Comparing claimed speeds of the fastest cars in the world......

Question

Comparing claimed speeds of the fastest cars in the world, especially in historical cases, is difficult  due to there being no standardized method of determining the top speed, nor a central authority to verify any such claims

(A) due to there being no standardized method of determining the top speed, nor a central authority to verify any such claims 
(B) due to the absence of a standardized method of determining the top speed and a central authority to verify any such claims 
(C) in that there is neither a standardized method of determining the top speed, nor can such claims be verified by a central authority 
(D) because of the absence of any standardized method of determining the top speed, and of a central authority to verify any such claims 
(E) because there is no standardized method of determining the top speed, or of verifying such claims by a central authority

ankaua · Answer

My thought process: 
  Incorrect:    (A) due to there being  no  standardized method of determining the top speed,  nor  a central authority to verify any such claims 
 
Choice A is incorrect because of multiple reasons: 
(1) "no .. nor" - I believe idiomatically incorrect. 
(2) While "being" sometimes can be met within correct answers, I haven't seen usage of "being" in correct answers for questions from OG. 
(3) We can replace "due to" with "caused by" in order to verify whether it is acceptable usage. While doing this check, we can see that the answer sounds illogical.

Incorrect:    (B) due to the absence of a standardized method of determining the top speed and a central authority to verify any such claims 
 
In order to maintain parallel structure "of" should be added before "a central authority": absence  of  a standardized method ... and  of  a central authority

Incorrect:   (C) in that there is neither a standardized method of determining the top speed, nor can such claims be verified by a central authority

Again a parallelism issue. In the "Neither X nor Y" construction X and Y have to be parallel.

Correct:   (D) because of the absence of any standardized method of determining the top speed, and of a central authority to verify any such claims

The best choice. I have the only doubts here about the comma before "and", for me comma before FANBOYS is necessary first of all in the case when we need to separate two clauses.

Incorrect:  (E) because there is no standardized method of determining the top speed, or of verifying such claims by a central authority

Several errors with this choice:
(1) If you see "there is" > check for a place. 
(2) "no .. or" - unidiomatic.

NoMatterWhat · Answer

I felt 'or' would be the correct usage instead of 'and' in an option D.

anilesh10 · Answer

because modify verbs whereas due to modify noun entity...
so A,B out..
c parallelism issue
D parallelism is perfect , absence of x and absence of y
e..generally in Gmat "there is " awkward structure.

vipulgoel · Answer

experts please explain in OA why comma is used in list with only two items
(D) because of the absence of any standardized method of determining the top speed , and  of a central authority to verify any such claims

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  vipulgoel ,

Generally speaking, it's not a good idea to use any "rule" that restricts us from using a comma before an  and  in a list of two elements, at least on the GMAT.

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Primarily the issue is lack of parallelism in E such that the meaning conveyed is illogical and different from the intended meaning. Choice D Comparing claimed speeds of the fastest cars in the world, especially in historical cases, is difficult because of the absence of any standardized method of determining the top speed, and of a central authority to verify any such claims. Intended meaning So, there is 1. No standardized method of determining the top speed, and 2. No central authority to verify such claims. Choice E Comparing claimed speeds of the fastest cars in the world, especially in historical cases, is difficult because there is no standardized method of determining the top speed, or of verifying such claims by a central authority “Standardized method” has been taken as common to the list. Standardized method of X or of Y This construction implies there is no standard method of …..verifying such claims by a central authority. This is illogical and not per the intended meaning. Hope this helps

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation:

Answer: D

(A) The usage of  due to  is incorrect in the context of this sentence. The usage of  being  is awkward.

(B) The usage of  due to  is incorrect in the context of this sentence. Also, the sentence talks about the absence of two things so the preposition  of  should be repeated before  central authority .

(C) The part after  nor  distorts the meaning of the sentence by suggesting that the problem is that the claims cannot be verified by a central authority. However, the problem is actually the absence of such a central authority.

(D) The correct answer.

(E) Same as C.

notshynotme · Answer

Can anyone shed light on the usage of "because of" in choice D?
I think that "because of" cannot modify noun.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Comparing claimed speeds of the fastest cars in the world......

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Comparing claimed speeds of the fastest cars in the world......

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