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Nevernevergiveup
Contrary to popular belief, bats are not blind, and in fact are among the most sensory animals on the planet;
they use sonar to locate prey, and their ability to communicate adially at wide range of frequencies assists them
in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.


(A) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.
(B) assist them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.
(C) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from those of others.
(D) assists their mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from those of others.
(E) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from others.

D and E are grammatically correct.
But GMAT has taught us that D is wrong because it says exactly what E says but by using more words.

E is like rearranged D to like... "from others' species". But you know possessive pronouns discard the inverted comma.

so it's now "from others species".

You could discard "species" successfully like would say.... "Mary's bicycle is faster than Stanley's."
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This is from Veritas Prep Advance Verbal Book. Or so I remember. But in my opinion this is not a good copy of OG question. OG question didn't come down to "others" vs "that/those" of others. It had other eliminating factors.

Both C and E look good to me.
C is akin to, "Helping them to distinguish their own shoes from those of others", which is A O K for me.

Not OG level answer choices.
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I don't see any problem with C as well...
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Nevernevergiveup
Contrary to popular belief, bats are not blind, and in fact are among the most sensory animals on the planet;
they use sonar to locate prey, and their ability to communicate adially at wide range of frequencies assists them
in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.


(A) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.
(B) assist them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.
(C) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from those of others.
(D) assists their mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from those of others.
(E) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from others.

Copy of OG Q--
https://gmatclub.com/forum/hydrocarbons-with-which-fruit-flies-perfume-themselves-in-65563.html

the original OG Q is providing only ONE correct answer, while this question is quite debatable...
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GTExl
Contrary to popular belief, bats are not blind, and in fact are among the most
sensory animals on the planet; they use sonar to locate prey, and their ability
to communicate audially at a wide range of frequencies assists them in mating,
helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.



(A) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species
from that of others

(B) assist them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species
from that of others

(C) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species
from those of others

(D) assists their mating, helping them distinguish their own species from
those of others

(E) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species
from others

One can easily rule out A, B and C
D is wrong because Distinguish their own species those [species] of others....those represents |species| and this is wrong..species from others what?
E is right----Distinguish their own species from others is right construction.
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Could you please give a detailed explanation of each option? I fail to understand the flaw in the original sentence itself. :(
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Could you please give a detailed explanation of each option? I fail to understand the flaw in the original sentence itself. :(

(A) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species
from that of others

(B) assist them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species
from that of others

(C) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species
from those of others

(D) assists their mating, helping them distinguish their own species from
those of others

(E) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species
from others

The words in red are wrong..the use of that is wrong...that is used as relative pronoun and mostly refer to singular subject. So its wrong
assist someone in doing something...assist their is wrong...the ability to communicate assists them [bats] is right
my, your, her, their most of the time these act as possessive adjectives. one need an objective pronoun [them]...Their mating is wrong..
Their Ability to communicate assists them in mating is right
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Nevernevergiveup
Contrary to popular belief, bats are not blind, and in fact are among the most sensory animals on the planet;
they use sonar to locate prey, and their ability to communicate adially at wide range of frequencies assists them
in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.


(A) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.
(B) assist them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.
(C) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from those of others.
(D) assists their mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from those of others.
(E) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from others.

Imo E

Ability is singular so a singular verb will come
comparison is correct in E
So E is our answer
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C and D are actually providing two different meanings.

C : We are comparing two parents here. We are saying how one parent is able to distinguish his species from the species of other parent.

E: We are comparing two species and saying one parent can distinguish his species from the bunch of species present.

As per the meaning of the original sentence, shouldn't it be answer choice C?

I mean I don't find any grammatical issue with C.

Hence, I would always prefer to have that option, which maintains the original meaning.

Please provide your inputs.
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abhimahna
C and D are actually providing two different meanings.

C : We are comparing two parents here. We are saying how one parent is able to distinguish his species from the species of other parent.

E: We are comparing two species and saying one parent can distinguish his species from the bunch of species present.

As per the meaning of the original sentence, shouldn't it be answer choice C?

I mean I don't find any grammatical issue with C.

Hence, I would always prefer to have that option, which maintains the original meaning.

Please provide your inputs.

'those of others' is a problem in C.
This question is a copy of an official GMAT Question. Anyway why should I explain when Ron has already done so :) https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... t1903.html

And below is the official question.
https://gmatclub.com/forum/hydrocarbons ... 65563.html

Hope this helps!
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Hii e-gmat, I am able to narrow down to choices C and E, I am not able to elminate C on strong grounds?
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others itself refers to species
How can there exist species of other species. Directly answer boils down to E.

Posted from my mobile device
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Nevernevergiveup
Contrary to popular belief, bats are not blind, and in fact are among the most sensory animals on the planet;
they use sonar to locate prey, and their ability to communicate adially at wide range of frequencies assists them
in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.


(A) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.
(B) assist them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.
(C) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from those of others.
(D) assists their mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from those of others.
(E) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from others.

VeritasPrepKarishma : Mam, please clarify the difference between "from others" and "from that of others" or "from those of others".

Do we have other errors to use POE or we need to choose on the basis of end splits.

B is wrong for using "assist" - we need "assists".
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Nevernevergiveup
Contrary to popular belief, bats are not blind, and in fact are among the most sensory animals on the planet;
they use sonar to locate prey, and their ability to communicate adially at wide range of frequencies assists them
in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.


(A) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.
(B) assist them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others.
(C) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from those of others.
(D) assists their mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from those of others.
(E) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from others.

VeritasPrepKarishma : Mam, please clarify the difference between "from others" and "from that of others" or "from those of others".

Do we have other errors to use POE or we need to choose on the basis of end splits.

B is wrong for using "assist" - we need "assists".

Not an expert but see if below makes sense. First, its the "ability" which lets bats "communicate" and "assists" so singular assist option B is out.

(A) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others. - Incorrect. "that" refers to "species" which is wrong.

(B) assist them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from that of others. - Incorrect. As explained above.

(C) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from those of others. - Incorrect."those" here refers to "Species" which is right but meaning is wrong. "helping them to distinguish their own species from (species) of others.

(D) assists their mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from those of others. - Incorrect. "their" reference is incorrect. Meaning wise "their mating" is also wrong ."those" here refers to "Species" which is right but meaning is wrong. "helping them to distinguish their own species from (species) of others.

(E) assists them in mating, helping them to distinguish their own species from others. - Correct. Other way to write the sentence. "helping them to distinguish their own species from others (species).

Answer: (E).
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