Blamed for ocean pollution and harming small animals, plastic bags req

Question

Blamed for ocean pollution and harming small animals, plastic bags require less energy to have to manufacture, ship, and recycle than paper bags but take far  longer to decompose naturally.

A. Blamed for ocean pollution and harming small animals, plastic bags require less energy to have to manufacture, ship, and recycle than paper bags but take far
B. Paper bags require more energy to manufacture, ship, and recycle than plastic bags, which are blamed for ocean pollution and harming small animals, but they take far
C. Paper bags require more energy to manufacture, ship, and recycle than plastic bags, which are blamed for polluting the ocean and harming small animals, but they take much
D. Blamed for ocean pollution and the harm of small animals, plastic bags require less energy to have to manufacture, ship, and recycle than paper bags, but take much
E. Blamed for polluting the ocean and harming small animals, plastic bags require less energy to manufacture, ship, and recycle than paper bags but take far

daagh · Answer

E is more parallel than A and hence the correct choice. Drop B and C for using a redundant and ambiguous pronoun 'they'. D is not concise. 
However, isn’t ‘require’ an action verb? Wouldn’t it be better to say ‘than do plastic bags’, rather than just ‘than plastic bags’?

mbaprep2016 · Answer

B and C has ambiguity over they. 
E is better choice than A

AbdurRakib · Answer

I'm glad that you explained

Regarding the question arose,I believe,yes, 'require' is an action verb.Can you explain,how you prefer adding 'do' to remove ambiguity here?

Answer choice (E) also correctly uses the idiom require X to Y.

Thanks

daagh · Answer

abdur

The problem is to misunderstand that plastic bags require less energy than paper bags. The comparison seems to be between whether they require less energy or less number of bags 
On the contrary, if we add the verb do or require after paper bags, then the comparison is clearer that the choice falls between the quanta of energy these two factors require. 
There are some prude grammarians who say that even for linking verbs we will need to use the verb in the second arm as if the comparator – than - is more a conjunction than a preposition 
Take for example I --- am taller than my brother – This is not acceptable to them as they want the sentence to be rephrased as -- I am taller than my brother is.

If not in the case of linking verbs or extant verbs, at least in the case of action verbs, one has to repeat the action verb in the second arm. 
Let’s us take a classic case of the verb ‘know’ which is an action verb.

No one knows the child better than the mother and J&J – This is essentially wrong because this may mean as no one knows the child better than he or she knows the mother and J&J . On the contrary, if we can say that no one knows the child better than do the mother and J&J, then the intent of the sentence is quite clear.

DeepikaV · Answer

hi  daagh ,

between C and E, i felt C better for the usage of 'but they take much longer' . i felt they correctly refers to 'plastic bags' as it is closer, and i felt 'much longer' is better than 'far longer'.

please explain

daagh · Answer

Deepika 
In referencing a pronoun, the subject is the first eligible candidate and if that is not gelling logically, then we might look to other nouns.

Now it may be seen that the object noun -plastic bag- does not logically stand for the ‘they’. There is a transition word – but - which denotes a contrast, and means that the left side of the conjunction is opposite of the right. ----such as a positive –negative or a negative –positive combination. In B and C, you find them both as negative –negative combinations. Therefore, the sentence construction is faulty. This aspect has been handled properly in E (as also in D, though with poor parallelism) by giving a positive factor--- less energy --- and take much longer, a negative factor -

I feel it matters not much whether it is much longer or far longer.

atshy21saraf · Answer

Totally agreed, it should have been"than do plastic bags"

Senthil1981 · Answer

Will GMAT have such questions in exam ? Because all the correct OG answers are airtight as per the rules of GMAT Sentence Correction.

KrishnakumarKA1 · Answer

A. Require less energy to do what? To have to manufacture, Ship, and Recycle. Parallelism error- to have to manufacture is not parallel with the other two items in the list,-Incorrect
B. Parallelism error is rectified. However, a New error is introduced. “They” gives rise to an ambiguous Pronoun error, as it is not clear which noun the pronoun refers to . INCORRECT
C. AMBIGUOUS PRONOUN ERROR- ‘THEY”- INCORRECT
D. Parallelism Error- same as in A- INCORRECT
E. CORRECT ANSWER- REQUIRE LESS ENERGY TO - manufacture, ship, and recycle- Parallelism is maintained; Less...than...correct comparison word; the coordinating conjunction, ‘but’ is correctly used to depict a contradicting action...less energy...but more time

Chemerical71 · Answer

I am with E...most of the options have pronoun ambiguity.

AliciaSierra · Answer

generis , are not we missing require in all options ?
 X requires less energy than Y requires.

VerbalBot · Answer

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

Blamed for ocean pollution and harming small animals, plastic bags req

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Blamed for ocean pollution and harming small animals, plastic bags req

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards