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Marked A.
Has the correct parallel structure for “not as .... but as”.

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The Dust Bowl was the result of frequent deep plowing followed by an extensive drought and high winds, but many agriculturists view it not as a senseless tragedy, but as an opportunity to develop cultivation methods with less impact on the topsoil.

A. not as a senseless tragedy, but as
B. not as a senseless tragedy, rather
C. not only as a senseless tragedy, but rather as
D. as not a senseless tragedy, but as
E. as not a senseless tragedy, but


A quick scan of the options blasts the idiom “not ___, but ___.” This is a classic idiom, which means it follows a strict structure, and parallelism in these types of contrasting idioms is always critical.

After reading the sentence carefully, the original sentence seems to contain a correct idiomatic match. Let’s review the other options.

Options D and E place the “as” in front of the “not,” but the “as” follows the “but” in Option D and there is no second “as” in Option E. Neither of these display parallel structure, so they cannot be the correct answers.

Options B and C use “rather” in place of or in addition to “but.” While “but rather” is an idiom, it is not used with “not only” (Option C), and in this situation, “rather” cannot stand on its own in this contrasting statement (Option B) and would need to be “but rather.”

Neither Options B nor C use the idiom correctly, so Option A is the best answer.
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+1 A


The Dust Bowl was the result of frequent deep plowing followed by an extensive drought and high winds, but many agriculturists view it not as a senseless tragedy, but as an opportunity to develop cultivation methods with less impact on the topsoil.

Not.......But is Correct Idiom

Quote:
A. not as a senseless tragedy, but as

Correct, Not....But has been used correctly

Quote:
B. not as a senseless tragedy, rather

Not as....Rather is not Correct Idiom

Quote:
C. not only as a senseless tragedy, but rather as

Not only as......Rather as is not Parallel

Quote:
D. as not a senseless tragedy, but as

as not....but as not parallel

Quote:
E. as not a senseless tragedy, but

As not ....but an is not correct
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rohitchayal
The correct idiom is “ Not X but Y” where X and Y should be parallel that cancels out B and C in option D, X and Y are not parallel E skews the meaning which leave us with option A which uses the correct idiom and in which X and Y are parallel.

A is the correct option

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Well done, rohitchayal! You cracked the parallelism problems in this question!
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The Dust Bowl was the result of frequent deep plowing followed by an extensive drought and high winds, but many agriculturists view it not as a senseless tragedy, but as an opportunity to develop cultivation methods with less impact on the topsoil.

A. not as a senseless tragedy, but as
B. not as a senseless tragedy, rather
C. not only as a senseless tragedy, but rather as
D. as not a senseless tragedy, but as
E. as not a senseless tragedy, but


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Correct idiom ..Not X, But Y

A. not as a senseless tragedy, but as---Correct
B. not as a senseless tragedy, rather
C. not only as a senseless tragedy, but rather as
D. as not a senseless tragedy, but as-----Not parallel
E. as not a senseless tragedy, but-----Not parallel


Ans A

Well done, rohit8865! You cracked the parallelism problem with this question! Kudos to you!
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Marked A.
Has the correct parallel structure for “not as .... but as”.

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Well done, @Same_Good_Kid! You cracked the parallelism problem!
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LoneSurvivor
+1 A


The Dust Bowl was the result of frequent deep plowing followed by an extensive drought and high winds, but many agriculturists view it not as a senseless tragedy, but as an opportunity to develop cultivation methods with less impact on the topsoil.

Not.......But is Correct Idiom

Quote:
A. not as a senseless tragedy, but as

Correct, Not....But has been used correctly

Quote:
B. not as a senseless tragedy, rather

Not as....Rather is not Correct Idiom

Quote:
C. not only as a senseless tragedy, but rather as

Not only as......Rather as is not Parallel

Quote:
D. as not a senseless tragedy, but as

as not....but as not parallel

Quote:
E. as not a senseless tragedy, but

As not ....but an is not correct

Well done, LoneSurvivor!

You cracked the parallelism problems with this question, and I like the way you showed how you came to your conclusion!

Kudos to you!
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Approach:

Parallelism Based Problem

A. not as a senseless tragedy, but as - Perfect Parallel, correct one.
B. not as a senseless tragedy, rather - Correct Idiom is NOT X... BUT Y, Usage of Rather is incorrect.
C. not only as a senseless tragedy, but rather as - but rather is incorrect, we can't use But and Rather together. + Incorrect idiom.
D. as not a senseless tragedy, but as - Parallelism error, "as" is placed incorrectly.
E. as not a senseless tragedy, but... - Parallelism error, "as" is missing in the 2nd part of sentence.

Option A it is!!


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Pack 1, Question 2
The Dust Bowl was the result of frequent deep plowing followed by an extensive drought and high winds, but many agriculturists view it not as a senseless tragedy, but as an opportunity to develop cultivation methods with less impact on the topsoil.

A. not as a senseless tragedy, but as
B. not as a senseless tragedy, rather
C. not only as a senseless tragedy, but rather as
D. as not a senseless tragedy, but as
E. as not a senseless tragedy, but

◀ Pack 1, Question 1
▶ Pack 1, Question 3

⏏ Question Pack Home


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Share your explanation! The GMAT Club member with the most verified Kudos in total on the 5 question SC Pack 1 will win an $85 EMPOWERgmat tuition credit, which will entitle the winner to a full month of complete access to the EMPOWERgmat system. Even if you're not sure about your answer or your rationale, share your explanation to help boost your learning and earn a chance to win.

To be eligible, your explanation must:
    •be submitted within the 48 hour window after this post was created
    •should explain your reasoning why the answer you chose is correct, and why the other 4 options are incorrect within 48 hours of this post

The OA and official explanation will be held until the 48 hour window has lapsed.
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