Contrary to popular belief, bats are not blind, and in fact

Question

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.

arpitgarg · Accepted Answer

I take back my criticism of the question. With Ron's help, I think I get it now.

It's about a subtle difference between something you possess and something "you are" (part of).

Here a fly would sense say fly A and fly B and would determine if A is my species(type)/B is my species (type).
I don't possess species (unlike shoes/emotions) . I belong to my species.

distinguishing their own shoes from the shoes of others.
distinguishing their own kind/species from other kinds/species.

chetan2u · Answer

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

Ekland · Answer

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."

arpitgarg · Answer

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.

mvictor · Answer

I don't see any problem with C as well...

mvictor · Answer

the original OG Q is providing only ONE correct answer, while this question is quite debatable...

sananoor · Answer

One can easily rule out A, B and C
D is wrong because Distinguish their own species those   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.

rekhabishop · Answer

Could you please give a detailed explanation of each option? I fail to understand the flaw in the original sentence itself.

sananoor · Answer

(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   is right
my, your, her, their most of the time these act as possessive adjectives. one need an objective pronoun  ...Their mating is wrong..
Their Ability to communicate assists them in mating is right

arvind910619 · Answer

Imo E

Ability is singular so a singular verb will come 
comparison is correct in E
So E is our answer

abhimahna · Answer

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.

akshayk · Answer

'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!

rajatkataria14@gmail.com · Answer

Hii e-gmat, I am able to narrow down to choices C and E, I am not able to elminate C on strong grounds?

Nightmare007 · Answer

others itself refers to species
How can there exist species of other species. Directly answer boils down to E.

Posted from my mobile device

AkshdeepS · Answer

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".

seed · Answer

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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Contrary to popular belief, bats are not blind, and in fact

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