Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
BillyZ
Many states, in search of industries that are
clean, fast-growing, and pay good wages to skilled workers, are trying to attract high-technology industries.
(A) clean, fast-growing, and pay
(B) clean, grow fast, and that pay
(C) clean and fast-growing and that pay
(D) clean and grow fast, paying
(E) clean, fast-growing, and paying
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Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that many states are in search of industries that are clean and fast-growing and pay good wages to skilled workers.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Tenses + Parallelism• All elements in a list must be parallel.
• The introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “paying” in this case) after the comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
• Habitual actions are best conveyed through the simple present tense.
• The simple present continuous tense is used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature.
A: Trap.
1/ This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism among "clean", "fast-growing", and "pay good wages"; remember, all elements in a list must be parallel.
B:1/ This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism among "are clean", "grow fast", and "that pay good wages"; remember, all elements in a list must be parallel.
C: Correct.1/ This answer choice uses the phrase "and that pay good wages", conveying the intended meaning - that many states are in search of industries that are clean and fast-growing and
as a separate action, pay good wages to skilled workers.
2/ Option C correctly uses the simple present tense verb "pay" to refer to a habitual action.
3/ Option C avoids the parallelism errors seen in Options A and B, as it splits the list into two, maintaining parallelism between the phrases "that are clean and fast-growing" and "that pay good wages" and between the elements listed within the first phrase - "clean" and "fast-growing".
D:1/ This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "paying good wages"; the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing" - "paying" in this sentence)" construction incorrectly implies that many states are in search of industries that are clean and fast-growing
because they pay good wages to skilled workers; the intended meaning is that many states are in search of industries that are clean and fast-growing and
as a separate action, pay good wages to skilled workers; remember, the introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “paying” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
E: Trap.
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present continuous tense verb "are...paying" to refer to a habitual action; remember, habitual actions are best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the simple present continuous tense is used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature.
Hence, C is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Comma Plus Present Participle for Cause-Effect Relationship", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
To understand the concept of "Simple Continuous Tenses", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team