Pack 18 Q2: According to recent research, eating a plant-based diet...

Question

Pack 18, Question 2 of 5:

According to recent research, eating a plant-based diet  not only reduces one’s risk to impair cognition but also lowers the  risk of developing cancer.

A. not only reduces one’s risk to impair cognition but also lowers the
B. not only reduces one’s risk of cognitive impairment but also lowers one’s
C. reduces not only one’s risk of cognitive impairment but also lowers one’s
D. reduces not only one’s risk to impair cognition but also lowers the
E. reduces one’s risk not only of cognitive impairment but also lowers one’s

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Share your explanation!  The GMAT Club member with the most verified Kudos  in total on the 5 question SC Block 18 question pack will  win an $85 EMPOWERgmat tuition credit , which will entitle the winner to a full month of complete access to the EMPOWERgmat system. Even if you're not sure about your answer or your rationale, share your explanation to help boost your learning and earn a chance to win.

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should explain your reasoning why the answer you chose is correct, and why the other 4 options are incorrect within 48 hours of this post

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nkshmalik1 · Answer

In my opinion b
Not only X... But also Y... construction.

Only B maintains proper parallelism.

Posted from my mobile device

DinoPen · Answer

According to recent research, eating a plant-based diet not only reduces one’s risk to impair cognition but also lowers the risk of developing cancer.

A. not only reduces one’s risk to impair cognition but also lowers the
lowers the is not parallel

B. not only reduces one’s risk of cognitive impairment but also lowers one’s
Looks good

C. reduces not only one’s risk of cognitive impairment but also lowers one’s
"but also lowers" is not parallel with "one's risk"

D. reduces not only one’s risk to impair cognition but also lowers the
Same concept as C.

E. reduces one’s risk not only of cognitive impairment but also lowers one’s
"not only of " is not parallel with "but also lowers"

NiftyNiffler · Answer

According to recent research, eating a plant-based diet not only reduces o ne’s risk to impair cognition but also lowers the  risk of developing cancer.

A. not only reduces one’s  risk to  impair cognition but also lowers the -- "risk of" is the correct idiom. 
B. not only reduces one’s risk of cognitive impairment but also lowers one’s  -- CORRECT, idiom rectified and "not only X, but also Y" parallelism is maintained 
C.  reduces  not only one’s risk of cognitive impairment but also  lowers  one’s -- "not only ... but also" don't have same structure parallelism
D.  reduces  not only one’s  risk to  impair cognition but also  lowers  the -- same errors as A and C
E.  reduces  one’s risk not only of cognitive impairment but also  lowers  one’s -- same error as C

The answer should be  B

winterschool · Answer

According to recent research, eating a plant-based diet not only reduces one’s risk to impair cognition but also lowers the risk of developing cancer.

A. not only reduces  one’s risk to  impair cognition but also lowers  the   Incorrect

'risk of ' correct idioms,

B.  not only reduces one’s risk of cognitive impairment but also lowers one’s   Correct

C.  reduces  not only one’s risk of cognitive impairment but also  lowers  one’s  Incorrect

'....not only reduces....... but also lowers' correct idioms

D.  reduces  not only one’s risk to impair cognition but also  lowers the  Incorrect

same as C

E.  reduces one’s risk  not only of cognitive impairment but also  lowers one’s   Incorrect

same as C

Sushil117 · Answer

A. not only reduces one’s risk to impair cognition but also lowers the
parallelism error "not only reduces one’s" "but also lowers the"

B. not only reduces one’s risk of cognitive impairment but also lowers one’s
seems fine

C. reduces not only one’s risk of cognitive impairment but also lowers one’s
"not only one’s risk" "but also lowers one’s" again parallelism error

D. reduces not only one’s risk to impair cognition but also lowers the
"reduces not only one’""but also lowers the" parallelism

E. reduces one’s risk not only of cognitive impairment but also lowers one’s
"not only of cognitive" "but also lowers one’s" again parallelism error

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation

According to recent research, eating a plant-based diet  not only reduces one’s risk to impair cognition but also lowers the  risk of developing cancer.

A.  not only reduces  one’s risk  to impair cognition  but also lowers  the  
 B.  not only reduces  one’s risk  of cognitive impairment  but also lowers  one’s  
 C.  reduces not only  one’s risk  of cognitive impairment  but also lowers  one’s  
 D.  reduces not only  one’s risk  to impair cognition  but also lowers  the  
 E.  reduces  one’s risk  not only   of cognitive impairment  but also lowers  one’s

After a quick glance over the options, we have a few key differences we can focus on to narrow down our choices:
 1. not only reduces / reduces not only / reduces…not only (Idioms)
2. to impair cognition / of cognitive impairment (Parallelism & Meaning)
3. the / one’s (Parallelism)

A quick look at the original sentence reveals a somewhat common idiom:  not only X, but also Y .  Let’s start there, and eliminate any options that don’t make X and Y parallel:

A.  not only reduces  one’s risk to impair cognition  but also lowers  the
B.  not only reduces  one’s risk of cognitive impairment  but also lowers  one’s
C. reduces  not only one’s  risk of cognitive impairment  but also lowers  one’s
D. reduces  not only one’s  risk to impair cognition  but also lowers  the
E. reduces one’s risk  not only of  cognitive impairment  but also lowers  one’s

We can eliminate options C, D, & E because they don’t follow a parallel formatting for the “not only X, but also Y” idiom structure.  In options A & B, the X and Y are both present tense verbs, which is parallel.

Now that we have it narrowed down to only 2 options, let’s tackle #2 and #3 on our list.  They both have to do with parallel structure and creating a clear meaning. To make problems easier to spot, let’s also add in the rest of the non-underlined ending:

A. not only reduces  one’s  risk  to impair cognition  but also lowers  the  risk  of developing cancer.
This is  INCORRECT  for a couple reasons. First, the two phrases aren’t parallel. The phrases “reduces  one’s  risk” and “lowers  the  risk” are almost there, but they need to use the same the/one’s in both. Second, the phrase “to impair cognition” doesn’t work here for two reasons. Again, it’s not parallel to say, “ to impair  cognition” and “ of developing  cancer.” Also, the phrase “to impair cognition” implies that the plant-based diet is impairing cognition on its own. Since a diet is not a living thing that can DO things, this doesn’t make sense.

B. not only reduces  one’s  risk  of cognitive impairment  but also lowers  one’s  risk  of developing cancer.
This is  CORRECT ! Both phrases are written using parallel structures, and the phrase “of cognitive impairment” makes a lot more sense here because it doesn’t suggest the diet DOES an action – reducing impairment is just a potential side effect of a PERSON eating a plant-based diet.
 
 There you have it – option B is our winner!  By focusing on an idiom that we see quite often on the GMAT, we were able to narrow down our options rather quickly, leaving us more time to attack more complex issues!

Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done DinoPen ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Another great explanation, NiftyNiffler ! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done, winterschool ! Great explanations so far! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  nkshmalik1 ! Just a reminder that to qualify for the kudos contest, you have to include a quick explanation that shows why each option is correct or incorrect (similar to the other answers in this feed).

Looking forward to seeing how you tackle the next one!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Welcome to the Kudos Contest, SKY396 ! You cracked the code on this one, and we look forward to seeing how you tackle the rest of the questions in this round! Kudos to you!

AmarpreetK · Answer

The parallelism in the question is of the form 'not only X but also Y'

A.  not only   reduces one’s  risk to impair cognition  but also   lowers the  
The form 'not only X but Y' is correct but the difference lies in 'reduces one's ' and 'lowers the' where the subject of the parallelism differs.  INCORRECT /color]

B.  not only    reduces one’s  risk of cognitive impairment  but also   lowers one’s 
Parallel.   CORRECT

C.  reduces   not only  one’s risk of cognitive impairment  but also  lowers one’S.
Not parallel because the form mentioned above is not used correctly.   INCORRECT

D.  reduces   not only  one’s risk to impair cognition  but also  lowers the
Not parallel because the form mentioned above is not used correctly.   INCORRECT

E.  reduces one’s risk   not only  of cognitive impairment  but also   lowers one’s 
Not parallel because the form mentioned above is not used correctly.   INCORRECT

HoneyLemon · Answer

According to recent research, eating a plant-based diet not only reduces one’s risk to impair cognition but also lowers the risk of developing cancer.

A. not only reduces one’s risk  to impair  cognition but also lowers the  -- Parallelism issue  
B. not only reduces one’s risk of cognitive impairment but also lowers one’s 
  -- Correct usage of not only X but also Y 
 
C. reduces not only one’s risk of cognitive impairment but also  lowers  one’s 
 -- Incorrect usage of not only X but also Y .. X and Y are  not parallel  . 
 
D. reduces not only one’s risk to impair cognition but also lowers the 
  -- Same error as choice C 
 
E. reduces one’s risk not only  of cognitive impairment  but also  lowers  one’s
  -- Same error as choice C

VerbalBot · Answer

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Pack 18 Q2: According to recent research, eating a plant-based diet...

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Pack 18 Q2: According to recent research, eating a plant-based diet...

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