Research indicates that the health of all multicellular organisms

The basic rule of correlative conjunctional parallelism such as-- not only……..but also, either…. or, whether ….. or, not because …. but because etc -goes as this;

Whatever form is on the right- hand side of the first arm of the conjunction namely not only, whether, either etc should be repeated after the right-hand side of the second arm namely but also, or, but because etc; In simpler terms, they should be parallel. Let’s now examine choice A;

A. including humans, depends on not only the ability of the organism to produce new cells but also whether individual cells are able

What is on the right - hand side of not only is a noun – the ability-; However, what is on the right-hand side of but also is –whether, another conjunction; One may see the parallelism has gone awry.
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A case of not only….. but also parallelism. Only C maintains it. C is the choice
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Finding difficult to eliminate A. Can experts please provide more specific guidance.

Straight (C). B, D & E are eliminated on the spot for wordiness.



The uncomfortable "depends on not only" made me eliminate A, C is more elegant.

Thanks abdul and daagh. Very helpful.

Research indicates that the health of all multicellular organisms, including humans, depends on not only the ability of the organism to produce new cells but also whether individual cells are able to self-destruct when they become superfluous or disordered.

A. including humans, depends on not only the ability of the organism to produce new cells but also whether individual cells are able
B. including humans, not only depends on the organism's ability to produce new cells but also the ability of individual cells
C. including humans, depends not only on the organism's ability to produce new cells but also on the ability of individual cells
D. which includes humans, depends on not only the organism's ability to produce new cells but also depending on the ability of individual cells
E. which includes humans, not only depends on whether the organism is able to produce new cells but also on the ability of individual cells
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Research indicates that the health of all multicellular organisms, including humans, depends on not only the ability of the organism to produce new cells but also whether individual cells are able to self-destruct when they become superfluous or disordered.

When looking at this problem it's important that the idiom "not only x but also y" is correct and that the sentence maintains its parallelism.

A. including humans, depends on not only the ability of the organism to produce new cells but also whether individual cells are able
The word "whether" disrupts the idiom "not only x but also y". Also the sentence is wordy. Should be not only the ability... but also the ability... Not "are able"

B. including humans, not only depends on the organism's ability to produce new cells but also the ability of individual cells
to maintain parallelism it should be not only depends on x... but also depends on y...

C. including humans, depends not only on the organism's ability to produce new cells but also on the ability of individual cells
Like Mary Poppins. Perfect in every way.

D. which includes humans, depends on not only the organism's ability to produce new cells but also depending on the ability of individual cells
"depending" is not necessary. It is also not parallel to "depends"

E. which includes humans, not only depends on whether the organism is able to produce new cells but also on the ability of individual cells
Not parallel.

Research indicates that the health of all multicellular organisms, including humans, depends on not only the ability of the organism to produce new cells but also whether individual cells are able to self-destruct when they become superfluous or disordered.

A. including humans, depends on not only the ability of the organism to produce new cells but also whether individual cells are able--this is not parallel (we're using the correct idiom not only... but also), but the words following not only must be mirrored by what follows but also--this isn't the case--incorrect
B. including humans, not only depends on the organism's ability to produce new cells but also the ability of individual cells--again, same issue, parallelism isn't maintained with respect to the not only, but also idiom
C. including humans, depends not only on the organism's ability to produce new cells but also on the ability of individual cells--correct with respect to grammar, parallelism and meaning
D. which includes humans, depends on not only the organism's ability to produce new cells but also depending on the ability of individual cells--"which includes humans" is modifying the "health of organisms"--incorrect and illogical modifier
E. which includes humans, not only depends on whether the organism is able to produce new cells but also on the ability of individual cells--same error as D

Choice C

A. including humans, depends on not only the ability of the organism to produce new cells but also whether individual cells are able (second part lacks "on" after "also")
B. including humans, not only depends on the organism's ability to produce new cells but also the ability of individual cells (the same as in A)
C. including humans, depends not only on the organism's ability to produce new cells but also on the ability of individual cells ("not only on"...is parallel to "but also on")
D. which includes humans, depends on not only the organism's ability to produce new cells but also depending on the ability of individual cells ("Organisms includes" is incorect. Organisms are plural.)
E. which includes humans, not only depends on whether the organism is able to produce new cells but also on the ability of individual cells (the same as in D)
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Research indicates that the health of all multicellular organisms, including humans, depends on not only the ability of the organism to produce new cells but also whether individual cells are able to self-destruct when they become superfluous or disordered.

A. including humans, depends on not only the ability of the organism to produce new cells but also whether individual cells are able - 'not only the ability.....but also whether' is not parallel.
B. including humans, not only depends on the organism's ability to produce new cells but also the ability of individual cells - 'not only depends on.....but also the ability of' is not parallel
C. including humans, depends not only on the organism's ability to produce new cells but also on the ability of individual cells - 'not only on the organism's ability.....but also on the ability' is parallel Hence correct.
D. which includes humans, depends on not only the organism's ability to produce new cells but also depending on the ability of individual cells - 'not only the organism's ability....but also depending on'is not parallel. Also verb is repeated.
E. which includes humans, not only depends on whether the organism is able to produce new cells but also on the ability of individual cells - 'not only depends on....but also on the ability' is not parallel. Verb 'Depends' is missing for second sentence.

+1 for Kudos....
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Hey Souvik

Can you help me with E. Between C and E, dont you think "including" is vague in modifying for humans in C whereas in E, "which" correctly modifies organisms?

E has two problems. First, incorrect use of "which". Since "which" modifies the closest noun then it should be "which include" since "organisms" are plural. Second, incorrect use of idiom "not only but also". Here "only" modifies "depends", hence after "but" there should be a verb (because of parallelism). Hence E is incorect
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One question about "modifier" !

When you have a sentence like : "blablabla, verb-ing blabla", the "ing" modifier refers to the entire preceding clause.
Whereas here, "including" refers to "multicellular organisms".

So I would say this is a wrong modifier.

Can you please explain me ?

Thanks

Hi Alex75PAris, that's a good observation. However, including is actually a well known exception to this rule. So, you might just want to remember it.

Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana documents this exception of "including", and provides examples to illustrate. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id, I can mail the corresponding section.
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Research indicates that the health of all multicellular organisms, including humans, depends on not only the ability of the organism to produce new cells but also whether individual cells are able to self-destruct when they become superfluous or disordered.

A. including humans, depends on not only the ability of the organism to produce new cells but also whether individual cells are able
B. including humans, not only depends on the organism's ability to produce new cells but also (on) the ability of individual cells
C. including humans, depends not only on the organism's ability to produce new cells but also on the ability of individual cells
D. which includes humans, depends on not only the organism's ability to produce new cells but also depending on the ability of individual cells
E. which includes humans, not only depends on whether the organism is able to produce new cells but also on the ability of individual cells
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Merged topics. Please, search before posting questions!
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Hi,

I would like to check whether the phrase "ability of" right in the correct choice. Manhattan Sc states that "ability to " is right and not "ability of "

Please help on this.

thank you in advance,

I agree with daagh sir. I almost fell for option B. However I found that the clause not only depends on but also DEPENDS ON is missing. It's a clear cut parallelism error.

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Easy pickings Issue 1 - SV Agreement
"organisms" = plural "includes" = singular -> Eliminate D and E
D. which includes humans, depends on not only the organism's ability to produce new cells but also depending on the ability of individual cells
E. which includes humans, not only depends on whether the organism is able to produce new cells but also on the ability of individual cells

Issue 2 - Parallelism
A. including humans, depends on not only the ability of the organism to produce new cells but also whether individual cells are able
B. including humans, not only depends on the organism's ability to produce new cells but also (depends on has been ommitted) the ability of individual cells
C. including humans, depends not only on the organism's ability to produce new cells but also on the ability of individual cells

C is correct as it maintains symmetry between parallelism markers "not only...but also"
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