AbdurRakib wrote:
The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review 2018Practice QuestionSentence Correction
Question no. 285
By using a process called echolocation to analyze the echoes of the high-pitched sounds they produce, bats
can determine not only the distance to an object, but they also can determine its shape and size and the direction in which it is moving.
A. can determine not only the distance to an object, but they also can determine
B. not only can determine the distance to an object but also
C. can determine not only the distance to an object but also
D. not only can determine its distance from an object but also
E. can determine not only their distance from an object, but they can also determine
The
NOT ONLY X BUT ALSO X correlative requires X and Y to be parallel.
Here are some examples:
Joe eats NOT ONLY
bananas (noun) BUT ALSO
plums (noun)Sami NOT ONLY
collects (verb) bottle caps (noun) BUT ALSO
plays (verb) hockey (noun)Lee drinks daiquiris NOT ONLY
at (preposition) the
beach (noun) BUT ALSO
in (preposition) the
bathtub(noun)Now let's check the answer choices.....
A) Bats can determine NOT ONLY the
distance (noun) to an object, BUT they ALSO
can determine (verb)Two problems here.
1) "they" is inserted between BUT and ALSO
2)
distance and
can determine are not parallel
ELIMINATE A
B) Bats NOT ONLY
can determine (verb) the distance to an object BUT ALSO its
shape and size (nouns) Not parallel
ELIMINATE B
C) Bats can determine NOT ONLY the
distance (noun) to an object BUT ALSO its
shape and size (nouns) Parallel!
KEEP C (for now)
D) Bats NOT ONLY
can determine (verb) its distance from an object BUT ALSO its
shape and size (nouns) Not parallel
Also, in this sentence the word "its" (singular) refers to bats (plural)
ELIMINATE D
E) Bats can determine NOT ONLY their
distance (noun) from an object, BUT they can ALSO
determine (verb)Not parallel
ELIMINATE E
Answer: C
Cheers,
Brent