Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved from the previous year, only

[quote="icandy"]Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved from the previous year, only look less appetizing than their round and red supermarket cousins, often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises, but are more flavorful.


(A) cousins, often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises, but are

(B) cousins, often green and striped, or with plenty of bumps and bruises, although

(C) cousins, often green and striped, or they have plenty of bumps and bruises, although they are

(D) cousins; they are often green and striped, or with plenty of bumps and bruises, although

(E) cousins; they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises, but they are

"although" is subordinator, which connect dependant clause with independent clause. if we want to cut off subject, we have to use doing or do-ed.
although learning english well, he has not passed gmat.
"although" could be conjunction, which connect 2 similar things. it is not clear that this usage is acceptable on gmat. but dont worry about this point. gmat dont test it. instead , focus on meaning analysis and you are fine
she is inteligent though urgly.
"although" is tested in this problem but the test is easy. after "although" in B and D , there is no verb and there is no adjective after "although" is is wrong.

what I want to say here is not about "although". i want to talk about meaning analysis.

we always have to analyse meaning to go to official answer. we have to face 2 meanings and we have to choose one meaning as correct one.
we eliminate choice B because of "or", 'although"
we eliminate choice C because of "they"
we eliminate choice D because of "or" and "although".

choice A and E are left.
"green and tripped' should be parallel with "have plenty..." or should modify "cousins". we use meaning analysis here.the meaning is less logical if "green and tripped" modifies "cousin' and more logical if it is parallel to "have plenty...". this is PARALLELISM TEST.

parallelism is easy to explain but hard to apply. to know that this idea is parallel with the other idea logically is hard. we have to understand the sentence well

mechanical error permit us to eliminate 2 or 3 choice. we have to pass meaning analysis to go to OA.high level of reading skill is required for meaning analysis.