GMATNinja wrote:
tejaswym95 wrote:
I have been able to come down to options A and B,
But I'm not able to understand why A over B?
This comes down to a very subtle difference in the way "-ing" words can function as nouns. Consider two examples:
1) "Teaching his children not to eat thumbtacks has not been as much of a priority for Tim as it should have been."
In this example, "teaching" is the subject of the sentence. While it's technically a noun here, it feels somewhat verb-like in the sense that it captures an action Tim is doing. (Or, in this case, not doing.) Now consider another example:
2) "The teaching Tim provided his children has proved inadequate, as they still begin every day by eating mounds and mounds of thumbtacks."
Now, "the teaching" is the subject. Notice that this construction feels more noun-like than the first one - you could easily imagine substituting a phrase like "the instruction" or "the lesson" in place of "the teaching."
This distinction turns out to be important when there's a parallelism issue. In the example you're asking about, we need something to be parallel to "the clearing," which feels more like the second example above, and is more noun-like. So we'd prefer this to be parallel to another element that plays a similar noun-like role.
The problem in (B) is that "removing," even if it's technically a noun, feels more verb-like, and seems to suggest an entity actively performing the act of removing, whereas in (A) "the removal of" feels more noun-like and so creates better parallelism with "the clearing."
Takeaway: This is a very subtle point, but it's one that doesn't require you to internalize a lot of terminology about action nouns or complex vs simple gerunds. Rather, it's a good reminder that parallelism isn't about two elements of a sentence
looking the same, but about elements playing the same
role. So long as you don't go on auto-pilot and instead remind yourself to think about the logical function of the parts of a sentence, you're more likely to notice those subtle distinctions.
I hope that helps!
Fantastic explanation!
The issue appears in subtle ways in a variety of official questions.
If the “-ING” is TRULY functioning in the capacity of a Noun, we should be able to modify it with “the” and other adjectives.
In this capacity, a Direct Object Noun will not follow the -ing.
In most cases, this will imply that the subject of the clause is not directly involved in performing whatever it is the “-ING” described. (Here, we have a dedicated noun for this function: “removal”)
On the other hand:
If the “-ING” is acting….. verby?
Or as some grammarians would say as a “true gerund”, then a direct object noun will follow.
Most of the “-ING” words can function in both capacities, hence the
Manhattan prep dichotomy: complex gerunds vs simple gerunds.
Rather than remember all these crazy “thou shall nots”, learning how to understand the meaning of the sentence simplifies the entire process.
B: “The cottontail rabbit population in Orange County, California, has increased unchecked in recent years as a result of REMOVING THE NATIVE FOX POPULATION and THE clearing of surrounding woodlands.”
If we cut down some of the extraneous stuff and just look at the core idea of the sentence we get:
(B) “The rabbit population has increased unchecked as a result of removing the native fox population.”
The sentence implies that it is the rabbit population (I.e., the rabbits themselves) that performed the action of “removing the native fox population.”
(Notice the direct object noun immediately after the -ING: “native fox population”)
This is illogical, and hence B can not be correct.
In C, although we have placed an article in front of “removing” (THE removing) and changed the direct object to a prepositional phrase (“the removing OF the native fox population”), there are two issues:
(1st) we have a dedicated noun form that describes this action: “removal”
(2nd) “resulting from _____” is often preceded by a noun phrase or used to modify that noun phrase.
For instance:
“The number of deaths resulting from the unwarranted war is beyond expectations.”
On the other hand:
“as a result of ______” tends to serve better as a modifier of a phrase/clause
“As a result of rampant inflation, most households are having a hard time paying for certain premium goods and services.”
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