Based on an adolescence study conducted in Berlin behaviorists determ

Question

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Based on an adolescence study conducted in Berlin, behaviorists determined that how a teenage boy  dresses and his performance in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity .

A) dresses and his performance in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity

B) is dressing and will perform in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity

C) dresses and his performance in athletics contributes to his degree of popularity

D) dresses contributes to his degree of popularity, along with his performance in athletics

E) dresses and how he performs in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity

Kinshook · Answer

IMO E

A) dresses and  his performance  in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity

B)  is dressing  and  will perform  in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity

C) dresses and  his performance  in athletics contributes to his degree of popularity

D) dresses contributes to his degree of popularity, along with his performance in athletics

E) dresses and how he performs in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity

monk123 · Answer

Based on an adolescence study conducted in Berlin, behaviorists determined that how a teenage boy  dresses and his performance in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity. 
 
POE:
When you see 'and' in the underlined part, try to search for parallelism.
Only (E) is parallel. 
 Eliminate (D) - change in meaning

A)  dresses  and  his performance  in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity

B)  is dressing  and  will perform  in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity

C)  dresses  and  his performance  in athletics contributes to his degree of popularity

D) dresses contributes to his degree of popularity, along with his performance in athletics

E) dresses and how he performs in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity -   CORRECT

thenikhilseth · Answer

Choice is  E option .

1)There are 2 things X and Y, so plural verb is required- Contribute ,  not contributes
 
Eliminate C and D

2) Parallelism between X and Y, only E is fulfilling this condition.
Eliminate A and B

A)  dresses and his performance  in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity

B)  is dressing and will perform  in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity

C) dresses and his performance in athletics  contributes  to his degree of popularity

D) dresses  contributes  to his degree of popularity, along with his performance in athletics

E) dresses and how he performs in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity-   CORRECT

Shahalikhan · Answer

option e

parallelism error

how he dresses and he performs

moreover contribute is correct for plural noun

FauleKatze · Answer

A)behaviorists determined that    how a teenage boy dresses    and    his performance    in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity -> Parallelism issue

B)behaviorists determined that how a teenage boy    is dressing    and    will perform    in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity -> Parallelism issue

C)behaviorists determined that    how a teenage boy dresses and his performance in athletics contributes    to his degree of popularity ->Parallelism issue + Subject verb agreement issue

D)behaviorists determined that how a teenage boy dresses contributes to his degree of popularity,    along with his performance in athletics    -> Makes it seem that  how a teenage boy dresses contributes to his performance in athletics .

E)behaviorists determined that how a teenage boy dresses and how he performs in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity ->Correct

poojakhanduja3017 · Answer

Simple parallelism question. Answer is E

shameekv1989 · Answer

Based on an adolescence study conducted in Berlin, behaviorists determined that how a teenage boy  dresses and his performance in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity .

A) dresses and his performance in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity

B) is dressing and will perform in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity

C) dresses and his performance in athletics contributes to his degree of popularity

D) dresses contributes to his degree of popularity, along with his performance in athletics

E) dresses and how he performs in athletics contribute to his degree of popularity

generis  :- "Based on study" is modifying "behaviorists" which imo is incorrect even though it is not a part of underlined.

Though I would go with E for this one. 2 items "how he dresses" and "how he performs" contribute to Y.

generis · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION   
  Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)

• HIGHLIGHTS

AND 
Whenever you see the word  and,  check quickly to see whether parallelism is involved.
 And  is the most common marker of parallelism.

HOW can be a conjunction 
-- how means  in what way  and as a conjunction, can join two independent clauses
-- I fixed your martini how you like it.

HOW can also anchor  something called a noun clause (nominal clause,substantive clause)
--  Where they live  is two hours' drive from here.
--  Whoever blames everyone else  is probably the perpetrator. 
--  Whenever he starts spouting his disturbing ideas , I holler at the television.
The italicized clauses are "noun clauses," and they are the subjects of the sentences.
Although the noun clauses have a subject and a verb, they are still nouns.

• two things contributed to a boy's popularity: his clothing style and athletic ability

• generally
-- the two clauses are connected by AND must be parallel
-- the noun-clause begins with the word  how

THE PROMPT  
 
• This phrase plays a big close to the fault line
--  Based on an adolescence study,  behavioralists determined that . . . 
The past participle (verbED) "based on" really refers to the  work  done by the behavioralists, not the behavioralists themselves.
This way would be better:  Based on their interpretation of an adolescence study. behavioralists 
• That phrase does not matter. It's not underlined.

THE OPTIONS

•  how a boy dresses  and  his performance in athletics  are not quite parallel
-- they are both noun phrases, but . . .
-- the noun phrase  how a teenage boy dresses  is not a "regular" noun—it's a noun that contains its own subject and verb
Such nouns are called noun-clauses, substantive clauses, nominal clauses, and something else I can' tremember.
X = how a teenage boy dresses (noun phrase)
Y = his performance in athletics (possessive noun)
• My eye did not catch the "how" error the first time through.
TENTATIVELY KEEP A

X = how a teenage boy is dressing - noun phrase
Y = will perform - verb
Not parallel.
• the verb tense shifted from  is dressing  (present continuous) to will perform (simple future)
-- not all different verb tenses in clauses connected by a conjunction lack parallelism!
-- Correct: He has not left the store and she is sitting outside, waiting for him. 
ELIMINATE B. 
 
• fatal: subject verb disagreement.  Two things , plural, do not agree with the singular   contributes  to a teenage boy's popularity 
ELIMINATE B

•  how the teenage boy dresses  contributes both to his degree of popularity and to his performance in athletics?
• or  how the teenage boy dresses  AND  his performance in athletics  contribute to his degree of popularity.
KEEP D, but tentatively, and hope that E is better.

• Parallel and correct
X =  how  a teenage boy  dresses and 
Y =  how  he performs in athletic
The two noun phrases are parallel. This option is better than A. The phrasing is clear and better than the murky (D).
Eliminate Options D and A

The best answer is E

Notes

For a good explanation of "noun-clauses," see Mike McGarry  here .

COMMENTS

Shahalikhan  ,  poojakhanduja3017  , and  FauleKatze  , Welcome to SC Butler.

As always, I am glad to see everyone.

Explanations need to . . . well, explain.
They don't need to be long.
Your answer should be clear enough that any readery who follows and who is a little clueless will learn from your post.

Kudos to those who explain well.
Stay safe.

Based on an adolescence study conducted in Berlin behaviorists determ

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Based on an adolescence study conducted in Berlin behaviorists determ

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