Technological advances may make it possible to build robots that

Hello rrn98,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the relative clause "that resemble" is superior to the present participle ("verb+ing" - "resembling" in this sentence) because it uses the simple present tense verb "resemble" to refer to information that is permanent in nature; remember, information that is permanent in nature is best conveyed through the simple present tense.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

You don't need to use this decision point. Both (D) and (E) have other meaning problems.

In (D), the phrase, "human beings regarding their dexterity..." make it sound as though the humans are "regarding," or looking at, their own dexterity! You can probably figure out what the author intends if you reread a few times, but the construction is confusing at best.

In (E), it sounds as though the "robots" resemble "human dexterity," as if a robot can resemble a human attribute, as opposed to sharing some attributes. Also illogical.

The takeaway: if you're stuck between two constructions and they both seem reasonable, look for other differences! Sometimes what appears to be a juicy decision point is really just two different, but valid ways to express the same idea.

I hope that helps!

I find A and E almost similar - as one of them MUST BE eliminated, BOTH must be eliminated. A & E OUT. C is the best option - no issues with option C, very clear that the comparison of Robots is with human beings that have certain attributes (in terms of certain attributes).

HI GMATNinja egmat DmitryFarber Can someone please explain why E is wrong?
I mean why can't we say " build robots resembling human dexterity, adaptability, and sensory capabilities."
Because it's just like saying "I made a work of art resembling human suffering."

TIA

Both are illogical. A "robot resembling human dexterity" would be a robot that looked like an abstract feature. A robot can't resemble dexterity any more than it could resemble, say, greed. It could have these features. But not resemble them.

"A work of art resembling human suffering" would be a work that looked like actual suffering. You could produce art that depicted, or portrayed, suffering, but not one that resembled suffering. Put another way, a painting can show people suffering, but the painting itself doesn't suffer.

I hope that clears things up!

I think you have explained it well.
Therefore a sentence like "build robots having features resembling human dexterity, adaptability, and sensory capabilities" would be correct?

Hello manmohit10,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, yes; the sentence you have provided is correct, although it would be better to say "robots that have features...", as the action of having those features is meant to be a habitual action; remember, habitual action is best conveyed through the simple present tense.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

In addition to the perfect explanations above, let me add this just incase it offers someone a soft landing:
When that is used in an essential way, I read somewhere, that it needs clarification. In this example on C that is modified to make things clearer "resemble humans in terms of " The same applies to THOSE.
It would be nice to hear a take on this

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