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Here the real problem is that we have two things on one side parallel and three other things on the other side.

The other three things: OR you put TO in ALL 3 items OR only in the first one NOT in the first and third one. Is wrong...

Though in my opinion is not the top as question. it seems a bit inconsistent
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This question is unusual. Although it tests parallelism, it makes use of the dash.

Here the dash is used to emphasize a point. The dash could also be used to set off independent clauses.
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Libraries remain valuable repositories of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and seek information about government benefits.

1 of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

2 of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

3 for books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and for developing computer skills, looking for jobs, and to

4 of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access e-mail and use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and to develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

5 for books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email and use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and to develop computer skills and look for jobs, and to
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The Company Veritas Gives its solution like this-

D. This question tests parallel structure of a series of events, and delves into logic with the logical grouping of certain events. In the original sentence, the first two events in the series are led with "to" ("to access, to use") and the third does not possess the parallel connector "to" ("and develop"). Because it's not parallel, it's incorrect.

While you examine that first sentence, you should note that there are two grouped series of events - one about using the internet (access email / use the internet) and the other about job search (develop skills, look for jobs, seek information). In the original, the latter three are grouped, and you should see that the first two have a logical grouping, too. So in the correct answer choice, D, the fact that "to access...and use" is one item and "and to develop, look, and seek" is a second makes that two-part list parallel and the individual lists within each are also parallel.

In the other incorrect answer choices, parallel structure is broken either between the two families of events, or within the second series of events.

My Doubt:
I believe B also has the element of parallelism.

to access email, use the Internet.......and develop computer skills

Example

to X, Y and Z

I believe this is also in parallel, because to can be used only Once.
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The only issue I see with B is it is missing to develop computer skills. D fixes this issue hence the answer.

Parallelism is satisfied in D as follows:

to access email, use internet and to develop computer skills, look for jobs


honchos
Libraries remain valuable repositories of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and seek information about government benefits.

2 of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

4 of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access e-mail and use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and to develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

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The answer options can be rephrased as below.

A. to access email, to use the Internet and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and seek information about government benefits.
B. to access email, use the Internet and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and seek information about government benefits. [Seems fine]
C. to access email, use the Internet and for developing computer skills, looking for jobs, and to seek information about government benefits. [Violates Parallelism]
D. to access e-mail and use the Internet and to develop computer skills, look for jobs, and seek information about government benefits. [Seems fine]
E. to access email and use the Internet and to develop computer skills and look for jobs, and to seek information about government benefits. [the 'and' must be a comma to show a list.]

So, it is between B and D.

Both B and D seem correct to me.

I chose B. I didn't like D because I would rather say ' to access internet and use the email' than saying 'to access email and use the internet'.
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Libraries remain valuable repositories of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and seek information about government benefits.

1 of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

2 of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

3 for books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and for developing computer skills, looking for jobs, and to

4 of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access e-mail and use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and to develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

5 for books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email and use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and to develop computer skills and look for jobs, and to

I found the differences between B and D. You cannot put "and" in the middle of parallel phrase.

B: (access email, use the Internet) and (develop computer skills, look for jobs), and (seek...)

D: to (access email and use the Internet) and to (develop computer, look for jobs, and seek)
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fozzzy
Libraries remain valuable repositories of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and seek information about government benefits.

1 of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

2 of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

3 for books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and for developing computer skills, looking for jobs, and to

4 valuable repositories, but they are also places to access e-mail and use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and to develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

5 for books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email and use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and to develop computer skills and look for jobs, and to

There are parallel entities in this sentence-

1) Libraries remain valuable repositories valuable of books, publications, and research anthologies
2) places to access email and to develop computer skills
3) access email and use the internet
4) develop computer skills, look for jobs, and seek information

Only option D states all the parallel elements correctly .
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fozzzy
Libraries remain valuable repositories of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and seek information about government benefits.

1 of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

2 of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

3 for books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and for developing computer skills, looking for jobs, and to

4 of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access e-mail and use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and to develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

5 for books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email and use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and to develop computer skills and look for jobs, and to

If D is plugged into the original sentence one arm of the parallel structure reads as:

"libraries are places to develop computer skills" doesn't it sound awkward?

On the other hand, if B is plugged into the original sentence and individual arms are -

"libraries are places to access email"
"libraries are places to use the internet and develop computer skills"
"libraries are places to look for jobs"
"libraries are places to seek information about government benefits"

Between B & D - B sounds better to me
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mbaprep2016
Hi Mike
Please respond to the thread as this will be helpful for others also. I have posted my doubt below.

Libraries remain valuable repositories of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet—approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home—and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and seek information about government benefits.

(A) of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet—approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home—and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

(B) of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet—approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home—and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

(C) for books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet—approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home—and for developing computer skills, looking for jobs, and to

(D) of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access e-mail and use the Internet—approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home—and to develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

(E) for books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email and use the Internet—approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home—and to develop computer skills and look for jobs, and to

In this question I have a doubt between B and D . B makes more sense to me. Please explain.
As some one on the thread explains

If D is plugged into the original sentence one arm of the parallel structure reads as:

"libraries are places to develop computer skills" doesn't it sound awkward?

On the other hand, if B is plugged into the original sentence and individual arms are -

"libraries are places to access email"
"libraries are places to use the internet and develop computer skills"
"libraries are places to look for jobs"
"libraries are places to seek information about government benefits"
Dear mbaprep2016,
I'm happy to respond. :-)

Here's what I'll say. First of all, I like many Veritas questions, but this is not my favorite. I think it's a solid question in its own right, but it doesn't feel like the GMAT in what it demands.

I would say that while your reading of (B) would be plausible in theory, in practice the item "to use the internet and develop computer skills" doesn't have the feel of a single item in the parallelism precisely because it's broken by the parenthetical statement set off by dashes. If a writer wants to put the four items in parallel {J, K and L, M, N}, then that writer has to take special care to separate the "and" between K & L from an "and" forming a link in the overall parallel. Consider this:
J, K and L, M, and N
That's not clear at all: it looks as if the author simply doesn't understand parallelism. We would have to use semicolons separating the four separate elements, or a connector between K & L other than the word "and"---we would have to do something to make clear the distinction of a link between two elements vs. the link in the parallelism chain. This sentence not only avoids that distinction, but also splits the two linked elements with a long parenthetical statement---this is a complete disaster in terms of sentence organization! Rather than take steps to clarify what might be confusing, the author compounds it! Yes, I get that author might have been trying to do what you read in (B), but if that was the author's intent, he failed miserably in (B). That's why (B) is wrong.

The distinction in (D) is very interesting. It's a parallelism of two different parallel lists.
... they are also places ...
List #1: to access e-mail and use the Internet ...
(long parenthetical statement between the two lists)
"and"
List #2: to develop computer skills, look for jobs, and seek information about government benefits.
Notice a few things. The long parenthetical statement appropriate forms a break between the two lists. Each list has its own parallel structure. Most importantly, there is a different in meaning between the two lists. List #1 refers primarily to recreational use of a computer, use of a computer primarily for personal life and enjoyment. List #2 refers primarily to the professional use of a computer, using a computer to further one's livelihood. In other words, there's a meaning-based distinction between the two lists, and that's precisely why they are separate lists.

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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Libraries remain valuable repositories of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and seek information about government benefits.

A. of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, to use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

B. of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

C. for books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email, use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and for developing computer skills, looking for jobs, and to

D. of books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access e-mail and use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and to develop computer skills, look for jobs, and

E. for books, publications, and research anthologies, but they are also places to access email and use the Internet – approximately 100 million Americans do not have a high-speed connection at home – and to develop computer skills and look for jobs, and to
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Is there a difference between 'of' and 'for'? Based on the lack of input about this, both uses appear to be correct. Please let me know if there are certain instances where one is preferred.
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mrdlee23
Is there a difference between 'of' and 'for'? Based on the lack of input about this, both uses appear to be correct. Please let me know if there are certain instances where one is preferred.
Dear mrdlee23,

I'm happy to respond. :-)

As perhaps you realize, the multiplicity of uses for prepositions in English is mind-boggling. Any one preposition may be used in a hundred different ways. In some sense, what you ask is one of the most impossible questions.

In this particular case, yes, "of" and "for" are both correct.
. . . repositories of books, publications, . . .
. . . repositories for books, publications, . . .
The GMAT loves to have pseudo-splits on the SC questions, particularly involving prepositions--it will swap back and forth between two prepositions, both of which are correct, to challenge the non-native speakers. Other times, of course, one preposition is right and one is wrong.

Of course, there are hundreds of cases in which "of" would be correct and "for" would be 100%, and vice versa, and there's almost no way to make any kind of list or overarching rule.

Here are some GMAT idiom flashcards that you may find helpful.

For the most part, one masters prepositions in English as one develops intuition. The best way for a non-native speaker to develop intuition is to develop the habit of reading. See:
How to Improve Your GMAT Verbal Score

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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