Re S94-02
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16 Sep 2014, 01:48
Official Solution:
To gain a competitive advantage, a well established credit card company launched a new program with the aim to simplify online payments and increase customer loyalty.
A. with the aim to simplify online payments and increase
B. aimed at the simplification of online payments and increasing
C. aimed at simplifying online payments and increasing
D. aiming at simplifying of online payments and the increase of
E. aimed at the simplifying of online payments and increasing
The Original sentence contains an idiomatic error - 'Aim to" The correct idiom here would be 'Aim at' and not 'aim to'.
Answer choice B is incorrect because the two elements of the program are not parallel in structure. That is, to simplify and to increase should be the same parts of speech, but in B, simplification is a noun, while increasing is a participle (an -ing form of a verb).
Simplifying and increasing in answer choice C are parallel in structure. This could be the correct choice, but let's look at D and E just in case.
Choice D's aiming at we already know is incorrect - it also contains an error in parallel structure. Simplifying is a gerund, (an -ing form of a verb which acts as a noun), while the increase of is a regular noun phrase. If one parallel item takes a gerund, all the parallel items must use one.
In choice E,the simplifying of is a noun phrase (the verb simplify has been made into a participle that functions as a noun), yet increasing functions as a verb.
Answer: C