According to scientists, people are genetically more similar to their

Question

According to scientists, people are genetically more similar to their friends than  strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing  them an evolutionary advantage for befriending those with different immunities.

A. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing

B. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease and provides

C. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease to provide

D. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing

E. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reducing the spread of disease provides

MahmoudFawzy · Answer

First split: "strangers" vs "to strangers"  
"to their friends" requires "to strangers" to complete the parallelism. -->  A  &  C  are out 
"strangers" may mean a comparison between the similarity of of people to their friends and the similarity of the strangers to their friends

Second split: "are that" vs "is that"  
"what is much more interesting to know" is the subject, so it needs a singular verb -->  A  &  C  are out

Third split: "and this" vs "and that this"  
to be parallel with "that the genes" in the first clause, we need "and that this" -->  A  &  E  are out

Fourth split: "provide" vs "provides" vs "providing"  
 provide:  absolutely incorrect because the subject "the difference" is singular --> so  C  is out
 provides:  it is a good contender as it seems parallel to the verb "reduces". However there is s a subtle change in meaning that makes it illogical thus incorrect. the difference in genes can't explain by itself the advantage provided, but the reduction of disease spreading can. for this reason, provides is is incorrect -->  B  &  E  are out
 providing:  the participial phrase "providing ..." modifies the preceding clause "this difference reduces the spread of disease", pointing to the fact that reduce disease spreading is the source of advantage.

Fifth split: "this difference reduces the spread of disease" vs "this difference reducing the spread of disease"  
Although they seem equal making  E  a good contender, there is a subtle alteration in the emphasis.
" this difference reduces the spread of disease"  : stresses on how the difference cause a reduction in disease spreading
" this difference reducing the spread of disease " : mention the "reduced disease spreading" as an inferior / additional information -->  E  is out

D

santorasantu · Answer

My choice is D: reason provided as follows

According to scientists, people are genetically more similar to their friends than strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing them an evolutionary advantage for befriending those with different immunities.

A. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know   are that   the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing

B. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease   and provides

C. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know   are that   the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease to provide

D. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing

E. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference   reducing the spread of disease provides

dcummins · Answer

Here is my train of thinking:

According to scientists, people are genetically more similar to their friends than  strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing  them an evolutionary advantage for befriending those with different immunities.

Split 1 - - comparison doesn't make sense without "to"
A.  strangers  of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing
C.  strangers  of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease to provide

Eliminate (A) and (C)

Next - The difference isn't the thing reducing the spread of disease as literally stated. It is the difference that enables the reduction
E. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference  reducing  the spread of disease provides

Next - Grammar error in B - independent clause is joined by a conjunction, but not separated by a comma as is grammatically required
B. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease  and provides them  an evolutionary advantage for befriending those with different immunities.

Because of the above noted, I chose (D)

somesh86 · Answer

According to scientists, people are genetically more similar to their friends than  strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing  them an evolutionary advantage for befriending those with different immunities.

A.  strangers  of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know  are  that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing  ----> Parallelism error, S-V error.

B. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease and  provides   ----> Meaning Error

C.  strangers  of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know  are  that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease  to provide   ----> Parallelism error, S-V error, Meaning error.

D. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing  ----> Correct.

E. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference  reducing  the spread of disease  provides   ----> Parallelism error

snoep · Answer

1. more similar to their friends than strangers OR to stranger ... more clause has - to friends - hence use - to strangers. That leaves us with B & D
2. interesting to know is / are ... find the subject of is/are... subject is - What is much more interesting ... interesting to know is ...clause/phrase is singular
3. that this difference reduces to provide/providing/ and provides..
- to provide - is not correct as it does not mean - its reducing to provide..
- reduces and provides - both are happening at the same time.. that isn't the meaning as per the original sentence
- providing is better..

D, it is

MayankSingh · Answer

A.  strangers of the  same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing----------  Correct version is "similar to X than to Y"

B. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease  and provides ------------- Cause & Effect is missing by using "and" instead of "v-ing modifier"

C.  strangers of the same popula tion, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease to provide-----   Correct version is "similar to X than to Y"

D. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing----------  Correct , V-ing modifier correctly provide cause and effect relationship i.e. Reduction in spread of disease provides an advantage....

E. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know  is that  the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends,  and this  difference reducing the spread of disease provides---------------  Parallelism "Is that ...and that..

Mizar18 · Answer

According to scientists, people are genetically more similar to their friends than  strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing  them an evolutionary advantage for befriending those with different immunities.

Errors in the original sentence:

-In order to mantain parallelism, we must have the "to" marker for strangers.
-"What is interesting to know" is a singular subject so it needs is as a verb, not are.
-"that the genes..." must be parallel with "this difference" so a way to improve this, it is adding "that" to the second part.

Answer D corrects all observations.

D. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing

mira93 · Answer

According to scientists, people are genetically more similar to their friends than strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing them an evolutionary advantage for befriending those with different immunities.

A. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing -  SV disagreement, "what is much more interesting to know IS". Second problem lies in parallelism "X that..... and Y that", second "that" is missing here

B. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease and provides -  here verbs 'reduces and provides' are in parallel, which is perfectly correct in grammar but changes original meaning

C. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease to provide -  same SV disagreement as we saw in A. Moreover, after comma intended meaning is changed by altering verb "to provide", as if the spread intends to provide - wrong meaning

D. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing -  SV agreement is correct and preserves original meaning

E. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reducing the spread of disease provides -  parallelism is not maintained here: X that .... and Y that.... - second that is missing here

himani2093 · Answer

According to scientists, people are genetically more similar to their friends than  strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing  them an evolutionary advantage for befriending those with different immunities.

A.  to  strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know  are  that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing
-use of 'are', missing 'TO'

B. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease and  provides 
-Parallelism between Providing and Befriending

C.  to  strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease to provide
-- Parallelism- Missing 'TO'

D. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing
-CORRECT

E. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes  that  control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and  (that ) this difference reducing the spread of disease provides
- Parallelism - use of that

JonShukhrat · Answer

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you all. Good luck my friends

1. First split : strangers / to strangers When we say ...people are genetically more similar to their friends than strangers... we might mean two things: a. ...people are genetically more similar to their friends than strangers are genetically more similar to their friends... (Nonsensical) b. ...people are genetically more similar to their friends than they are genetically more similar to strangers... (Intended meaning) In order to remove the ambiguity we need to after than : ...people are genetically more similar to their friends than (they are genetically more similar) to strangers... the part in brackets is omitted for the sake of concision but meant. Hence, A and C are out. 2. Second split : what is much more interesting to know are / is MGMAT says that sometimes the subject of a sentence can be a whole clause. This sort of subject is always singular and requires a singular verb form: Whatever they want to do is fine with me. ... what is much more interesting to know is ... Hence, A and C are out. 3. Third split : In order to maintain parallelism we need that after and : ...what is much more interesting to know is that the genes... and that this difference... Each parallel element should work with the root phrase: ...what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends... ...what is much more interesting to know is that this difference reduces the spread of disease and provides... Hence, A and E are out. 4. Fourth split : we have B and D as contenders. Let’s juxtapose them: B. ...this difference reduces the spread of disease and provides them an evolutionary advantage... D. ...this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing them an evolutionary advantage... D has a meaning different from that of B but similar to that of A. Since D conserves the original meaning, we need to adhere to it unless it’s nonsensical or contradictory. Let’s see what B and D mean. First, we need to check D for two things – causality and sequence : a . When we use comma + ing modifier, the information presented earlier in the sentence leads to or results in the information presented later in the sentence. In other words, check the causality. An example from MGMAT SC guide: The engineer fixed the problem, earning himself a promotion. Because the engineer fixed the problem, he earned a promotion. Fixing the problem resulted in earning the promotion. Similarly, when we say ...this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing them an evolutionary advantage... as in D, we mean that because this difference reduces the spread, it provides an advantage. This construction illustrates a causal relationship: why people have an advantage? Because the spread is reduced. This is completely tenable meaning and we need to maintain it. b . When we use comma + ing modifier, whichever statement comes first in the sentence, is the instigating action, and whichever comes second, is the effect or result. In other words, check the sequence. An example from MGMAT SC guide: She slipped on the ice, breaking her ankle. Breaking her ankle, she slipped on the ice. The first sentence correctly describes what happened: the woman first slipped and then broke her ankle. However, the second sentence is illogical because it implies that she broke her ankle first and then slipped on the ice. Similarly, when we says ...this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing them an evolutionary advantage... as in D, we mean that first the spread was reduced, and then this reduction was considered an advantage. Again, this is completely tenable meaning and we need to maintain it. Option D passes the exam for both casualty and sequence. 5. Let’s see what B means. When we say ...this difference reduces the spread of disease and provides them an evolutionary advantage... as in B, we don’t necessarily mean the causality and the sequence as we do in D. ...difference reduces the spread and provides an advantage... doesn’t necessarily mean that the advantage resulted from the reduction. It can result from whatever. Similarly, using and instead of comma + ing doesn’t necessarily mean that the reduction comes first and the advantage next. The reverse may very well be true. Hence, the original meaning of the sentence is lost. Conclusion : since D maintains the original meaning and this meaning is tenable, I vote for D .

Shreshtha55 · Answer

According to scientists, people are genetically more similar to their friends than strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing them an evolutionary advantage for befriending those with different immunities.

A. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends,  and this difference reduces the spread of disease , providing

B. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease  and provides

C. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting  to know are that the genes  controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease to provide

D.  to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing

E. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends,  and this difference reducing the spread of disease provides

.Because of parallelism(error of that) we can eliminate E and A. Now we are left with B,C,D. In D providing clearly modifies the sentence before. Hence ans is D.

rahaman26 · Answer

According to scientists, people are genetically more similar to their friends than strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing them an evolutionary advantage for befriending those with different immunities.

A. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know  are  that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and  this  difference reduces the spread of disease, providing -  to is missing, are should be is and that is missing

B. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease and  provides  -  meaning error, as the difference does not provide the advantage, the difference reducing the spread of disease does

C. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease to provide -  to is missing, are should be is

D. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing -  Correct

E. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reducing the spread of disease provides -  that is missing

hiranmay · Answer

According to scientists, people are genetically more similar to their friends than  strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing  them an evolutionary advantage for befriending those with different immunities.

A. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know  are  that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing --> "what is much more interesting to know" is singular

B. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease  and provides  --> providing is the result of "this difference reduces the spread of disease", this two aren't parallel

C. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know  are  that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease to provide --> same as A

D. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing -->  correct

E. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reducing the spread of disease  provides  --> "that the genes are different". & "that this difference reduces" aren't parallel, missing that from "this difference reduces", providing is the result of "this difference reduces the spread of disease", provides is not direct action of "this difference"

Abhi077 · Answer

A. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing- there has to be a 'to' before the word strangers it creates the error of double meaning ,parallelism & a subject verb disagreement. what is much more interesting to know must be followed by singular verb as the subject is singular

B. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease and provides- This sentence corrects the 'to' which needed to be before the word strangers. However, this one introduces a new error of meaning, as per this sentence, the difference performs to actions, provision and reduction. . this sentence however corrects the sub-verb agreement error we found in option A

C. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease to provide-  Repeats the subject verb disagreement error we found in sentence A, This sentence also changes the meaning of the sentence by introducing to provide

D. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing-  providing is a modifier here which is incorrect

E. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reducing the spread of disease provides-  Makes perfect sense and conveys proper meaning

Anupom · Answer

D. According to scientists, people are genetically more similar to their friends than to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing  them  an evolutionary advantage for befriending those with different immunities. 
Hi  MartyTargetTestPrep  ,  GMATNinja  ,  ccooley  ,  DmitryFarber  ,  jennpt   VeritasKarishma  ,  AjiteshArun  ,  generis 
What's the antecedent of "them" in D?
What does the " providing them an evolutionary..... " part modify here?

bb · Answer

The official explanation for this question has been posted (and pinned as the Best Reply), so it is immediately under the question. 
Some of the questions we have received for the competition have OE's (official explanations) and we will post them to the extent possible.

Thank you!

KarishmaB · Answer

"them" refers to "friends" "providing them an evolutionary advantage ... " is a modifier modifying the entire previous clause. Check the usage of participles here: https://anaprep.com/sentence-correction ... rticiples/ https://anaprep.com/sentence-correction ... rticiples/

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

A. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing
to is necessary for conveying the right meaning therefore out

B. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease and provides
provides isn't the right usage therefore out

C. strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know are that the genes controlling immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease to provide
to is abswnt and provide isn't the right usage therefore out

D. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and that this difference reduces the spread of disease, providing
It conveys the right meaning therefore let us hang on to it

E. to strangers of the same population, but what is much more interesting to know is that the genes that control immunity to certain diseases are different between friends, and this difference reducing the spread of disease provides
provides isn't the right usage therefore out

Therefore IMO D

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