Recent elections in a relatively young and historically unstable count

Question

Recent elections in a relatively young and historically unstable country in East Africa saw record  numbers of voters, the peaceful rejection of an incumbent administration, the unprecedented access of media, campaigning marked by civility, and a renewing of nationalism.

A) numbers of voters, the peaceful rejection of an incumbent administration, the unprecedented access of media, campaigning marked by civility, and a renewing of nationalism

B) voter turnout, the peaceful rejection of an incumbent administration, unprecedented media access, campaigning marked by civility, and a renewing of nationalism

C) voter turnout, the rejection of an incumbent administration in a peaceful manner, the unprecedented access of media, campaigns marked by civility, and renewed nationalism

D) numbers of voters, the peaceful rejection of an incumbent administration, unprecedented media access, campaigns marked by civility, and renewed nationalism

E) voter turnout, the peaceful rejection of an incumbent administration, unprecedented media access, campaigns marked by civility, and renewed nationalism

PiyushK · Accepted Answer

For those who think "adjective + number s of + noun" is always incorrect. OG-10, Q152 : when-the-technique-known-as-gene-splicing-was-invented-in-47931.html?fl=similar https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/can ... t7484.html In option D "vast numbers of voters" is grammatically fine, but E is more concise. Note: The number of (ok) A number of (ok) The numbers of (not ok) Adjective + numbers of + noun (ok) Bookmark

mourinhogmat1 · Answer

Answer should be E.

A)   campaigning is not a NOUN, all the individual items in the laundry list are NOUNS  
B)   campaigning and a renewing are not a NOUNS, all the individual items in the laundry list are NOUNS  
C)   The rejection in a peaceful manner is a phrase we need a short NOUN preceded by an ADJECTIVE. 
D)   A record number of voters is NOT a NOUN, Its a PHRASE. all the individual items in the laundry list are NOUNS  
E)  CORRECT

crick20002002 · Answer

+1 for E.

renewed nationalism > renewing of nationalism => A and B out.
voter turnout > numbers of voters => D out.
In C, the rejection of an incumbent administration in a peaceful manner is awkward.

E wins.

Crick

samramandy · Answer

I would say the answer is E because it very clearly mentions all the entities parallely.

BR
Mandeep

outbackvandy · Answer

why is 'record voter turnout' better than 'record numbers of voters'?

pratikbais · Answer

Because 'record numbers of voters' is a phrase, whereas other elements in the list are nouns. In order to form a parallel structure all elements must be like.

Hope it is clear.
Ricky

btg9788 · Answer

Recent elections in a relatively young and historically unstable country in East Africa saw record  numbers of voters, the peaceful rejection of an incumbent administration, the unprecedented access of media, campaigning marked by civility, and a renewing of nationalism.

A) numbers of voters, the peaceful rejection of an incumbent administration, the unprecedented access of media, campaigning marked by civility, and a renewing of nationalism - numbers of is not idiomaticallyu correct. It should have been number of. The "renewing of nationalism" seems wordy.

B) voter turnout, the peaceful rejection of an incumbent administration, unprecedented media access, campaigning marked by civility, and a renewing of nationalism -
"The renewing of nationalism" seems wordy. Also, it means that the elections saw the renewing of nationalism in progress. That is contrary to what the intended meaning is - The elections saw renewed nationalism. The elections, thus saw the actual end result and not the renewing per say.

C) voter turnout, the rejection of an incumbent administration in a peaceful manner, the unprecedented access of media, campaigns marked by civility, and renewed nationalism - "The unprecedented access of media" does not seem to be idiomatic.

D) numbers of voters, the peaceful rejection of an incumbent administration, unprecedented media access, campaigns marked by civility, and renewed nationalism-
Numbers is wrongly used.

E) voter turnout, the peaceful rejection of an incumbent administration, unprecedented media access, campaigns marked by civility, and renewed nationalism -   CORRECT   - Uses appropriate parallel constructs

desaichinmay22 · Answer

A and B can be eliminated due to parallelism error. In C there is an error with placement of "peaceful manner". peaceful is modifying rejection and should be as close to word "rejection" as possible. It's very close between D and E. I chose D, but ans seems to be E. How do we choose between D and E. Experts comments please.

vards · Answer

Hello friend, All the traits or characteristics of the election should be parallel (nouns in this case). In other words, the sentence should read: Recent elections ... saw {noun}, {noun}, {noun}, {noun}, and {noun}. In the current sentence, campaigning marked by civility is a participle and not a noun. This phase can be a noun: campaigns marked by civility. The wordy phrase a renewing of nationalism can be shortened to renewed nationalism. The wordy phrase number of votes can be shortened to voter turnout. A.)all traits of the election are not parallel (campaigning marked by civility is not a noun); a renewing of nationalism is not concise; number of votes is not concise B.)all traits of the election are not parallel (campaigning marked by civility is not a noun); a renewing of nationalism is not concise; C.)the wordy phrase the unprecedented access of media can be shortened to unprecedented media access; the wordy phrase the rejection of an incumbent administration in a peaceful manner can be shortened to the peaceful rejection of an incumbent administration D.)numbers of is grammatically wrong and can be corrected and shortened by the word turnout.Because although there are many voters,the count of those voters is just one number..Eg-suppose 50 voters..so v should say the number of voters is 50.. E.)the sentence is concise; all traits or characteristics of the election are parallel Please consider KUDOS if my post helped...

Jat · Answer

I rejected option D for a completely different reason. 
I sentence tries to covey that the number of voters who came to vote increased. Whereas, option D suggests that the number of voters increased. We can safely conclude that the number of voters increased because the number of citizens increased. Hence, there is an ambiguity in meaning.

Thanks,
Jat

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

All the traits or characteristics of the election should be parallel (nouns in this case). In other words, the sentence should read:  Recent elections ... saw {noun}, {noun}, {noun}, {noun}, and {noun}.

In the current sentence,  campaigning marked by civility  is a participle and not a noun. This phase can be a noun:  campaigns marked by civility.

The wordy phrase  a renewing of nationalism  can be shortened to  renewed nationalism.

The wordy phrase  number of votes  can be shortened to  voter turnout.

A. all traits of the election are not parallel ( campaigning marked by civility  is not a noun);  a renewing of nationalism  is not concise;  number of votes  is not concise

B. all traits of the election are not parallel ( campaigning marked by civility  is not a noun);  a renewing of nationalism  is not concise;

C. the wordy phrase  the unprecedented access of media  can be shortened to  unprecedented media access ; the wordy phrase  the rejection of an incumbent administration in a peaceful manner  can be shortened to  the peaceful rejection of an incumbent administration

D.  numbers of  is grammatically wrong and can be corrected and shortened by the word  turnout

E. the sentence is concise; all traits or characteristics of the election are parallel

jim441 · Answer

Would D be correct if it has "number of" instead of "numbers of"?
Is there any other error in D?

VerbalBot · Answer

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

Recent elections in a relatively young and historically unstable count

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Recent elections in a relatively young and historically unstable count

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards