Bunuel wrote:
Employees over 50, vastly enriched by long years of professional experience, contribute as much to the success of an organization as their younger counterparts do, but they are so maligned by a corporate culture that venerates youth, that they often suffer from a loss of job security.
A. Employees over 50, vastly enriched by long years of professional experience, contribute as much to the success of an organization as their younger counterparts do, but they are
B. Like their younger counterparts, employees over 50 contribute just as much to the success of an organization, enriched by long years of professional experience, yet they are
C. Employees over 50, vastly enriched by long years of professional experience, contribute as much to the success of an organization as their younger counterparts do, yet being
D. As their younger counterparts, employees over 50 vastly enriched by long years of professional experience contribute equally to the success of an organization, but they are
E. Vastly enriched by long years of professional experience, employees over 50 contribute as much as do their younger counterparts to an organization's success, yet
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
Employees over 50, vastly enriched by long years of professional experience, contribute as much to the success of an organization as their younger counterparts do, but they are so maligned by a corporate culture that venerates youth, that they often suffer from a loss of job security.A. Employees over 50, vastly enriched by long years of professional experience, contribute as much to the success of an organization as their younger counterparts do, but they are
This answer choice makes correct use of the comparative structures as much as. It is also structurally sound as the opposition conjunction but is followed by a full clause and avoids a fragmented sentence.
What helps us identify this question as a Comparative questions is the following Stop Sign:
Whenever you see these words in a Sentence Correction question, identify the comparison and see that:
(1) It uses either equality or inequality words - not mixed
(2) The things under comparison are logically comparable
(3) If there is a chance of ambiguity in the comparison, there should be a conjugated verb in the second part of the comparisonB. Like their younger counterparts, employees over 50 contribute just as much to the success of an organization, enriched by long years of professional experience, yet they are
Incorrect.
This answer choice changes the original and intended meaning of the sentence. The modifier enriched by long years of professional experience is intended to modify the noun employees over 50, but it is placed next to the noun organization, creating the impression that the organization (instead of the senior employees) is the one enriched by years of experience.
Furthermore, using both like and just as much is redundant, as both denote a comparison.C. Employees over 50, vastly enriched by long years of professional experience, contribute as much to the success of an organization as their younger counterparts do, yet being
Incorrect.
This answer choice is grammatically incorrect. Changing the beginning of the second clause they are into being denies the clause of its subject and verb, turning it into a fragment. In this case, the conjunction but/yet connects the two clauses and must be followed by a clause:
[First main clause] but [they are so maligned ... that they...] <-- clause
[First main clause] yet [being so maligned ... that they...] <-- fragment
D. As their younger counterparts, employees over 50 vastly enriched by long years of professional experience contribute equally to the success of an organization, but they are
Incorrect.
This answer choice is grammatically incorrect. A comparative section beginning with as is a clause and therefore should always include a conjugated verb. The comparative section in this answer choice (As their younger counterparts), however, does not.
What helps us identify this question as a Comparative questions is the following Stop Sign:
Whenever you see these words in a Sentence Correction question, identify the comparison and see that:
(1) It uses either equality or inequality words - not mixed
(2) The things under comparison are logically comparable
(3) If there is a chance of ambiguity in the comparison, there should be a conjugated verb in the second part of the comparisonE. Vastly enriched by long years of professional experience, employees over 50 contribute as much as do their younger counterparts to an organization's success, yet
Incorrect.
This answer choice is grammatically incorrect. Omitting the beginning of the second clause they are denies the clause of its subject and verb, turning it into a fragment. In this case, the conjunction but/yet connects the two clauses and must be followed by a clause:
[First main clause] but [they are so maligned ... that they...] <-- clause
[First main clause] yet [so maligned ... that they...] <-- fragment
Maligned in this case is an unconjugated verb (V3) as it is clearly a part of the passive voice (maligned by...). This means it must be preceded by a conjugated to be verb (am, is, are, was, were, will be, would be).