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My POE:

A:
1) More than one antecedent for pronoun IT
2) “Consider to be” is a suspect idiom, even though it is used in one of the GMAT prep problems

B:
1) We are looking to create parallelism between “to consider” AND “to create,” so other options with repetition of infinitive TO are more clear
2) Modal SHOULD is also not a preferred usage here, when describing general facts

C:
1) We are looking to create parallelism between “to consider” AND “to create,” but this structure is creating FALSE parallelism between BEING and ATTEMPTING

D:
1) Unidiomatic: AS IF should be followed by a subjunctive, so a correct version would be “as if it were…”

E: Correct: correct idiomatic usage “consider X Y” AND unambiguous parallelism between “to consider” AND “to attempt”
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My answer is (E). It took me 02:23.

(A) The idiomatic use of Consider is "Consider X Y". It is incorrect to say "Consider X to be Y".
Besides, "it" in "recreate it" is ambiguous: It can mean either "human mind" or "a thermodynamic system".

(B) The idiomatic use of Consider is "Consider X Y". It is incorrect to say "Consider that X (verb) Y".
Besides, "that" is not provided in this version.
Also, the meaning of "should" is pretty strong and thus less desirable.

(C) The idiomatic use of Consider is "Consider X Y". It is incorrect to say "Consider X as Y".
Besides, "and attempting" is not parallel with "to consider"

(D) In subjunctive mood, "as if it was" should be "as if it were".
Even with the change from "was" to "were", it may still be unidiomatic.

(E) Correct use of "Consider X Y", perfect parallelism between "to consider" and "to attempt", and clear reference by using "that system" rather than "it".
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Quote:
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is one of the first research groups to consider the human mind to be nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and to attempt to recreate it in order to design computers that think.

A) to be nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and to attempt to recreate it

B) should be nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and attempt to recreate that system

C) as being nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and attempting to recreate that system

D) as if it was nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and attempt to recreate that system

E) nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and to attempt to recreate that system

In option A, the antecedent of pronoun "it" is ambiguous as "it" can refer to either "system" or "mind", in which case the sentence becomes illogical since the intention is not to recreate the human mind but the system of human mind, so option A is wrong. Also, the correct idiomatic usage is "consider X Y" and not "consider X to be Y", so this option also has an idiom error.

Use of "should" changes the intended meaning of the sentence and the absence of "to" before the verb "attempt" breaks the parallel structure of the two entities in the list connected to the subject "DARPA", so option B is wrong. Furthermore, the independent clause "attempt to..." does not have a subject for the verb "attempt, so this option also has a Subject-Verb agreement error.

Option C also has parallelism error since "attempting" is not parallel to "to consider", so this option is also wrong. Also, this option incorrectly uses "being" as a noun modifier for "mind".

Option D is wrong in multiple ways. Usage of "as if" does not express the intended meaning. "was" is the wrong verb tense usage since the situation still holds true in the present time. Furthermore, the option repeats the parallelism error noted in option B.

IMO option E is correct as it fixes all the errors noted in previous options, especially the parallelism errors. Now the verbs "to consider" and "to attempt" maintain a parallel structure.
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DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is one of the first research groups to consider the human mind to be nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and to attempt to recreate it in order to design computers that think.

The usage of ', and' signifies there is a list and needs the items to be parallel. I prefer 'and' usage without a comma when there are only 2 items, as per GMAC explanation. But given the option I'll pick one of the below choice best without much issue. If you note, the actions "to consider" and "to attempt" are parallel.

A) to be nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and to attempt to recreate it
'it' causes ambiguity what it is referring to (is it DARPA?). Eliminate

B) should be nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and attempt to recreate that system
"attempt" is not parallel to "to consider" action. Eliminate

C) as being nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and attempting to recreate that system
"To consider" and "attempting" are not parallel actions. Eliminate

D) as if it was nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and attempt to recreate that system
"attempt" is not parallel to "to consider" action. Eliminate


E) nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and to attempt to recreate that system
No pronoun error, and correct parallelism makes this as the correct choice. So, the answer is E.
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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
generis


DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is one of the first research groups to consider the human mind to be nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and to attempt to recreate it in order to design computers that think.

A) to be nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and to attempt to recreate it

B) should be nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and attempt to recreate that system

C) as being nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and attempting to recreate that system

D) as if it was nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and attempt to recreate that system

E) nothing more than parts and energy, a thermodynamic system, and to attempt to recreate that system

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that DARPA is one of the first research groups to consider the human mind nothing more than parts and energy and to attempt to recreate that system.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Idioms + Pronouns + Parallelsim + Subjunctive Mood + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• The word "considered" does not require a conjunction or a helping word/phrase; “consider/considered” is always followed directly by the noun, and the similar word "regarded" must be followed by the conjunction "as"; correct usages: Jack is “considered a math genius” or Jack is “regarded as a math genius”.
• Any elements linked by a conjunction (“and” in this sentence) must be parallel.
• “being” is only to be used when it is part of a noun phrase or represents the passive continuous verb tense; the use of passive continuous must be justified in the context.
• “wishful trigger (if) + plural form of verb” is a correct, subjunctive usage; example: "If I were an athlete, I would be super fit.". In an imaginative context, subjunctive mood is a preferred usage for conveying the intended meaning effectively.
• “should” is used to convey a sense of obligation/desirability.

A: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "considered + to be"; please remember, the word "considered" does not require a conjunction or a helping word/phrase; “consider/considered” is always followed directly by the noun. Further, Option A suffers from pronoun ambiguity, as the pronoun "it" does not have a clear referent; it could refer to either "human mind" or "system".

B: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "considered + should be"; please remember, the word "considered" does not require a conjunction or a helping word/phrase; “consider/considered” is always followed directly by the noun. Further, Option B alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "should be"; the use of "should" incorrectly implies that DARPA is one of the first research groups to consider it favorable or desirable that the human mind be nothing more than parts and energy; the intended meaning is that DARPA is one of the first research groups to practically consider the human mind nothing more than parts and energy; please remember, “should” is used to convey a sense of obligation/desirability.

C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "considered + as"; please remember, the word "considered" does not require a conjunction or a helping word/phrase; “consider/considered” is always followed directly by the noun. Further, Option C fails to maintain parallelism between "to consider...parts and energy" and "attempting...system"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel. Additionally, Option C incorrectly uses the term "being", leading to awkwardness and redundancy; please remember, “being” is only to be used when it is part of a noun phrase or represents the passive continuous verb tense; the use of passive continuous must be justified in the context.

D: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "considered + as"; please remember, the word "considered" does not require a conjunction or a helping word/phrase; “consider/considered” is always followed directly by the noun. Further, Option D alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "consider...as if it was"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that DARPA is one of the first research groups to consider the human mind under the hypothetical assumption that it is nothing more than parts and energy; the intended meaning is that DARPA is one of the first research groups to practically consider the human mind nothing more than parts and energy. Additionally, Option D fails to maintain the correct subjunctive mood construction “wishful trigger (if) + plural form of verb”, as it utilizes the singular verb form "was"; please remember, “wishful trigger (if) + plural form of verb” is a correct, subjunctive usage, and in an imaginative context, subjunctive mood is a preferred usage for conveying the intended meaning effectively.

E: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the idiomatic construction "considered + noun" without any conjunction or helping words/phrases. Further, Option E uses the phrase "consider the human mind nothing more than parts and energy", conveying the intended meaning; that DARPA is one of the first research groups to practically consider the human mind nothing more than parts and energy. Additionally, Option E maintains parallelism between "to consider" and "to attempt". Further, Option E avoids the pronoun error seen in Option A, as it employs no pronouns. Moreover, Option E avoids the subjunctive mood error seen in Option D, as it does not employ the subjunctive mood. Besides, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Considered" and "Regarded as" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of the "3 Key Subjunctive Mood Structures" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~3 minutes):



All the best!
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The official explanation is here.
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