Possible long-term consequences of the “greenhouse effect,” the gradua

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning of this sentence is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that possible long-term consequences of the “greenhouse effect” include the melting of the polar ice caps and a rise in sea level.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Parallelism + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• Any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this case) must be parallel.

A: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between the verb phrase "melting the polar ice caps" and the noun phrase "a rising sea level"; remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this case) must be parallel. Further, Option A redundantly uses "may" alongside "Possible", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

B: Trap. This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "the rising sea level"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the sea level that is currently rising is a possible consequence of the “greenhouse effect”; remember, the intended meaning is that a rise in sea level is a possible consequence of the “greenhouse effect”. Further, Option B redundantly uses "may" alongside "Possible", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

C: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrases "polar ice caps that are melting" and "sea levels that are rising"; the construction of these phrases incorrectly implies that polar ice caps that are currently melting and sea levels that are currently rising are possible long-term consequences of the “greenhouse effect”; the intended meaning is that the melting of the polar ice caps and a rise in sea level are possible long-term consequences of the “greenhouse effect”. Further, Option C redundantly uses "may" alongside "Possible", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "sea levels that are rising"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the sea level that is currently rising is a possible consequence of the “greenhouse effect”; remember, the intended meaning is that a rise in sea level is a possible consequence of the “greenhouse effect”. Further, Option B fails to maintain parallelism between the verb phrase "melting the polar ice caps" and the noun phrase "sea levels that are rising"; remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this case) must be parallel.

E: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrases "melting of the polar ice caps" and "a rise in sea level", conveying the intended meaning - that the melting of the polar ice caps and a rise in sea level are possible long-term consequences of the “greenhouse effect”. Further, Option E maintains parallelism between the noun phrases "melting of the polar ice caps" and "a rise in sea level". Additionally, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

I'd go with E

C, D are just awkward.
A, B have may and it's just too wordy. Word "possible" eliminates word may in this case.

What is the OA?

Use of 'may' become redundant since possible has already been used. So, A,B and C are out.
between d & e, e is better.

Possible long-term consequences of the “greenhouse effect,” the gradual warming of the Earth’s climate, may include melting the polar ice caps and a rising sea level.
A. may include melting the polar ice caps and a rising sea level
B. may include the melting of polar ice caps and the rising sea level
C. may include polar ice caps that are melting and sea levels that are rising
D. include melting the polar ice caps and sea levels that are rising
E. include melting of the polar ice caps and a rise in sea level

The correct answer is E, but does the "melting of the polar ice caps" without the article "the" is still parallel to the "a rise in sea level"?

Complex Gerund phrases (melting of ) are parallel to action nouns (a rise). True. A "the" would have made the sentence better framed but the best answer choice out of the five is E.

Can you explain why B is wrong? I feel "the melting of" is parallel to "the rising sea level".

Kindly explain your reasoning.

"the melting of" is a (complex) gerund phrase, whereas "the rising sea level" is a participle phrase and hence are not parallel. Even otherwise, looking at each phrase you can see that in "the melting of ice caps", the "the melting of" is the subject can be used as the subject of a sentence whereas in "the rising sea level", the "sea level" part is the actual subject.

eg: The waving flag IS green. and The waving flagS ARE green.
The waving of the flag IS fierce. and The waving of the flagS IS fierce.

My examples might not be 100% correct but I hope you get the meaning.

In this sentence, two close options are B & E. In option B, although both the parallel items are Complex gerund phrase but use of “The rising sea level” changes the intended meaning of the sentence. Option B means that Consequences include Melting & Sea level but this is not the intended meaning. Author wants to mean that Consequences include Melting & Rise, actions correctly used only in option E.

Possible long-term consequences of the “greenhouse effect,” the gradual warming of the Earth’s climate, may include melting the polar ice caps and a rising sea level.

It appeats that the speaker is trying to present a list of effects of the consequences of GreenHouse Effect.

A. may include melting the polar ice caps and a rising sea level - Incorrect
B. may include the melting of polar ice caps and the rising sea level - Incorrect
C. may include polar ice caps that are melting and sea levels that are rising - Incorrect
D. include melting the polar ice caps and sea levels that are rising - Incorrect
E. include melting of the polar ice caps and a rise in sea level - Correct

I personally feel Melting and Rise are used as Nouns , presented after Include refers to the effects of greenhouse effect( Someone plz correct me if I am wrong !! )

Hence IMHO(E) !!

chetan2u mikemcgarry - Can you please help me eliminate A,B,C,D without the reason such as wordy,awkward and :May: does not go with possible.

I am not able to eliminate the options and do not want to rely on the edge of :May is not acceptable/or goes with possible:

Hassan

E. include melting of the polar ice caps and a rise in sea level
Pl do not mistake rise as an action verb; it is merely a linking verb. We say the sun rises in the east. However, who does the action of 'rising'? Does the sun exert itself to rise? Therefore, it is a natural phenomenon. On the contrary, if somebody raises something, it becomes an action verb. For example, we can say Gmatclub has raised the standard of GMAT performance by the candidates largely.

As you doubt, melting of the ice caps is not a complex gerund; it is just a simple gerund. However, the problem with melting is that it both an action verb and a linking verb. When we say that the melody of Asha's voice melts in the ears, it is a linking verb. When we say 'the factory melts metals into profiles' it is an action verb.

In the context, melting is the gerund of a linking verb and the 'rise; the noun of a linking verb is enough to go parallelly.

This question is based on Parallelism and Word usage.

The sentence begins with the adjective “Possible”. When we do a vertical scan of the options, we see that Options A, B, and C begin with the modal auxiliary verb ‘may’. The modal auxiliary verbs convey possibility, probability, permission, ability etc. The verb ‘may’ conveys either permission or a possibility. In this sentence, since the adjective ‘Possible’ has already been used, the verb ‘may’ is redundant.

Furthermore, Options A and D contain the expression “melting the polar ice caps”. This participle phrase implies that someone is melting the ice caps. This is an illogical expression in this sentence as a natural phenomenon is under discussion.

Option C contains the clause “polar ice caps that are melting”. This clause also is illogical in this sentence as polar ice caps cannot be a consequence.

Based on the above-mentioned errors, we can rule out Options A, B, C, and D.

Option E corrects the error in Options A, B, and C by excluding the auxiliary verb ‘may’.

The option also corrects the error in Options A and D by replacing the phrase “melting the polar ice caps” with “melting of the ice caps”, which is a gerund phrase and can take the place of a noun to convey a consequence.
Parallelism is also maintained in Option E – “include melting of the polar ice caps and a rise in sea level”.
Since the sentence lists out the consequences of the greenhouse effect, both the consequences must be structured in a similar manner. A gerund phrase (melting of the polar ice caps) and a noun phrase (a rise in sea level) are similar in structure.

Therefore, E is the most appropriate option.
Jayanthi Kumar.

As in (E), can a gerund and verb be parallel?

What verb? "A rise" is not a verb.

In (E), we have a logical list that includes two elements, "melting," a gerund that acts as a noun, and "a rise," a noun phrase.

Hi! loved your explanation. Just have one doubt. In option A, why can't melting polar ice caps(gerund) be parallel to rising sea level (here sea level is noun with rising as modifier of sea level). That would make a simple gerund and a noun parallel. I think there must be some other reason for elimination.

Hello pk6969,

I would love to help you with this one.


A gerund, an action denoting noun, is NEVER parallel to a conventional noun that denotes a place, person, or thing. These two types of nouns do not have the same function and hence are never parallel.

In Choice A, the phrase "melting the polar ice" is a gerund = an action presenting noun whereas "a rising seal level" is a conventional noun. Hence, they are NOT parallel. We see the same parallel error in Choice D.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

In this question E part, melting of polar ice caps acts as a complex gerund and a rise in sea level is a simple noun/ prepositional phrase. But, if we look at first words we get "melting" (a gerund) and "rise" (a noun), which makes it parallel. So, my question is whether we should see whole phrase or just the first words??