The earliest English settlers in Virginia failed to survive their first winter in the New World because of factors such as inadequate food supplies, harsh weather, and an inability to communicate with Native Americans.


A. an inability

B. that they were unable

C. because they were unable

D. being unable

E. lacking an ability
_________________

New to the Math Forum?
Please read this: Ultimate GMAT Quantitative Megathread | All You Need for Quant | PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW: 12 Rules for Posting!!!

Resources:
GMAT Math Book | Triangles | Polygons | Coordinate Geometry | Factorials | Circles | Number Theory | Remainders; 8. Overlapping Sets | PDF of Math Book; 10. Remainders | GMAT Prep Software Analysis | SEVEN SAMURAI OF 2012 (BEST DISCUSSIONS) | Tricky questions from previous years.

Collection of Questions:
PS: 1. Tough and Tricky questions; 2. Hard questions; 3. Hard questions part 2; 4. Standard deviation; 5. Tough Problem Solving Questions With Solutions; 6. Probability and Combinations Questions With Solutions; 7 Tough and tricky exponents and roots questions; 8 12 Easy Pieces (or not?); 9 Bakers' Dozen; 10 Algebra set. ,11 Mixed Questions, 12 Fresh Meat

DS: 1. DS tough questions; 2. DS tough questions part 2; 3. DS tough questions part 3; 4. DS Standard deviation; 5. Inequalities; 6. 700+ GMAT Data Sufficiency Questions With Explanations; 7 Tough and tricky exponents and roots questions; 8 The Discreet Charm of the DS; 9 Devil's Dozen!!!; 10 Number Properties set., 11 New DS set.


What are GMAT Club Tests?
Extra-hard Quant Tests with Brilliant Analytics

A. an inability

Correctly maintain parallelism by providing a noun. CORRECT

B. that they were unable

Parallelism in the list needs a noun in the underlined portion. INCORRECT

C. because they were unable

Parallelism in the list needs a noun in the underlined portion. INCORRECT

D. being unable

Parallelism in the list needs a noun in the underlined portion. INCORRECT

E. lacking an ability

Parallelism in the list needs a noun in the underlined portion. The gerund in this sentence provides an action that is not parallel to other elements in the list. INCORRECT

Hence option A
_________________

If you like my post press kudos +1

New project wSTAT(which Schools To Apply To?)

New - RC Butler - 2 RC's everyday

Considering parallel structure, A is the best answer as other elements are also nouns. We can't add any other element like a clause to this sentence.