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Question

I am confused with this one. Pls explain your answers.. Thanks 5.JPG

twilight · Answer

E for me

A. create farmland and gave customers....incorrect
B. Changes meaning - systematic clearing gave inexpensive houses, not new farmlands.
C. Obvously incorrect sentence construction
D. "but it also" is not required
E. correct

GMAT TIGER · Answer

I go for D cuz "not only............., it..........." is fine.

Does anybody has a clear explanation for this one?

gameCode · Answer

Strangely enough the QA is D. I am not at all convinced. I guess most of you have not gone for B because i have already marked it.

Those who have chosen D, can you pls explain why you went for it ? GMATTiger , there is no "not only" in D, its "but also" without not only, which is what confuses me.

Ritula, can you explain your reasons pls ?

Thanks.

ritula · Answer

Here is my explanation:
A and B are out because we cant use "gave" with did. (Not only  did .............. gave  )
C is awkward
In E,  not only  should be followed by  but also 
D clearly conveys the meaning that though clearing of forests provided advantages but it also carried disadvantages with it. hence D should be the choice

scthakur · Answer

My explanation for D.

There are two parts of the sentence and these two parts are joined by a conjunction "but". If you take these parts apart and read as two different sentences, the meaning is clear. Instead, this option uses a conjunciton and joins the two sentences.

gameCode · Answer

I get it now. Thanks Ritula and scthakur.

I have been stuck on the idiom . I should really have an open mind while approaching the choices, the first two choices blocked my mind and i did'nt consider any other choice after that seriously.

Thanks everybody.

billyjeans · Answer

E doesn't make any sense.

create farmland, giving consumer inexpensive housing and furniture, but it also..

create farmland is not what gives consumer housing and furniture, cutting forest is. This is a modifier problem in E.

Thus best answer is D

reply2spg · Answer

why A is wrong here...it uses did create and gave, don't you think both are in simple past tense?

Legend · Answer

Although I thought 'A' was wrong initally, I was leaning towards A simply because I thought that 'not only...but also' always go together. Apparently they don't. I shall try to explain why the other answers are wrong though.

A - As someone correctly pointed out the word 'gave' spoils this sentence. We need to use 'give' for parallelism.

B - The relative pronoun "which" is used incorrectly. It's not the the farmland that gave consumers cheap homes, it's the clearing of the forest that did so. You have to replace the pronoun "which" with the noun or noun clause that comes right before it and see whether the sentence is logical.

C - This sentence is clearly wrong. The modifier used just doesn't make sense.

D - OA

E - Idiomatic --- 'Not only' always takes a 'but also'. Just wish to point out that it is perfectly acceptable to split the 'but also' part the way they have in 'A'.

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