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Updated on: 12 Jun 2021, 06:52
Originally posted by shadowfax1 on 14 Jun 2016, 08:42.
Last edited by Bunuel on 12 Jun 2021, 06:52, edited 2 times in total.
Last edited by Bunuel on 12 Jun 2021, 06:52, edited 2 times in total.
Renamed the topic and edited the question.
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A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
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Question Stats:
51% (01:32) correct
49%
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wrong
based on 17121
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As criminal activity on the Internet becomes more and more sophisticated, not only are thieves able to divert cash from company bank accounts, they can also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and sell the data to competitors.
(A) they can also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and sell
(B) they can also pilfer valuable information that includes business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and selling
(C) also pilfering valuable information including business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, selling
(D) but also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans to sell
(E) but also pilfering valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans and selling
(A) they can also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and sell
(B) they can also pilfer valuable information that includes business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, and selling
(C) also pilfering valuable information including business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans, selling
(D) but also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans to sell
(E) but also pilfering valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans and selling
https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/27/business/e-commerce-report-crime-soaring-cyberspace-but-many-companies-keep-it-quiet.html
CYBERCRIME, long a painful side effect of the innovations of Internet technology, is reaching new dimensions, security experts say. Spurred by a tightening economy, the increasing riches flowing through cyberspace and the relative ease of such crimes, technically skilled thieves and rank-and-file employees are stealing millions if not billions of dollars a year from businesses in the United States and abroad, according to consultants who track cybercrime.
Thieves are not just diverting cash from company bank accounts, these experts say. They are pilfering valuable information like business development strategies, new product specifications or contract bidding plans and selling the data to competitors.
''Criminal activity on the Internet is growing -- not steadily, but exponentially, both in frequency and complexity,'' said Larry Ponemon, chairman of the Ponemon Institute, an information management group and consultancy. ''Criminals are getting smarter and figuring out ways to beat the system.''
CYBERCRIME, long a painful side effect of the innovations of Internet technology, is reaching new dimensions, security experts say. Spurred by a tightening economy, the increasing riches flowing through cyberspace and the relative ease of such crimes, technically skilled thieves and rank-and-file employees are stealing millions if not billions of dollars a year from businesses in the United States and abroad, according to consultants who track cybercrime.
Thieves are not just diverting cash from company bank accounts, these experts say. They are pilfering valuable information like business development strategies, new product specifications or contract bidding plans and selling the data to competitors.
''Criminal activity on the Internet is growing -- not steadily, but exponentially, both in frequency and complexity,'' said Larry Ponemon, chairman of the Ponemon Institute, an information management group and consultancy. ''Criminals are getting smarter and figuring out ways to beat the system.''
17 Aug 2017, 08:46
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So I've seen a lot of test-takers make mistakes on this question, usually because of overreliance on an idiom “rule” that doesn’t really exist. If you see the phrase “not only”, that does NOT automatically mean that you need to have a “but also” somewhere else in the sentence! There’s no reason why you couldn’t use the phrase “not only” by itself, as long as it makes logical sense with the context of the sentence.
Don’t get me wrong: “not… but” phrases are pretty important on the GMAT, but only because they require parallelism. Basically, whatever follows the word “not” (or “not only”) must be structurally parallel to whatever follows the word “but” (or “but also”). (Similar parallelism rules apply to both/and and either/or constructions – more on these in an upcoming Topic of the Week.)
But again, there’s nothing wrong with having “not only” without the “but also.”
The parallelism also seems OK, even if it doesn’t sound great. We have two different lists going on in (A). First, we have a pair of parallel verbs: “…they can also pilfer information… and sell data…” That seems fine. We also have a list of the types of information that thieves pilfer: “…such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans…” That’s just three parallel nouns – no problem. Keep (A).
But that doesn’t really make any sense. “As criminal activity on the Internet becomes more and more sophisticated, not only are thieves able to divert cash from company bank accounts, pilfering valuable information…” For this to be correct, “pilfering valuable information” would have to modify “not only are thieves able to divert cash…” – and it simply doesn’t. These are completely different types of criminal activity, and the “pilfering valuable information” does not modify “diverting cash.”
Similarly, “selling” is basically hanging out on its own. I guess it’s trying to modify the previous phrase beginning with “pilfering”, but I can’t make much sense of that, either. (C) is out.
So we have: “not only are thieves able to divert cash… but also pilfer valuable information…” This isn’t awful, but it doesn’t quite seem parallel to me: “not only are thieves” gives us a subject and a verb, but the “but also” is followed only by a verb.
Plus, “to sell” seems to only modify “contract bidding plans”, and that’s not quite right: the thieves are selling the strategies and specifications, too. (A) makes much more sense than (D).
Don’t get me wrong: “not… but” phrases are pretty important on the GMAT, but only because they require parallelism. Basically, whatever follows the word “not” (or “not only”) must be structurally parallel to whatever follows the word “but” (or “but also”). (Similar parallelism rules apply to both/and and either/or constructions – more on these in an upcoming Topic of the Week.)
But again, there’s nothing wrong with having “not only” without the “but also.”
Quote:
“They” jumps out at me right away, but I think it’s fine, since it refers to “thieves.” I suppose “they” could also refer to “bank accounts,” but I don’t think the pronoun is automatically wrong. Ambiguity isn’t an absolute rule (see our YouTube webinar on this pronouns for more), and “they” isn’t particularly confusing here.
The parallelism also seems OK, even if it doesn’t sound great. We have two different lists going on in (A). First, we have a pair of parallel verbs: “…they can also pilfer information… and sell data…” That seems fine. We also have a list of the types of information that thieves pilfer: “…such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans…” That’s just three parallel nouns – no problem. Keep (A).
Quote:
(B) is very similar to (A), except that the final “and” is followed by “selling.” And that’s a problem, because I don’t know what “selling” is parallel to: nothing in the sentence is in the same format. Logically, “selling” should be parallel to “pilfer”, but in that case, it should be “…they pilfer… and sell…”, as in answer choice (A). (B) can be eliminated.
Quote:
The big change here is that “pilfering” and “selling” are now “-ing” words – modifiers, in this case. (Feel free to check out our guide to “-ing” words for more on this topic.)
But that doesn’t really make any sense. “As criminal activity on the Internet becomes more and more sophisticated, not only are thieves able to divert cash from company bank accounts, pilfering valuable information…” For this to be correct, “pilfering valuable information” would have to modify “not only are thieves able to divert cash…” – and it simply doesn’t. These are completely different types of criminal activity, and the “pilfering valuable information” does not modify “diverting cash.”
Similarly, “selling” is basically hanging out on its own. I guess it’s trying to modify the previous phrase beginning with “pilfering”, but I can’t make much sense of that, either. (C) is out.
Quote:
OK, now we really do have a “not only… but also” structure, which means that we need to think about parallelism again. There’s not much wiggle-room here: whatever follows “not only” needs to be parallel to whatever follows “but also.”
So we have: “not only are thieves able to divert cash… but also pilfer valuable information…” This isn’t awful, but it doesn’t quite seem parallel to me: “not only are thieves” gives us a subject and a verb, but the “but also” is followed only by a verb.
Plus, “to sell” seems to only modify “contract bidding plans”, and that’s not quite right: the thieves are selling the strategies and specifications, too. (A) makes much more sense than (D).
Quote:
The parallelism is much more thoroughly flawed in (E). We have: “not only are thieves able to divert cash… but also pilfering valuable information…” Definitely not parallel. (E) is out, and (A) is the correct answer.
15 Nov 2016, 06:31
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I think, the only reason this is a 700 level question is because of our tendency to blindly go for 'seemingly correct constructions' of Idioms. Here. It was always only between A and D. So lemme talk only about those.
D is wrong for multiple reasons:
D. but also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans to sell
1) The construction Not only... But also is incorrect
Even if you chose D on the basis of this idiom, you faltered! The correct construction of the idiom "Not only X... But also Y" requires X and Y to be parallel or of similar type.
Here's something from OG15 on this:
Correlatives: Word combinations such as “not only … but also” should be followed by an element of
the same grammatical type.
Examples:
Correct: “I have called not only to thank her but also to tell her about the next meeting.”
Incorrect: “I have called not only to thank her but also I told her about the next meeting.”
Coming back to the question, this is what we have in D-
"Not only are thieves able to... but also pilfer"
i.e. Not only subject/noun/doer... but also verb/action
Thieves not only divert... but also pilfer - Correct
Not only thieves divert... but also they pilfer - Correct
But the mixture of the 2- Incorrect
2) It changes the meaning:
Original meaning: Thieves do X, Y and Z
D says: Thieves do X, Y to achieve Z
"They pilfer the information AND sell" vs "They pilfer the information TO sell"
Quite a big shift, isnt it?
A, on the other hand, has no issue!
That was my reasoning, plz correct me if im wrong
D is wrong for multiple reasons:
D. but also pilfer valuable information such as business development strategies, new product specifications, and contract bidding plans to sell
1) The construction Not only... But also is incorrect
Even if you chose D on the basis of this idiom, you faltered! The correct construction of the idiom "Not only X... But also Y" requires X and Y to be parallel or of similar type.
Here's something from OG15 on this:
Correlatives: Word combinations such as “not only … but also” should be followed by an element of
the same grammatical type.
Examples:
Correct: “I have called not only to thank her but also to tell her about the next meeting.”
Incorrect: “I have called not only to thank her but also I told her about the next meeting.”
Coming back to the question, this is what we have in D-
"Not only are thieves able to... but also pilfer"
i.e. Not only subject/noun/doer... but also verb/action
Thieves not only divert... but also pilfer - Correct
Not only thieves divert... but also they pilfer - Correct
But the mixture of the 2- Incorrect
2) It changes the meaning:
Original meaning: Thieves do X, Y and Z
D says: Thieves do X, Y to achieve Z
"They pilfer the information AND sell" vs "They pilfer the information TO sell"
Quite a big shift, isnt it?
A, on the other hand, has no issue!
That was my reasoning, plz correct me if im wrong
07 Nov 2021, 08:10 
