Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould has argued that many biological trait

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

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 biological traits are not the products of natural selection that are favored because they enhance reproduction or survival, rather they are simply random by-products of other evolutionary developments.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Parallelism + Redundancy/Awkwardness

• Any elements liked by conjunction (“but” in this case) must be parallel.

A: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “are not the products of natural selection” and “that they are simply random by-products of other evolutionary developments”; please remember, any elements liked by conjunction (“but” in this case) must be parallel. Further, Option A uses the needlessly wordy phrase “due to their enhancement of reproduction or survival”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

B: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “due to the reproduction or survival they enhance”; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the reason why many biological traits are favored is not the specific abilities of reproduction or survival that they enhance; the intended meaning is that the reason why many biological traits are favored is not their capacity for enhancing reproduction or survival. Further, Option B fails to maintain parallelism between “are not the products of natural selection” and “they are simply random by-products of other evolutionary developments”; please remember, any elements liked by conjunction (“but” in this case) must be parallel.

C: The sentence formed by this answer choice alters the intended meaning through the phrase "but simply random by-products of other evolutionary developments"; the construction of this phrase leads to an unclear and incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that many biological traits are not the products of natural selection that are favored because they enhance reproduction or survival, rather they are simply random by-products of other evolutionary developments.

D: Correct. The sentence formed by this answer choice uses the phrases “because they enhance reproduction or survival” and "but are simply random by-products of other evolutionary developments", conveying the intended meaning – that many biological traits are not the products of natural selection that are favored due to their capacity to enhance reproduction or survival, rather they are simply random by-products of other evolutionary developments. Further, Option D maintains parallelism between “are not the products of natural selection” and “are simply random by-products of other evolutionary developments”. Additionally, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

E: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “because of enhancing”; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the reason why many biological traits are favored is not the reproduction or survival that they are currently enhancing; the intended meaning is that the reason why many biological traits are favored is not their capacity for enhancing reproduction or survival.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Eliminate A and B. Reason : Due to means caused by
Eliminate C . Reason : Try substituting it in the original sentence.
E is wrong because first ing is wordy. Also, if you observe closely, it modifies the original menaning.
Answer : D

Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould has argued that many biological traits are not the products of natural selection, favored due to their enhancement of reproduction or survival, but that they are simply random by-products of other evolutionary developments.

(A) due to their enhancement of reproduction or survival, but that they are

(B) due to the reproduction or survival they enhance, but they are

(C) because they enhance reproduction or survival, but

(D) because they enhance reproduction or survival, but are

(E) because of enhancing reproduction or survival, but are

Difference between C and D

Idiomatic usage is Not X but Y
Here if it was mentioned not products of natural selection without the "the" C would have been ok. The extra "the" in front of products needs "are" to maintain parallel structure

I found some discussion on other forum. Should help everyone:

there are two ways of reading the sentence if choice C is inserted. here they are, with the boldface in each indicating exactly what is construed as a modifier:

1) Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould has argued that many biological traits are not the products of natural selection, favored because they enhance reproduction or survival, but simply random by-products of other evolutionary developments.

2) Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould has argued that many biological traits are not the products of natural selection, favored because they enhance reproduction or survival, but simply random by-products of other evolutionary developments.

The first example can be read as:

Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould has argued that many bio traits are not X [the products...selection], modifier of X [favored...survival], but simply Y [random...developments].

So, above, I'm contrasting X and Y, and X also happens to have a little extra modifier going on.

The second example can be read as:

Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould has argued that many bio traits are not X [the products...selection], modifier of X [favored...survival], modifer of modifier of X [but simply...developments].

In other words, I'm no longer contrasting X and Y - instead, I'm saying something about X and then giving a couple of modifiers in a row to describe it - there is no longer a comparable, contrasting Y. (And this doesn't make logical sense if you know anything about the topic. But it is a grammatical possibility - someone who didn't know that this is illogical couldn't be sure that this isn't the meaning.)

I need that "are" in there to know that it is definitely option 1: comparing X to Y. Biological traits are not X but are Y.

This is irritating. I went for C lured by the II ism not X but Y . And then this new form of IIism pops in with Are in between. Im going insane.

the point is:

the BUT here is not PARALLEL with NOT, I was fooled by it. BUT here is just parallel with FAVORED, both the phrase supports the NATURAL SELECTION.

In C, lack of helping verb "are" will make 2 interpretation.

1. but simply random by-products of... will elaborate for "due to ... survival"
2. but simply random by-products of... will elaborate for (contradict) the product of natural selection.

In choice D, it has just only one interpretation as #2

This sentence is very difficult to stick unless you have the rules about due to and because of very clear (I also picke dit wrong, saying the truth)

So, in concrete we have to choice between due to and because of (or because)

Due to is used to modify only nouns and THEN if you replaced due to with caused by and the phrase has sense, it is correct. Here is wrong due to: A and B are out

Because of must modify a verb, in E we have not a verb that follows because of so E is incorrect

C doesn't have ARE in the ens , so is incorrect.

Answer is D.

Tough Hope is clear. For reference follow this link https://e-gmat.com/blogs/?p=137

I took following approach to reach to the correct answer, although it took more that 2 minutes.

Step 1:
Whenever I find phrase 'due to', I look out option with phrase 'because' and segregate the options into two groups.
Next I replace 'due to' with the word 'caused by' in the original sentence. If it sounds OK, then I eliminate all options with 'because'.
In this question option A and B are eliminated by this approach as here 'caused by' sound awkward.

Step2:
In option C & D, 'they' is correctly referring to 'traits'.
at the end of the sentence 'are' is required, as it will form parallelism. '... traits are not X, but are Y'.
The clause "favored, because....." is a -ed modifier that modifies 'selection'.

So, out of C& D, D seems correct.

Step 3: here ' because of enhancing' is wrong. With because we can use any one of the following forms-
(i) because of enhancement. here enhancement is noun, in this we don't need a subject.
(ii) because (subject) (verb): because they enhance

So, option E is wrong.

With this conclude that option D is correct.

For parallelism : to avoid confusion I follow this Crude method ..........

A ( B+ C) = AB...................+.......................AC = AB & AC should make sense logically / structurally : + = But / AND, parallel markers

Biological traits are not the products of natural selection......................BUT...............are by-products

For option C :

Let : A = Biological traits are not , X = the prodcuts of natural selection , Y = By products

lets substitute these variables in the above eqn and check :

Biological traits are not ( the products of natural selection )..............................BUT..........................Biological traits are not (by products) = Does it make any sense ?

Now Option D ; Rearrangement of variables :

Let : A = Biological traits are , X = Not THE prodcuts of natural selection , Y = By products

Substitution yields :

Biological traits are (not the products of natural selection)..............................BUT..........................Biological traits are ( by products ) = perfect

Leading to D, my take

Sentence Meaning: Paleontologist SJ believes that Many Biological Traits are not the products of Natural Selection but are random by-products of other evolutionary developments. {These Biological traits are favoured because they enhance reproduction or survival} ----> Verb-ed modifier modifing BT..

Option A and B are wrong because of Incorrect usage of Due to...A small test to check whether due to is correctly used is replace "Due to" by "Caused by" and see if the sentence makes sense...Moreover we need because to explain the reason why certain BT is favoured..

Option E says Because of Enhancing reproduction...BT gets preferred which is not reason..BT are preferred because BT's enhance reproduction or survival..

Option C tries to make us chose this option because of Idiom Not X but Y...where X and Y are parallel...But we need an "are" which is present in Option D...
"Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould has argued
that many biological traits are not the products of natural selection, favored because they enhance reproduction or survival,but simply random by-products of other evolutionary developments.-------> without are...the sentence is run-on..


D says that BT are not products of natural selection but are simply random by products...Here we have connected 2 verbs in contrast by using but....

Grammatical construction should be - due to "noun" or because of "noun". In option A,B, E there is a clause after "but" - but they are. To maintain parallelism we need to have a clause before but. So option A,B and E are incorrect.

In option C, we need are to complete the clause after but. Hence, option D is the correct answer.

Consider kudos if this helps!!!

A - Can't use "due to" in this construction. To test "due to" in a sentence, replace it with "caused by" and see if it still makes sense. "Favored caused by"? No good.
B - Same as A
C - Without including "are", the role of "but simply random by-products..." becomes ambiguous. Does it connect with "are not" or does it modify the "favored because.." clause.
D - Correct
E - "Because of enhancing" is an incorrect idiom.

KW

Could you please be more clear on when to use Not x but y and Not + x but + verb + y ?

background:
structure 1: "not X but Y"
this construction signifies that "X" is expected, normal, or customary in the given situation but that "Y" is what is actually present / has happened / will happen.
for instance:
Restaurant X's "hamburgers" are made not of actual hamburger but of turkey.

structure 2: "X but Y"
this construction signifies some sort of general contrast between X and Y, but lacks the semantic sense that Y is a substitute for X.
for instance:
i am not a doctor but can fix your broken finger.

so, the correct answer to this problem can be understood as a case of structure #2 -- note my example above ("i am not a doctor but can fix your broken finger"), which will also appear incorrect if you try to process it as structure #1.


background:
structure 1: "not X but Y"
this construction signifies that "X" is expected, normal, or customary in the given situation but that "Y" is what is actually present / has happened / will happen.
for instance:
Restaurant X's "hamburgers" are made not of actual hamburger but of turkey.

structure 2: "X but Y"
this construction signifies some sort of general contrast between X and Y, but lacks the semantic sense that Y is a substitute for X.
for instance:
i am not a doctor but can fix your broken finger.

so, the correct answer to this problem can be understood as a case of structure #2 -- note my example above ("i am not a doctor but can fix your broken finger"), which will also appear incorrect if you try to process it as structure #1.

I thought C is correct via the "in-out" principle? So, "ARE not x, but (ARE) Y", so in D it would go "ARE ARE" if that makes sense?

Someone please help!!! Thank You

You can read the structure two ways:

1) are NOT x BUT y
2) are not x BUT are y

In other words, we can see the parallel markers as "NOT/BUT," or we can see a single parallel marker: "BUT." The interpretation the GMAT is going with on this one is 2. It's really a matter of emphasis: I am not this but I AM that. As my colleague Kyle points out above, the use of "are" in this case helps us to interpret the overall meaning more clearly. It's very common (both on the GMAT and in "real" writing) to use seemingly unneeded structuring words or punctuation to make the meaning clear.