Consumption of bread products made from ergot-infected grains often

It is a Subject-Verb Agreement question,

The correct answer is
C) Consumption (Singular Subject) : Triggers ( Singular Verb): Causes (Singular verb).

Manhattan Prep Official Explanation

(1) Take a First Glance (5 seconds)

A long sentence that is almost entirely underlined is a hint that Subject-Verb Agreement is being tested, especially when the subject is not underlined.

(2) Read for Meaning

The subject of the sentence is consumption, and the sentence explains that consumption of [a certain food type] … often trigger severely debilitating symptoms… but… also cause a significant reduction in maternal bleeding…

In the correct answer, the subject consumption will agree with the two verbs: trigger and cause. Because consumption, a singular subject, is not underlined, the two verbs must also be singular: triggers and causes.

(3) Find a Starting Point

Start with any difference that seems easiest to you, then move to the next easiest issue, and so on. Stop when you have one answer or you aren’t sure how to address the remaining differences. All errors for each choice are detailed in the next section.

(4) Eliminate (and Repeat)

(A) This choice is incorrect because both trigger and cause are plural, disagreeing with the singular subject consumption.

(B) Although this sentence makes two minor changes from the original sentence, neither one fixes the subject-verb agreement problem; the singular subject, consumption, is still paired with two plural verbs, trigger and cause.

(C) CORRECT. This choice correctly pairs the singular subject, consumption, with two singular verbs, triggers and causes.

(D) This sentence corrects the first of the two verbs (triggers) by making it singular to match the singular subject, consumption, but the second verb (cause) is still plural.

(E) This sentence corrects the second of the two verbs (causes) by making it singular to match the singular subject, consumption, but the first verb (trigger) is still plural.

Pretty easy.

Correct answer choice is C.

consumption - singular subject
hence verb - singular - triggers.

C is the obvious choice. Let us realize that consumption, a singular noun, is the subject that performs two functions namely triggering and causing, both of which must be mentioned in the singular third person verb forms namely triggers and causes.

This norm throws out A, B both using trigger and cause, D using triggers but cause and E using trigger but causes , leaving the indisputable C, which uses the right verb forms triggers and causes for both the functions .

Besides, the composition of the prepositional phrase bread products should not be changed as done in the given choices. It should be bread products through out and not either products or bread as expressed in B and D, additional reasons to disqualify them
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Straight C.

The Sentence structure should be :
Consumption often triggers [...], but also causes [...]

Only for Option C both the verbs 'Triggers' and 'Causes' are in agreement in number with the Singular Subject 'Consumption'

the key topic tested here is SV agreement.

meaning of the sentence:
Consumption of bread products - ed-noun modifier coming- made from ergot-infected grains
often triggers (since consumption is singular, verb must be in singular) severly debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene (strange to see a question from MGMAT in which the list is not properly connected)
but (but here does not introduce a new clause, but rather connects the two verbs triggers and causes)
also causes a significant reduction in maternal bleeding after childbirth.

a)bread products made from ergot-infected grains often trigger severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also cause a significant reduction in
verbs in plural for singular subject.

b)products made from ergot-infected grains often trigger severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also cause significantly reduced
this one omits "bread", now we just have products; this is incorrect. + trigger + cause - same errors as in A.

c)bread products made from ergot-infected grains often triggers severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also causes a significant reduction in
rectifies both errors in A. so this one looks good.

d)bread made from ergot-infected grains often triggers severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also cause a significant reduction in
bread products, not bread.
second verb (cause) is in plural form, so no.

e)bread products made from ergot-infected grains often trigger severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also causes a significantly reduced
trigger - plural form - out.

C is the best

Consumption of bread products made from ergot-infected grains often trigger severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also cause a significant reduction in maternal bleeding after childbirth.

A) bread products made from ergot-infected grains often trigger severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also cause a significant reduction in ====> dose --- should be causes
B) products made from ergot-infected grains often trigger severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also cause significantly reduced ====> dose --- should be causes
C) bread products made from ergot-infected grains often triggers severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also causes a significant reduction in === > Correct use of triggers and causes
D) bread made from ergot-infected grains often triggers severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also cause a significant reduction in ====> dose --- should be causes
E) bread products made from ergot-infected grains often trigger severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also causes a significantly reduced =====> Should be triggers

Hence, Answer is C

I have a doubt in the Correct answer choice "C", I understand it is the best answer, however I need to understand how is the parallelism correct in this.

By using "but" in this choice, the sentence demands a strict parallelism:

C) bread products made from ergot-infected grains often triggers severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also causes a significant reduction in

I think the underlined portion needs to be parallel, as "But" is used in this sentence; How is a adverb+gerund parallel with "A noun phrase" ? is this considered parallel ?
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It's actually two verbs that are parallel to each other here:

Consumption of bread products made from ergot-infected grains often triggers severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also causes a significant reduction...

or

Consumption triggers X but also causes Y.

The X and Y are not particularly important. For what it's worth, both are nouns (symptoms and reduction).
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anairamitch1804
VeritasKarishma

also cause a significant reduction in maternal bleeding after childbirth.
vs
also cause significantly reduced maternal bleeding after childbirth.

Is there any construction that is more preferred?

Also in construction "also cause significantly reduced maternal bleeding after childbirth." , should we discard it thinking that this construction employs consumption is causing maternal bleeding?

Which construction is correct depends on the context, on what you want to say.

A causes significant reduction in B - means A causes the reduction.
A causes significantly reduced B - means A causes B.

So yes, we should discard the second construction for the reason you mentioned.

Consumption of bread products made from ergot-infected grains often trigger severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also cause a significant reduction in maternal bleeding after childbirth.

The question is purely Subject Verb Agreement issue

A) bread products made from ergot-infected grains often trigger severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also cause a significant reduction in
B) products made from ergot-infected grains often trigger severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also cause significantly reduced
C) bread products made from ergot-infected grains often triggers severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also causes a significant reduction in - Correct
D) bread made from ergot-infected grains often triggers severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also cause a significant reduction in
E) bread products made from ergot-infected grains often trigger severely debilitating symptoms such as muscle contractions, seizures and gangrene but, at a proper dose, also causes a significantly reduced

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