Humans have been damaging the environment for centuries by overcutting

Question

Humans have been damaging the environment for centuries by overcutting trees and farming too intensively, and  though some protective measures, like the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great increases in population  and in the intensity of industrialization are causing a worldwide ecological crisis.

A. though some protective measures, like the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great increases in population

B. though some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, were taken decades ago, great increases in population

C. though some protective measures, such as establishing national forests and wildlife sanctuaries having been taken decades ago, great population increases

D. with some protective measures, like establishing national forests and wildlife sanctuaries that were taken decades ago, great increases in population

E. with some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great population increases

egmat · Accepted Answer

Hi all,

Humans have been damaging the environment for centuries by overcutting trees and farming too intensively, and  though some protective measures, like the establishment
of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great increases in population  and in the intensity of industrialization are causing a worldwide ecological crisis.

https://e-gmat.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Grammar.png

Error Analysis: 
1. Use of “like” to present examples is incorrect.
2. “though” introduces a dependent clause with a subject and verb. “having been taken” is not a proper verb to make a dependent clause.

POE:

Choice A:  though some protective measures, like the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great increases in
population:  Incorrect  for the reasons stated above.

Choice B:  though some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, were taken decades ago, great increases in population:  Correct.  This choice uses the correct idiom “such as” to show examples. “were taken” is a proper verb that makes a dependent clause with “though”.

Choice C:  though some protective measures, such as establishing national forests and wildlife sanctuaries having been taken decades ago, great population increases:  Incorrect.  Firstly, it repeats the same “having been taken” error as in Choice A. Secondly, There is a list here. The entities of this list are, per the original choice, great increases “in population” and “in the intensity”. In this choice, these two entities are not parallel. We are left to ask what “in the intensity” of industrialization are causing the ecological crisis.

Choice D:  with some protective measures, like establishing national forests and wildlife sanctuaries that were taken decades ago, great increases in population:  Incorrect.  Firstly, use of “with” is incorrect because it fails to establish the contrast that the original sentence presents. Secondly, use of “like” is incorrect.

Choice E:  with some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great population
increases:  Incorrect.  This choice repeats the wrong use of “with” as in Choice D, the “having been taken” error of choice A and the parallelism error of Choice C.

https://e-gmat.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Takeaway.png

1. A clause, dependent or independent, must have an SV pair.
2. “Like” is used for comparison while “such as” is used to present examples.
3. The correct answer choice must convey the intended meaning.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

dvinoth86 · Answer

Option B correctly used such to introduce examples and uses the correct form of parallelism in the second part.. increases in x and in y

A. though some protective measures,  like  the establishment of national forests
and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great increases in
population

B. though some protective measures,  such as  the establishment of national forests
and wildlife sanctuaries, were taken decades ago, great increases  in  population

C. though some protective measures,  such as  establishing national forests and
wildlife sanctuaries having been taken decades ago, great population increases

D. with some protective measures,  like  establishing national forests and wildlife
sanctuaries that were taken decades ago, great increases in population

E. with some protective measures,  such as  the establishment of national forests
and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great population
increases

AlbertNTN · Answer

B
though some protective measures,  such as  the establishment of national forests
and wildlife sanctuaries,  were taken  decades ago, great increases in populatio

akg · Answer

B,

Great increases should be subject of last sentence 
Such as should be used to show examples

teal · Answer

Here is my thinking -

d and e are out because we need a connecting word such as 'though' NOT 'with' to indicate the contrast mentioned in the sentence.

a is out because of 'like'

b vs c - I can't decide what is wrong with (c). In some forums they talk about c being a fragment. I don't understand how it is a fragment? Please explain how to rule out c.

dvinoth86 · Answer

In options C, look at the elements joined by the word "AND" Are they parallel??? . increase in population and in the intensity of industrialization --> correct form of parallelism increases correctly modifies both increase in population and increase in the intensity of industrialization. AND is an important word in the GMAT. When you find "AND" on the GMAT, pick out the elements joined by AND and check if they are parallel or if they play the same role in the sentence ( nouns, phrases ) I hope the above explanation help. Press kudos if you like my explanation.

egmat · Answer

Hi,

This is the sentence with choice C: Humans have been damaging the environment for centuries by overcutting trees and farming too intensively, and though some protective measures, such as establishing national forests and wildlife sanctuaries having been taken decades ago, great population increases and in the intensity of industrialization are causing a worldwide ecological crisis.

In this sentence, notice what appears after "increases and". It is "in the intensity...". This is not a complete phrase. What in the intensity of industrialization has caused ecological crisis? We do not know that. Hence, one of the subjects is not complete. Hence we have a fragment here.

Hope this helps.

him1985 · Answer

Humans have been damaging the environment for centuries by overcutting trees and farming too intensively, and  though some protective measures, like the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great increases in population  and in the intensity of industrialization are causing a worldwide ecological crisis.

A. though some protective measures,  like the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries ,  having been taken  decades ago, great increases in population :  Absence of Verb and use of Like to give examples

B.  though some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, were taken decades ago, great increases in population

C. though some protective measures, such as establishing national forests and wildlife sanctuaries  having been taken  decades ago, great population increases -  Absence of verb

D.  with  some protective measures,  like establishing  national forests and wildlife sanctuaries that were taken decades ago, great increases in population -  No contrast and use of Like

E.  with some protective  measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries,  having been  taken decades ago, great population increases - No contrast and absence of verb

B is clear Answer.

daagh · Answer

The first decision point is to remove A and D for using like for denoting examples. The second point is to eliminate C for using 'having been taken' along with 'though', rendering the dependent clause a fragment. E has the problem of using 'population increases' that is not parallel with 'in the intensity of industrialization'

B remains and one can click it with aplomb.

09173140521 · Answer

Hi could someone explain why we need comma before "and" in this sentence =
"""Humans have been damaging the environment for centuries by overcutting trees and farming too intensively , and  though.."""
why we should use comma cause "and" in here but it is not marker of parallelism ! after "and" we have DC "THOUGH" . and why we must not use period before "and".
I mean THE construction " IC + , + AND + DC+ , + IC. " is always correct ? according to this question

daagh · Answer

09173140521

We all know that we need to use a comma + and before the last of item of a series, the reason for it to be called a serial comma. The only stipulation in such cases is that the arms of the list must be logically and structurally parallel.

Normally a comma is used between two independent clauses when a 'fanboys' such as "and", "but", "or" connects them. 
Example: After gulping three large pegs, I am done with my drinks, but Tom is still guzzling pints unmindful of the impending task. 
However, one can choose to omit the comma even while connecting two ICs, if one thinks that the ICs are short. 
Ex: After three pegs, I am done but Tom is still on his fourth gear.

A clause requires the compulsory presence of a subject and verb. 
Ex: After three large pegs, I am still not done but am going on. 
As per the above norm, we will not require a comma here before 'but' since the second part is not a clause but only a predicate.

Now let us come the issue in context and consider choice B, which is the correct version.
Humans have been damaging the environment for centuries by overcutting trees and farming too intensively, and though some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, were taken decades ago, great increases in population

First point to note is that this is a long topic. Therefore, it will certainly need a comma to give some pause to understand the meaning in the right perspective. The first part is no doubt an IC and then it is followed by a complex sentence with a dependent clause starting with 'although' and another IC in order to complete the complex sentence structure. Technically choice B is called "compound -complex sentence" because effectively there are two ICs with teir own full-fledged subject and verb pairs and a DC with its own sub-verb pair.

I have tried to be as simple as possible and HTH

dabaobao · Answer

A. though some protective measures,  like  the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries,  having  been taken decades ago, great increases in population   - Wrong: 1) Structure 2) Idiom

B. though some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, were taken decades ago, great increases in population  - Correct

C. though some protective measures, such as establish ing  national forests and wildlife sanctuaries  having  been taken decades ago, great  population increases    - Wrong: 1) Structure 2) 2 Parallelism issues

D.  with  some protective measures,  like  establish ing  national forests and wildlife  sanctuaries that  were taken decades ago, great increases in population   - Wrong: 1) 2 Meaning issues 2) Parallelism 3) Idiom

E.  with  some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries,  having  been taken decades ago, great  population increases    - Wrong: 1) Structure 2) Meaning 3) Parallelism

AnkurGMAT20 · Answer

Bunuel , this question is asked in Official Mock. Please tag it.

Bunuel · Answer

_______________________
Added the tag. Thank you!

VerbalBot · Answer

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Humans have been damaging the environment for centuries by overcutting

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Humans have been damaging the environment for centuries by overcutting

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