For decades Surgeon Generals have warned that smoking increases the ri

vineethk929.

I also had to juggle between C and D but ended up with C because of its meaning.
A complicated pregnancy will lead to low birth weight and not a low birth weight will lead to complicated pregnancy.

I believe it to be true because of the above reason. May be I am wrong.
Lets wait for the OA and OE.

chetan2u can you please help between c and d

Imo

Between C and D , the answer should be C
increasing is correctly modifying the preceding clause.
Moreover in D
Surgeon Generals have warned that that smoking can complicate pregnancy by increasing the risks of low birth weight
smoking doesn't take any action by itself.

C over D.
C specifies causality.
In D, increased risks lead to complications or complications lead to increased risks. This is not clear. In C, however, complications lead to increased risks.

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Option C answer

Eliminate A B and E over parallelism error

D changes the intended meaning of sentence smoking complicates pregnancy which increase risk of low birth weight
Not smoking can complicates pregnancy by increasing risk of low birth

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I also went with D over C. In option C "increasing the risk of low birth weight" modifies "problems with lungs", meaning that "problems with lungs" can lead to risk of low birth weight. So option D is better

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

The original sentence has an unnecessary and before can complicate, but its larger problem is that the final item, increases the risk of low birth weight, should be subordinated to the previous, can complicate pregnancy, since the two problems are related. Choices (C), (D), and (E) all subordinate the final section by using a participle (increasing). (C) loses out in comparison to (D) and (E) since increasing is less clear than by increasing. (D) is better than (E). (E) wrongly subordinates can complicate pregnancy by replacing it with complicating pregnancy. The change makes no sense because, by subordinating this phrase to the previous one, (E) suggests that pregnancy complications are a type of lung disease. (D) it is.

Disagree with Kaplan. In my opinion, in terms of what would you like to say, both C and D are correct. In C - smoking can complicate pregnancy, increasing the risks..., meaning, complicated pregnancy is the cause of increasing risks. Which makes sense
In D - increasing risks is the (possible) cause of complicated pregnancy. In some way, it sounds awkward, but it also makes sense

C vs D

C is more appropriate than D

the following is an excerpt from Ron Purewal

if you say "subject + clause + BY VERBing", then "by VERBing" must explain HOW the main clause occurred.
e.g.
i prepared for the test by reviewing takeaways on the MGMAT forums.
note that the boldface clause describes HOW I prepared for the test.

GMATNinja DmitryFarber TommyWallach jennpt SaraiGMAT
can you please explain the difference between C and D
I do not have much know;egde about pregnancy so what causes clow birth weight is unknown to me
to me C sound plausible becasue if there is a complication,it may have a consequence ..so if there complications in pregnancy then low child weight is possible
the converse of it somehwat unconvincing to me ,but i cannot substantiate this because i have no clear understanding of the phenomenon

this is what i found on net : What causes low birthweight?
The primary cause of low birthweight is premature birth (being born before 37 weeks gestation). Being born early means a baby has less time in the mother's uterus to grow and gain weight. Much of a baby's weight is gained during the latter part of pregnancy.
Another cause of low birthweight is intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). This occurs when a baby does not grow well during pregnancy because of problems with the placenta, the mother's health, or the baby's condition. A baby can have IUGR and be born at full term (37 to 41 weeks). Babies with IUGR born at term may be physically mature but may be weak. Premature babies that have IUGR are both very small and physically immature.

after eading this I'm more convinced with C than D

my doubts:
1)please clear the above conundrum
2)does GMAT ask questions such as these which are based on specific knowledge?? (in this case about what causes low child birth) ...if so what must one do if he is unaware of such knowledge at the time of test??
3)is there any grammatical error in C and D , making one better than the other

Thankyou

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