[quote="freetheking"]Recently physicians have determined that stomach ulcers are
not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but a bacterium that dwells in the mucous lining of the stomach.
(A) not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but
(B) not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but are by
(C) caused not by stress, alcohol, or rich foods, but by
(D) caused not by stress, alcohol, and rich foods, but
(E) caused not by stress, alcohol, and rich foods, but are by
This is a straightforward Parallelism-based question. Parallelism covers a number of aspects such as tenses, gerunds, comparisons and correlative conjunctions.
This question tests the concept of parallelism of correlative conjunctions. Correlative conjunctions are joining words that are used in pairs. The pairing is idiomatic or fixed in usage.
There are two aspects of parallelism of correlative conjunctions:
• The idiomatic pair must be used; the conjunctions cannot be mixed up. For example,
either cannot be followed by
nor. The various pairs of correlative conjunctions are either-or, neither-nor, not only-but also, from-to, between-and, both-and not-but.
E.g.: We can play
both tennis
as well as badminton here. (incorrect)
We can play
both tennis
and badminton here. (correct)
• The two conjunctions must be followed by the same part of speech. For example, if ‘either’ is followed by a verb, ‘or’ must also be followed by a verb in the sentence.
E.g.: I
neither want chocolate
nor ice cream. (incorrect because ‘neither’ is followed by the verb ‘want’ but ‘nor’ is followed by the noun ‘ice cream’.)
I want
neither chocolate nor ice cream. (correct because both the conjunctions are followed by nouns.)
In the given question, the correlative conjunctions ‘not-but’ have been used. The sentence contains a verb in the passive form –
are caused. The helping/auxiliary verb ‘are’ is in the non-underlined portion of the sentence. But the participle ‘caused’ is in the underlined portion of the sentence. The helping verb and participle should be together in order to maintain parallelism in the sentence.
Let us analyze the options according to rule 2 of parallelism of correlative conjunctions –
(A) not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods,
but -
Incorrect because the conjunction ‘not’ is followed by the verb(participle) ‘caused’ and the conjunction ‘but’ is followed by a noun ‘a bacterium’ (in the non-underlined part of the sentence)
(B) not caused by stress, alcohol, or rich foods,
but are by
-
Incorrect because the conjunction ‘not’ is followed by the verb (participle) ‘caused’ and the conjunction ‘but’ is followed by the helping/auxiliary verb ‘are’. The helping verb is already present in the non-underlined part of the sentence. If a verb is to be repeated, the participle form ‘caused’ is to be repeated.
(C) caused
not by stress, alcohol, or rich foods,
but by -
Correct because the participle ‘caused’ has been shifted next to the helping/auxiliary verb ‘are’ and the conjunctions ‘not’ and ‘but’ are bith followed by the preposition ‘by’.
(D) caused
not by stress, alcohol, and rich foods,
but -
Incorrect because the conjunction ‘not’ is followed by the preposition ‘by’ and the conjunction ‘but’ is followed by the noun ‘a bacterium’(in the non-underlined part of the sentence).
(E) caused
not by stress, alcohol, and rich foods,
but are by
-
Incorrect because the conjunction ‘not’ is followed by the preposition ‘by’ and the conjunction ‘but’ is followed by the helping verb ‘are’.
Therefore, C is the most appropriate option.Jayanthi Kumar.
_________________
Crackverbal Prep Team
www.crackverbal.com