While many argue that we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by

Hi aaba,

Another great question! Let's tackle this one problem at a time, and determine how to get to the correct answer quickly!

The first thing we notice when looking at the answers quickly is how they begin: by proposing vs. propose. Since this is a comparison (one group believes X, while "others" believe Y). Using the phrase "by proposing" makes it sound like we're only talking about one group, not 3. So let's eliminate answers A & B because they don't convey the right meaning.

Now that we have it narrowed down to 3 possible answers, let's look at parallel structure - the most common grammar problem in GMAT questions that contain lists. For this question, the following need to be parallel:

others X / and still others Y

To make it easier to spot, I'll add the word "others" to the beginning of each phrase and highlight the two parts that need to be parallel:

C: others propose a switch to renewable sources of energy for maintaining current levels, and still others contend

Answer C does use parallel structure, but there is another problem with this answer: the phrase "for maintaining current levels." By doing this, it's unclear if the energy or the proposal will maintain current levels. Since it's unclear, this is INCORRECT.

D: others propose a switch to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others by contending

Answer D is INCORRECT because it doesn't use parallel structure.

E: others propose switching to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others are contending

Answer E is CORRECT because it uses parallel structure and clear language.
_________________

Hi Skywalker18!

This is really tricky, because both C and E use parallel structure correctly (as has been pointed out by others above). So it's hard to differentiate between the two. However, the reason that we choose E over C is that in choice C we have:

a switch to renewable sources of energy for maintaining current levels

This is a case where we want an infinitive of purpose -- we are describing the purpose of something. It is incorrect to use "for" here -- we need to say "to maintain". It is not acceptable to substitute a [preposition] + [gerund] (like "for maintaining") for an infinitive of purpose. So for that reason, we eliminate C and choose E.

Hope that helps!
-Carolyn
_________________

While many argue that we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by spreading greater awareness about conservation and waste, others by proposing switching to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others by contending that nuclear power is the best way to meet our energy needs.

A by proposing switching to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others by contending - parallelism issue
B by proposing a switch to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others contend - parallelism issue
C propose a switch to renewable sources of energy for maintaining current levels, and still others contend - for maintaining does not show purpose
D propose a switch to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others by contending - parallelism issue
E propose switching to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others are contending - Is present continuous tense are contending needed here?




AjiteshArun , GMATNinja ,egmat , mikemcgarry , daagh , sayantanc2k , other experts -Can you please help to select between C and E? I chose C over E
_________________

Sir i didnt Understand the parallel structure here. Is is someting related to SVO

E: While many argue...., others propose...., and still others are....

Parallelism is between the 3 verbs in bold above.
_________________

C propose a switch to renewable sources of energy for maintaining current levels, and still others contend - for maintaining does not show purpose

E propose switching to renewable sources of energyto maintain current levels, and still others are contending -

Both options C and E have parallel structure as indicated by the bold faced verbs. For parallelism to hold it is not necessary to have same tense of the verb.
But option E is preferred over C just because it uses infinitive to correctly show purpose.

Is this understanding correct, experts kindly comment.
Thanks in advance!

AjiteshArun , GMATNinja ,egmat , mikemcgarry , daagh , sayantanc2k , and other experts
I request you to enllighten how E is parallel ?
Many gnatclubers have the same doubt

teaserbae ill try

While many argue that we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by spreading greater awareness about conservation and waste, others by proposing switching to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others by contending that nuclear power is the best way to meet our energy needs.

- meaning : WHILE (indication that following clause will be contrasted) many argue....(so author is going contrast this group's argument...
"other by proposing" ...here contrast is not clear and ungrammatical ...this is false parallelism ...it should be "other propose" as we need a cpontrast
"and other by contending" ..so here is one more contrast to the"many argue" ...but again we have a false parallelism..we need a verb (contend/are contending)

grammar error : we need a verb to contrast a verb ..so "by proposing"is wrong ..therefore A and B are gone

(C) propose a switch to renewable sources of energy for maintaining current levels, and still others contend
- maintains parallelism
- clean and clear
-BUT BUT BUT the structure "for maintaining"is wrong here...
I'll elaborate on this more : "to + verb " is used to show the purpose of the preceding element
here other are proposing a switch to renewable sources ! why are they proposing this??? what is the purpose??? - TO MAINTAIN current levels
"for + verbing" is used when we are denoting ownership or what we obtained from doing something. for eg: I recieved an award FOR devoting my life to philanthropy. ... " I thank the Gods FOR blessing me with such friends" ..here you cannot use "to +verb" because you are not getting something because of thanking to the gods ...you already got the firnds and then you are thanking..similarly I am recieving an award after i did philanthropy not because i am goung to recive an award I will do philanthropy..
Short story :
"to +verb" : use this to show a purpose for doing something ...you are doing it for a reason .
"for+ verbing" : the structure AFTER "for verbing" is the actual thing you did BEFORE . That is the structure after "for verb" is done before the structure before the "verbing"
here if we use "for maintaining" what we mean is we first maintain and then we propose a shift.

(D) propose a switch to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others by contending
-Not parallel

(E) propose switching to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others are contending
- This may seem unparallel but there is no such compulsion that all the verb must be in the EXACT same state . As long as the event are still in PRESENT it is okay... "are contending" is present continuos and "propose" is present. We could easil;y mean that others propose and other are contending...
the main point here is "to+verb" this tells us the reason why the action (propose) has to be done ...
The structure after "to vebr"is the later achievement/goal...but the structure before "to verb" is something we have to do first
this is exactly opposite to "for vebring" where the later structure is done first and the former structure is the something you get in return.

If any doubts persist lemme know

This is not a genuine GMATPrep question.

This is a simulated version of an original OG 10 topic as given below.


Now you can use the same logic to the given question and see whether it is ok to take E as the most parallel in the given context.

The Takeaway: Lot of questions are doing the rounds as GMATPrep questions, I don't know what for. Incidentally, the original PG 10 question does not seem to have been carried over in subsequent versions.
_________________

While many argue that we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by spreading greater awareness about conservation and waste, others by proposing switching to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others by contending that nuclear power is the best way to meet our energy needs.


Between C and E, I chose the correct option E.

In the past I always had a hard time selecting options switching between "for verb-ing" and "to-verb". Things changed after I came across this article -

https://gmatclub.com/forum/to-verb-vs-for-verb-ing-144017.html

One should focus on the intended meaning of the sentence after narrowing down to two options. Please go through the article before reading my explanation.

Focus on the part below-

others propose switching to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels.

What is the purpose of switching to renewable sources of energy? To maintain current levels of fossil fuels.

Takeaway: Use "to verb" when per the context of the sentence, purpose or intent of an action is explicit.

Use "for verb-ing" when the context of the sentence requires to present the "what for" aspect.
_________________

I'm Unable to understand how E maintains parallel structure. "many argue" "others propose" & "still others contend" seems to be a parallel structure. Can you please explain?

parallelism doesn't mean all words should be same but speech of part should be same .
noun || noun
verb || verb
adverb || adverb

Here : noun verb, noun verb and noun verb
tenses are with verb. Different tenses are also part of parallelism

e.g.;
friendly -is adjective
quickly is adverb
friendly will not be parallel with quickly -even they sound similarly
hope you get the point

For this question, C and E will be finalists.
Then choose E over C because of purpose ,,,"to"


I hope it helps:)

Hi mainakpaul31, still others are contending (as mentioned in E) is "present continuous" tense, while still others contend (as you've suggested) is "simple present" tense.

This difference of tenses, is immaterial from a parallelism perspective. Basically, parallelism does not require that the parallel elements be in the same tense/voice.

For example, following is perfectly valid:

Peter was born poor, but now he is doing extremely well.

Peter was born poor
- Simple past, passive voice

now he is doing extremely well.
- Present continuous, active voice.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses this aspect of parallelism. Have attached the corresponding section of the book, for your reference.

_________________

The parallel structure for me is:

"Argue spreading... propose switching... are contending..."

I just chose the option with all the participles. Did not notice the difference between "to maintain" and "for maintaining". But you think C would have been correct if it had "to maintain"?

Posted from my mobile device

Hi generis DmitryFarber MartyTargetTestPrep

Could you please share the split between option-C and E?
Is option-E preferred to option-C ONLY because it employs infinitive?

Regards
Rohit

While I understand C is correct since to+verb should be used to express purpose. I am confused with the v-ing in E i.e. "Others propose switching to renewable sources of energy". Switching is a v-ing and here it is used without a comma. A v-ing without a comma actually modifies a noun however PROPOSE is a verb. Actually as per the meaning, it is modifying "Others propose" i.e. Sub+verb, so still SWITCHING should come after a comma.
let me know what I am missing.

While many argue that we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by spreading greater awareness about conservation and waste, others by proposing switching to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others by contending that nuclear power is the best way to meet our energy needs.

Option Elimination -

(A) by proposing switching to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others by contending - "while" introduces a subordinate clause. After that, we'll expect an independent clause. But what we have are phrases with no verbs. ING without a helping verb is a verbal and not a verb.

(B) by proposing a switch to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others contend - "proposing" no verb. "contend" verb. Not parallel. We need verbs and not verbal to have our independent clause after a dependent clause.

(C) propose a switch to renewable sources of energy for maintaining current levels, and still others contend - "for maintaining" is wrong. To show an intent, we need " to maintain."

(D) propose a switch to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others by contending - opposite of B but same issue.

(E) propose switching to renewable sources of energy to maintain current levels, and still others are contending - we have all verbs. That is parallel and "to maintain" is good to convey the intent.