Among the numerous techniques for building political alliances, the

Question

Among the numerous techniques for building political alliances, the most widely practiced method has been  to form a grassroots campaign and then, despite the numerous logistical challenges, activate  the network ahead of election day.

(A) to form a grassroots campaign and then, despite the numerous logistical challenges, activate

(B) to form a grassroots campaign and then, despite the numerous logistical challenges, to activate

(C) forming a grassroots campaign and then, despite the numerous logistical challenges, activating

(D) forming a grassroots campaign and then, activate, despite the numerous logistical challenges,

(E) to form a grassroots campaign and then, activating, despite the numerous logistical challenges,

MikeScarn · Accepted Answer

Split #1: to form vs forming

In our non-underlined portion, we have the  present perfect verb  "has been", so we are talking about something that has been done in the recent past.

"the most widely practiced method  has been forming  a grassroots campaign and then, ...." - This is illogical. 
  Eliminate (C) and (D)

Split #2:  activate  vs  to activate  vs  activating

If we strip out some of the modifiers to make the sentence shorter, we can compare our verb forms easier.

(E) "the most widely practiced method has been  to form  X and then,  activating  the network ahead of election day."

(E)'s verb forms are not parallel. Eliminate.

Between (A) and (B)

We have a  parallel structure,  so there is no need to use "to" again.

"the most widely practiced method has been to form X and then, (to) activate Y."

Therefore we can eliminate ( B ).

This is a  very  difficult question in my opinion.

Arro44 · Answer

Really appreciate the step by step analysis.

I narrowed down the answer choices to A & B but was not able to identify the parallel structure correctly and thus went for B.

Certainly educational, thanks for sharing!

AjiteshArun · Answer

I don't think that you made a mistake in identifying the parallel elements there.

This question:
 ... the most widely practiced method has been to  form  a grassroots campaign  and  then, despite the numerous logistical challenges,  activate  the network ahead of election day.

An official question ( this one ):
 ... the most extensively used method has been  to form  the mud or clay into bricks,  and , after some preliminary air drying or sun drying,  to lay  them in the wall in mud mortar.

Arro44 · Answer

Thank you for that insight, although I am now slightly confused regarding the original question/answer choice

Does the OA still hold after the comparison to an OG question with a similar structure but different answer?

AjiteshArun · Answer

That's a tough one, but I wouldn't say that A/B is an unfair split. The person who made this question took a certain call, and that's fine.

What I am sure about, however, is that you (and anyone else who picked B) applied parallelism correctly.

MikeScarn · Answer

AjiteshArun , very interesting take. Thanks for sharing and thanks for posting that OG question that is, ~dare I say,~ parallel to this one

Posted from my mobile device

mykrasovski · Answer

GMATNinja  can you please help with finding the truth? It really does seem that both A and B are correct.

rakeshtewatia0105 · Answer

can anyone please explain why "ing" form is incorrect with present perfect continuous....? and "to form is correct?

vimas · Answer

GMATNinja 
I am slightly confused now. From the OG reference by  AjiteshArun  it seems that B is the correct answer and the official answer is A. This is wierd. 
Which one should we choose in the exam?

MikeScarn · Answer

This question was created by a test prep company. OG questions used to be official questions. Always proceed with caution with prep company's questions. Always treat OG questions as if they were official GMAT questions.

nide · Answer

can you please explain the split 1 
why can't we use gerund after present perfect verb?

MikeScarn · Answer

We  need  the infinitive "to form" from a meaning perspective.

If we use " forming ," it reads "the most widely practiced method has been forming a grassroots campaign and then...."

This is literally saying that the  method  has been forming a grassroots campaign.

Meaning:  The method started forming a grassroots campaign  and  it is still forming a grassroots campaign into the present.

This is not our intended meaning. We want to explain that the  method  has been to form a grassroots campaign.

The method is to form a grassroots campaign.   The method is not itself forming a grassroots campaign.

Does this make any sense at all? I'm struggling to clearly explain it using text.

abhishek31 · Answer

Hi in option A & Option B, can anyone tell me when to use "To" after end and when not to use "TO" to make the structure parallel.

GMATNinja · Answer

Instead of worrying about this one, you might want to check out this  official question  that has some similar features.

Among the numerous techniques for building political alliances, the

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