Debashis Roy
GMATNinjaMy bad regarding that...But I have a question regarding option D.
Is this part : "...thereby leading to heightened consumption of CO2 levels, and bringing down the temperature..", doesnt the use of and leads to the thinking that the heightened CO2 consumption and temperatures brought down are 2 independent things? I thought the sentence actually means that "bringing down the temperature" is an effect of "heightened CO2 consumption"...Therefore I had selected E as the correct answer
Please help! Thanks again
Good question! I see your point. If I have a choice between, "Tim fell down the stairs, breaking his ankle," and "Tim fell down the stairs and broke his ankle," I'd have a preference for the first construction, since this sentence clarifies that he broke his ankle as a
consequence of having falling down the stairs. The second sentence, on the other hand, makes it sound as though the actions might have been distinct, and maybe Tim broke his ankle later when something completely unrelated. However, I wouldn't say that the second sentence is definitively WRONG - it also seems reasonable enough to have poor Tim do both actions as parallel verbs.
I'd want to look for another decision point when comparing (D) and (E). Take another look at (E): "
The burning of fossil fuels
raise the level of CO2 in the atmosphere and
cause..." The subject of the sentence, "the burning", is singular, but the associated verbs, "raise" and "cause", are both plural. So (E) has a definitive error, and it's out.
I hope that helps!