In August 2013, India was the first nation on record to declare

Question

In August 2013, India was the first nation on record to declare dolphins  to be non-human persons with their own rights and ban the capture and import of them  for the purpose of commercial entertainment.

(A) to be non-human persons with their own rights and ban the capture and import of them

(B) should be non-human persons with their own rights and ban the capture and import of them

(C) as being non-human persons with their own rights and banning the capture and import of them

(D) as if non-human persons with their own rights and ban the capture and import of them

(E) non-human persons with their own rights, banning dolphin capture and importation

daagh · Accepted Answer

Please note that in the first place India did not do two things. It did only one thing of declaring dolphins non -human persons. The act of banning was the corollary of this function. Since both the mentioned factors are not to be weighed on equal terms, a modifier to describe the subsidiary event is justified.

Abhishek009 · Answer

Declare X,Y  -  is correct idiom usage 
 
Hence option (E) is correct...

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem: 
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that India declared dolphins non-human persons with their own rights, and in doing so banned dolphin capture and importation for the purpose of commercial entertainment.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• If a phrase is subordinate to another in terms of importance (or sharing a cause-effect relationship), the phrases do not maintain parallelism.
• “being” is only to be used when it is part of a noun phrase or represents the passive continuous verb tense; the use of passive continuous must be justified in the context. 
• The introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “banning” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
• "declared/declared X,Y" and "declare/declared + that + clause" are the correct, idiomatic constructions.
• If a phrase is subordinate to another in terms of importance (or sharing a cause-effect relationship), the phrases do not maintain parallelism.

A:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "and ban"; the use of "and" and parallelism between the cause (declaring dolphins non-human persons) and effect ( banning dolphin capture and importation) incorrectly imply that India declared dolphins non-human persons with their own rights, and   as a separate action   banned dolphin capture and importation for the purpose of commercial entertainment; the intended meaning is that declared dolphins non-human persons with their own rights, and   in doing so   banned dolphin capture and importation for the purpose of commercial entertainment; please remember, if a phrase has a cause-effect relationship with another, they do not maintain parallelism. Further, Option A incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "declare X to be Y"; please remember, "declared/declared X,Y" and "declare/declared + that + clause" are the correct, idiomatic constructions. Additionally, Option A uses the passive voice construction "the capture and import of them", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

B:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "should be"; the use of should incorrectly implies that India declared that it is   desirable   that dolphins be non-human persons with their own rights; the intended meaning is that India declared that dolphins   practically are   non-human persons with their own rights; please remember, “should” is used to convey a sense of obligation/desirability. Moreover, Option B further alters the meaning of the sentence "and ban"; the use of "and" and parallelism between the cause (declaring dolphins non-human persons) and effect ( banning dolphin capture and importation) incorrectly imply that India declared dolphins non-human persons with their own rights, and   as a separate action   banned dolphin capture and importation for the purpose of commercial entertainment; the intended meaning is that India declared dolphins non-human persons with their own rights, and   in doing so   banned dolphin capture and importation for the purpose of commercial entertainment; please remember, if a phrase has a cause-effect relationship with another, they do not maintain parallelism. Additionally, Option B uses the passive voice construction "the capture and import of them", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

C:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "and banning"; the construction of this phrase leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that India declared dolphins non-human persons with their own rights, and in doing so banned dolphin capture and importation for the purpose of commercial entertainment. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "declare X as Y"; please remember, "declared/declared X,Y" and "declare/declared + that + clause" are the correct, idiomatic constructions. Additionally, Option C uses the passive voice construction "the capture and import of them", leading to awkwardness and redundancy. Additionally, Option C uses the word "being", leading to further redundancy; please remember, “being” is only to be used when it is part of a noun phrase or represents the passive continuous verb tense; the use of passive continuous must be justified in the context.

D:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "and ban"; the use of "and" and parallelism between the cause (declaring dolphins non-human persons) and effect ( banning dolphin capture and importation) incorrectly imply that India declared dolphins non-human persons with their own rights, and   as a separate action   banned dolphin capture and importation for the purpose of commercial entertainment; the intended meaning is that declared dolphins non-human persons with their own rights, and   in doing so   banned dolphin capture and importation for the purpose of commercial entertainment; please remember, if a phrase has a cause-effect relationship with another, they do not maintain parallelism. Further, Option D incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "declare X as if Y"; please remember, "declared/declared X,Y" and "declare/declared + that + clause" are the correct, idiomatic constructions. Additionally, Option D uses the passive voice construction "the capture and import of them", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

E:  This answer choice uses the phrase "banning dolphin capture and importation"; the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing" - "banning" in this sentence) conveys the intended meaning - that India declared dolphins non-human persons with their own rights, and in doing so banned dolphin capture and importation for the purpose of commercial entertainment; please remember, the introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “opening” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship. Moreover, Option E uses the phrase "declared dolphins non-human persons", conveying the intended meaning - that India declared that dolphins practically are non-human persons with their own rights Further, Option E correctly uses the idiomatic construction "declared X ("dolphins"), Y ("non-human persons")". Additionally, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Comma + Present Participles for Cause-Effect Relationships" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~3 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVLneikI70Q

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

amulya619 · Answer

Why is E correct?

It says "declare  dolphins non-human  persons......banning dolphin  capture  and  importation ."

In my opinion, its should be declare dolphins  as  non-humans and capture and importation are not parallel.

Can someone please clear my doubt?

Regards,
Amulya

abhimahna · Answer

In August 2013, India was the first nation on record to declare dolphins to be non-human persons with their own rights and ban the capture and import of them for the purpose of commercial entertainment.

A.  to be  non-human persons with their own rights and ban the capture and import of them

B.  should be  non-human persons with their own rights and ban the capture and import of them

C.  as being  non-human persons with their own rights and banning the capture and import of them

D.  as if non-human persons with their own rights  and ban the capture and import of them

E. non-human persons with their own rights, banning dolphin capture and importation  --> CORRECT

thangvietname · Answer

is this question from gmatprep? pls, confirm. 
only official questions should be studied careful. questions from other sourses, are for practice only

abhimahna · Answer

I don't find any issue with this question. This question is clearly using the idiomatic usage of Declare.

Declare X, Y

shoum27 · Answer

Here the intent of the original sentence shows India did two things
1. declare dolphins non-human persons
2. ban ....

but the answer states 1 as the only aim and the 2 being the result. Pls explain

godot53 · Answer

Yes... correct. I really doubt that this is an official question. Though, E is correct on the idiomatic usage and on the pronoun issue, I am not much convinced with the usage of participle modifier here. At best, "banning.." cannot be the result of the initial action "declare", nor can act as an adverb of manner. Cheers :-D

rahimk7 · Answer

ANS A)

Declare and Ban goes parallel.

Sent from my iPhone using GMAT Club Forum

sayantanc2k · Answer

It has not been mentioned in any official guideline that the correct answer must retain the meaning of the original sentence. 
It makes more sense to show the relation between declaring and banning - these events are not independent of each other and hence showing the relation using present participle is better than joining them with "and" (which does noes not show the relation).

parijit · Answer

Posted from my mobile device   
But capture and importation is not parallel can someone explain the same.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation:

Creating a filter: supposing that we don't find an error in the original sentence, we can set out to eliminate the other answer choices and come back to (A).

Finding objective defects: choice (B) is wrong in the use of "should be." That would be putting a moral burden on the dolphins for their state of existence. Or, it would mean that dolphins should be something they are not, quite contrary to the intended meaning, which is to say what dolphins are. Choice (B) is out. Choice (C) is out for the unnecessary use of "being." In choice (D), the phrase "as if" conveys a comparison with something that is contrary to fact, and in the intended meaning, there is not actually a comparison or a contrary-to-fact element. Choice (E) looks good, so we are left with (E) and (A). Choice (A) has "to be" at the beginning, and (E) uses the infinitive "to ban." (E) is better on both counts. The nation declared dolphins non-human persons; the words "to be" are superfluous.

The correct answer is (E).

numb007 · Answer

I think there is a problem with E. Simple gerund can't be parallel to action nouns.

197269 · Answer

e-gmat/GMAT NINJA please reply. why A is wrong and E is correct
Does this type of question come in Exam

arya251294 · Answer

dolphin capture and importation are both nouns and thus parallel.
importation is actually an abstract noun formed from the verb "import".

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Kapil1650 · Answer

Never heard of the word importation, that is why i picked A and rejected E !!

Bad luck

Posted from my mobile device

harshilNori · Answer

Them is ambiguous reference to non-human persons as well. As well as the fact that banning was a corollary function of declaring them as non-human persons. Hence E.

Anuj6221 · Answer

Eliminated A B C D . "them" can refer to non human persons ,which will change the intended meaning .

In August 2013, India was the first nation on record to declare

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

In August 2013, India was the first nation on record to declare

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