nor B” and “either A or B” are idiomatic uses and are only used when referring to two elements; A and B must be parallel.

B: This answer choice incorrectly uses the construction "either...or" to refer to a list of three elements; remember, “neither A nor B” and “either A or B” are idiomatic uses and are only used when referring to two elements; A and B must be parallel. Further, Option B fails to maintain the correct infinitive verb form construction ("to + base form of verb" - "to + defend" in this case), as it omits the "to"; remember, “to + base form of verb” is the correct infinitive verb form construction, which is used as a noun, to show purpose/intent of an action, and to modify adjectives and verbs.

C: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism among "to find and attack prey", "for defense", and "communication and navigation"; remember, all elements in a list must be parallel.

D: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism among "for finding and attacking prey", "to defend themselves", and "for communication and navigation"; remember, all elements in a list must be parallel.

E: Correct. This answer choice maintains the correct infinitive verb form construction ("to + base form of verb" - "to + find", "to...+ attack", "to + defend", "to + communicate", and "to...+ navigate" in this sentence). Further, Option E maintains parallelism among "to find and attack prey", "to defend themselves", and "to communicate and navigate". Additionally, Option E avoids the idiom error seen in Options A and B, as it does not employ the "either...or" construction.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Either-Or" and "Neither-Nor" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team