{"id":8020,"date":"2011-09-01T06:00:06","date_gmt":"2011-09-01T13:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=8020"},"modified":"2011-07-20T15:25:41","modified_gmt":"2011-07-20T22:25:41","slug":"kaplan-gmat-sample-problem-sentence-correction-parallel-structure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/kaplan-gmat-sample-problem-sentence-correction-parallel-structure\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaplan GMAT Sample Problem: Sentence Correction, Parallel Structure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> The following GMAT<\/a> sentence correction problem focuses on parallel structure. Remember, items in a list must be formatted in the exact same way in order to be correct on the GMAT.<\/p>\n

Problem:<\/strong>
\nThe threatened railway strike would cause significant inconvenience to the city: not only do thousands of commuters rely on trains to get them to and from work, but also as a connection between<\/u> other forms of public transportation, such as buses and subways.
\n(A)\tnot only do thousands of commuters rely on trains to get them to and from work, but also as a connection between
\n(B)\tthousands of commuters rely on trains not only to get them to and from work, but also to connect with
\n(C)\tthousands of commuters rely not only on trains to get them to and from work, but also as a connection with
\n(D)\tnot only thousands of commuters going to and from work rely on trains to get them there, but also to connect with
\n(E)\tthousands of commuters rely on trains, not only for getting them to and from work, but also as a connection between<\/p>\n

Solution:<\/strong>
\nThe construction \u201cnot only\u2026but also\u201d is fairly common on sentence correction problems \u2013 usually the GMAT tests that you know the phrase \u201cnot only\u201d must be followed by the phrase \u201cbut also.\u201d However, in the problem above, all five answer choices include both the phrase \u201cnot only\u201d and the phrase \u201cbut also.\u201d In this case, it is also important to know that the words that come after \u201cnot only\u201d must be parallel with the words that come after \u201cbut also.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the original sentence, \u201cnot only\u201d is followed by \u201cdo thousands of commuters,\u201d while \u201cbut also is followed by \u201cas a connection.\u201d Because \u201cdo thousands of commuters\u201d and \u201cas a connection\u201d are not in parallel form, (A) is incorrect.<\/p>\n

In option (C) \u201cnot only\u201d is followed by \u201con trains,\u201d whereas \u201cbut also\u201d is followed by \u201cas a connection.\u201d Again, this is not parallel and (C) can be eliminated. Furthermore, (C) makes it seem as if commuters rely on something besides trains, which is not the intention of the sentence.<\/p>\n

In choice (D) \u201cnot only\u201d is followed by \u201cthousands of commuters,\u201d while \u201cbut also\u201d is followed by \u201cto connect with.\u201d Additionally, (D) implies that someone besides commuters are taking the train, which is not what the author is trying to say. Thus, (D) should be eliminated.<\/p>\n

(E) follows \u201cnot only\u201d with \u201cfor getting them to\u201d and \u201cbut also\u201d with \u201ca connection between.\u201d Just as has been the case with the previous three answers, (E) is not parallel and, therefore, incorrect.<\/p>\n

We are left with choice (B) as the correct answer. In (B) \u201cnot only\u201d is followed by \u201cto get\u201d and \u201cbut also\u201d is followed by \u201cto connect.\u201d Since these are in parallel form, (B) can be selected.<\/p>\n

~Bret Ruber<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following GMAT sentence correction problem focuses on parallel structure. Remember, items in a list must be formatted in the exact same way in order to be correct on the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,558,243,719,735],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat","category-kaplan-blog","category-blog","category-sentence-correction-gmat","category-verbal-gmat-blog","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8020"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8022,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8020\/revisions\/8022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}