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Sub 505 Level|   Parallelism|                                    
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 17 Oct 2014, 04:29
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low // high
so higher is wrong C , D and E out.
companies prepare in choice A is more clear then they prepare B.
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 11 Mar 2015, 21:02
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historically weak, because revenues are low and marketing expenses are high as companies prepare for the coming school year.

a. low and marketing expenses are high as companies prepare

b. low and their marketing expenses are high as they prepare
"their" doesn't have logical preceding ancestor
not parrallel: revenues are ... and expenses are (both subjects should express content within the scope of financial flow)

c. low with higher marketing expenses in preparation
"with higher ..." seems to modify the verb_to_be "are low", this change the intended meaning of the sentence

d. low, while marketing expenses are higher to prepare
"while" is separated with the first clause by a comma which signal an independent clause. for this reason, choice D changes the meaning of the sentence: "the second quarter is weak, ......., while marketing expenses . . ."

e. low, while their marketing expenses are higher in preparation
same reason for incorrect in choice D
"their" doesn't have logical preceding ancestor
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 27 Mar 2016, 01:10
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ArashKhurana
In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historically weak, because revenues are low and marketing expenses are high as companies prepare for the coming school year.

a. low and marketing expenses are high as companies prepare
b. low and their marketing expenses are high as they prepare
c. low with higher marketing expenses in preparation
d. low, while marketing expenses are higher to prepare
e. low, while their marketing expenses are higher in preparation

Pls explain your answers.

Thanks!
Arash
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this is a hard question. the main point tested is parallelism.
low should not go with higher, not parllel. e and d are out
revenure can not be parallel with their expense, b is out
with higher marketing expenses modify main clause which is "revenue is low" . this modification is not logic
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 28 Jul 2016, 15:18
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When to use "While" or when not to use "While"
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 28 Jul 2016, 23:17
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infotalk
Almost fell for the "while" trap.
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What while trap?? I have Gmat in 2 weeks and haven't heard of the while trap.. :O

Sent from my SM-N910H using Tapatalk
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 11 Aug 2016, 10:06
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I remember SC manhattan said that when "and" is used to link two clauses, there is always a comma right before "and". Thus, in order for (A) to be correct, it should look like this: "low, and marketing expenses are high as companies prepare".
I know that questioning an OA is stupid, but can someone please enlighten me?
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 01 Mar 2017, 09:06
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historically weak, because revenues are low and marketing expenses are high as companies prepare for the coming school year.

Issue: Meaning | Parallelism

Analysis:
1. The underlined portion of the sentence presents two reasons for weak second quarter. These reasons should be conjugated by "and" and should be parallel.

A. low and marketing expenses are high as companies prepare

B. low and their marketing expenses are high as they prepare
- "their" incorrectly refers to "revenues"
- "they" has to no referent

C. low with higher marketing expenses in preparation
- "with" seems to be incorrect conjunction here
- "higher" incorrectly used as it is used when comparing two entities. Here other entity is missing.

D. low, while marketing expenses are higher to prepare
- "while" seems to be incorrect conjunction here
- "higher" incorrectly used as it is used when comparing two entities. Here other entity is missing.

E. low, while their marketing expenses are higher in preparation
- "their" incorrectly refers to "revenues"
- "higher" incorrectly used as it is used when comparing two entities. Here other entity is missing.

Answer: A.
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 30 Jul 2017, 02:55
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Hi Experts
Why can't THEY and their refer to companies in option (B)?
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 30 Jul 2017, 09:16
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adkikani
Hi Experts
Why can't THEY and their refer to companies in option (B)?
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The companies aren't even mentioned in (B), so "they" and "their" can't possibly refer to "companies". Whenever you see a plural pronoun, you have to look for plural nouns elsewhere (usually earlier) in the sentence. In (B), the only potential referent for "their" and "they" is "revenues" -- and that makes absolutely no sense at all.
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 17 Aug 2017, 03:52
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'A' is correct - Logical prediction and parallelism are in tact.
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 15 Jul 2019, 06:45
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guys. this phrase is "in preparation to" is correct but " to prepare for = to infinitive+prep or to+verb+prep" is true or false IN answer D ???? can we use it in GMAT .....I know both answer are wrong for other reason.
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 12 Sep 2019, 14:23
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Bncong
I remember SC manhattan said that when "and" is used to link two clauses, there is always a comma right before "and". Thus, in order for (A) to be correct, it should look like this: "low, and marketing expenses are high as companies prepare".
I know that questioning an OA is stupid, but can someone please enlighten me?
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Same doubt here.
Thank you in advance!

Cheers,
R.
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 04 Jan 2020, 05:47
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official explanation

Correct Answer: A

This problem features both Pronoun and Sentence Construction errors. Answer choices B and E use the pronoun 'their' without a logical antecedent, and are therefore incorrect. Answer choices C and D fail to express the advertising expenses in an equivalent form to the low revenues, whereas answer choice A ('revenues are low and advertising expenses are high') does so properly. Furthermore, answer choice A properly notes that 'retailers prepare' for the busier shopping seasons, correctly using a subject for the verb 'prepare'; answer choices C, D, and E fail to do so.
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 08 May 2020, 01:23
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For those (including me) who got stuck between option A and D:

Option D - marketing expenses are higher to prepare - Gives the meaning that marketing expenses are doing the action of 'to prepare' which seems illogical.

Correct me if I'm wrong.
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 30 Dec 2020, 08:21
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ArashKhurana
The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 10th Edition, 2003

Practice Question
Question No.: SC 207
Page: 686
In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historically weak, because revenues are low and marketing expenses are high as companies prepare for the coming school year.

(A) low and marketing expenses are high as companies prepare
(B) low and their marketing expenses are high as they prepare
(C) low with higher marketing expenses in preparation
(D) low, while marketing expenses are higher to prepare
(E) low, while their marketing expenses are higher in preparation
Show more

Let's move forward with POE: The comparative degree "Higher" must be followed by "than" C, D and E are eliminated

A. Don't see any mistake.

B. Their doesn't have a proper antecedent.

A is the answer.

C. C
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 04 Jan 2021, 00:00
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ArashKhurana
The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 10th Edition, 2003

Practice Question
Question No.: SC 207
Page: 686
In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historically weak, because revenues are low and marketing expenses are high as companies prepare for the coming school year.

(A) low and marketing expenses are high as companies prepare --- Correct.
(B) low and their marketing expenses are high as they prepare --- use of pronoun "their" is wrong here as it is not conveying to whom it is referring to.
(C) low with higher marketing expenses in preparation --- as per the meaning of the main sentence, there are two reasons and both reasons are independent. One does not affect other. Hence, this is wrong.
(D) low, while marketing expenses are higher to prepare --- the word while presents a contrasting situation. However, the main sentnence does not convey any kind of comparison. The main sentence lists down the reasons for the weak business of second quarter of the publishing business.
(E) low, while their marketing expenses are higher in preparation
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--- same as D.
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 28 May 2021, 19:25
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EMPOWERgmatRichC
Hi Rich, Can you help me with this question?
Especially, "and" VS "While"
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 29 May 2021, 18:32
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Hi AndrewN DmitryFarber mcelroytutoring chetan2u

In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historically weak, because revenues are low and marketing expenses are high as companies prepare for the coming school year.
(A) low and marketing expenses are high as companies prepare
(D) low, while marketing expenses are higher to prepare

meaning wise I choose A
but structure wise: I choose D

My doubt is on this comma

Modifier , SUBJECT VERB , non essential modifier, WHILE SUBJECT VERB
In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historically weak, because revenues are low , while marketing expenses are higher to prepare for the coming school year.

Please clarify. Thanks! AndrewN DmitryFarber mcelroytutoring chetan2u
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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 29 May 2021, 19:41
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Teitsuya
EMPOWERgmatRichC
Hi Rich, Can you help me with this question?
Especially, "and" VS "While"
Show more

Hi Teitsuya,

One of the interesting aspects of SCs is that you sometimes don't need to know all of the grammar rules involved to define the correct answer.

In the opening, non-underlined part of this sentence, we see the phrase "the second quarter is historically weak, because " - so what follows will be some type of explanation for why that quarter is weak. While it might be just one reason, IF there's more than one reason, then we need to present those multiple reasons in PARALLEL format.

The first reason (and it's the same in all 5 answers) is "revenues are LOW...", so this establishes how a 2nd reason would need to be presented (re: ".... are high..."). Eliminate Answers C, D and E.

With the remaining 2 answers, Answer A gives us an actual noun that has revenues and expenses and would be preparing for the next year. Answer B gives us a vague plural pronoun (re: "they") which would refer back to "revenues" and/or "expenses" - because those are the only plural nouns in the sentence. Neither revenues nor expenses can 'prepare' for anything, so we can eliminate Answer B.

Final Answer:
Show Spoiler
A

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In the textbook publishing business, the second quarter is historicall 29 May 2021, 20:45
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mSKR
First, I'll suggest not to worry much about comma placement in the non-underlined portion. Although we don't *generally* put a comma between subject and predicate, there aren't many absolute rules about commas, and the GMAT will certainly add a comma if it might help with clarity and sentence flow. In any case, clearly the GMAT thinks it's okay, so even if we wouldn't put one there, we can leave it alone.

As for your analysis, notice that "revenues are low" has a subject and a verb, so the part beginning with "because" is a dependent clause, not a modifier. This means that in D, we have a main clause followed by TWO dependent clauses: "The quarter is weak because revenues are low, while expenses are higher." This structure doesn't make that last part as clearly parallel to "revenues are low." A makes it much clearer that both trends (low revenue, higher expenses) contribute to the weak quarter.

I don't know if this clears up your concern, since I can't see why A struck you as having a poor structure. Let me know if there's any trouble with A I can address.
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