OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

In a number of known spirit possession ceremonies from sub-Saharan Africa, drumming is used to precipitate a trance state and inducing the possessed to perform parts of a revivified myth.

A. trance state and inducing the possessed to perform parts

Incorrect.

The construction A and B (to precipitate ... and inducing) requires that A and B belong to the same part of speech. In this case, to precipitate is a non-conjugated verb of the to V (infinitive) type whereas inducing is a non-conjugated verb of the V+ing (gerund) type.

What helps us identify this question as a Parallelism question as well as identify the mistake is the following Stop Sign:

A and/or/but B

When you identify this structure, make sure it follows these rules:

1. A and B must be of the same part of speech.
2. A and B must be logically parallel.


B. trance, inducing the possessed to perform parts

Incorrect.

While this answer choice corrects the Parallelism mistake in the original sentence, it is stylistically flawed due to ambiguity. It is unclear whether the phrase inducing the possessed... refers to the trance or the drumming.


C. state of trance, which induces the possessed to perform a part

Incorrect.

While this answer choice corrects the Parallelism mistake in the original sentence, it changes the meaning of the original sentence. In the original sentence drumming is the cause of inducing. In this sentence, a trance state is the cause of this action. Compare:

Original sentence: Drumming (1) causes the trance state; and (2) induces the possessed ...

This sentence: Drumming --> causes the trance state --> which induces the possessed ...


D. trance state and to induce the possessed to perform parts

This answer choice corrects the Parallelism mistake in the original sentence by changing the non-conjugated V+ing verb form inducing to the to V verb form induce, to match the parallel verb form to precipitate.


E. trance state and inducing the possessed to performing parts

Incorrect.

This answer choice repeats the original Parallelism mistake and introduces another grammatical mistake.

The construction A and B (to precipitate ... and inducing) requires that A and B belong to the same part of speech. In this case, to precipitate is a non-conjugated verb of the to V (infinitive) type whereas inducing is a non-conjugated verb of the V+ing (gerund) type. Furthermore, the phrase to performing is gramatically incorrect - only to perform is required.
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In a number of known spirit possession ceremonies from sub-Saharan Africa, drumming is used to precipitate a trance state and inducing the possessed to perform parts of a revivified myth.

easy parallelism error. "drumming is used TO PRECIPITATE......and INDUCING "

A. trance state and inducing the possessed to perform parts - Incorrect due to parallelism error
B. trance, inducing the possessed to perform parts - Incorrect due to parallelism error
C. state of trance, which induces the possessed to perform a part -which incorrectly modifies trance
D. trance state and to induce the possessed to perform parts - CORRECT use of "to induce"
E. trance state and inducing the possessed to performing parts - Incorrect due to parallelism error

IMO D

In a number of known spirit possession ceremonies from sub-Saharan Africa, drumming is used to precipitate a trance state and inducing the possessed to perform parts of a revivified myth.

A. trance state and inducing the possessed to perform parts - Trance refers to unconscious state, hence mentioning state is redundant.
B. trance, inducing the possessed to perform parts - Correct - Cause effect relationship
C. state of trance, which induces the possessed to perform a part - Same as A. Morover, comma and which result into the non- essential modifier, so if modifier is eliminated, the meaning is distorted.
D. trance state and to induce the possessed to perform parts - Even it seems grammatically parallel, the intended meaning is lost.
E. trance state and inducing the possessed to performing parts - Not parallel.

Please correct if my reasoning in wrong.

I agree that B is fine grammatically, and it kind of has a logical meaning... but not really? - I'm not sure I agree that the "precipitation of a trance" can "induce the possessed to perform," which is the cause and effect that B communicates. I'm not super convinced that that's logical. Moreover, this is clearly a parallelism question, and D has a perfectly sensical meaning, while also being parallel. Therefore, D is by far the best choice.