The results of two recent unrelated studies support the idea

Question

The results of two recent unrelated studies support the idea that dolphins may share certain cognitive abilities with humans and great apes; the studies indicate  dolphins as capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness—and to grasp spontaneously  the mood or intention of humans.

A. dolphins as capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness—and to grasp spontaneously

B. dolphins' ability to recognize themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered as a sign of self-awareness—and of spontaneously grasping

C. dolphins to be capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness—and to grasp spontaneously

D. that dolphins have the ability of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered as a sign of self-awareness—and spontaneously grasping

E. that dolphins are capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness—and of spontaneously grasping

egmat · Accepted Answer

Hi there,

There are three errors in option D.

1. The correct idiom is 'ability to', not 'ability of'.
2. 'Consider as' is also an idiom error. 'Consider' should not be followed by 'as' or 'to be'.
3. 'Of' should be repeated to make the parallelism clear.

I hope this helps to clarify your doubts!

Regards,
Meghna

egmat · Answer

Hi @wontgiveup: Any survey, study, or research talks about some finding. Generally, this finding is not a single object but some fact. Hence, it is obvious to write that fact in a clause, giving us some information about it. This is the reason why the explanation states that “indicate” must be followed by a clause because here we are talking about a study supporting some idea. Hope this helps.

Thanks. Shraddha

TeHCM · Answer

Agree with duttsit, E it is Indicate "that" is needed. ||ism...."of....of" P.s. Hope all of you guys had a wonderful X'mas! :-D

giddi77 · Answer

E for m(E) too.

A/B/C have no verb
D. "ability of" is not idiomatic. Also parallelism is lost.

About E, can't say anything better than duttsit and TeHCM.

capable of X .... and of Y is the right construction

metallicafan · Answer

+1 E

Splits:
"Indicate" requires "that". A, B, and C out.
"Consider" doesn't need "as". D out.
Parallelism. A, B.and C out.

E is the answer.

wontgiveup · Answer

the official ans states that--"In the context of the sentence , the studies indicate  must introduce a clause"
my question is- is there any rule like the above,why it MUST introduce a clause??

egmat · Answer

Hi Kinjal, It's fine to eliminate option D on the basis of "as". Since this part of the sentence is pretty long, it just helps to make the parallelism clear when "of" is repeated. In fact, the OG explanation states that the two items on the list are not parallel if "of" is not repeated. While it's possible to say that ellipsis can be applied in this case and "of" can be omitted, it's clear from sentences such as this one that official questions prefer to repeat prepositions in parallel items. Hope this helps.

Regards, Meghna

SidKaria · Answer

the results of two recent unrelated studies support the idea that dolphins may share certain cognitive abilities with humans and great apes; the studies indicate dolphins as capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness—and to grasp spontaneously the mood or intention of humans. 
A.dolphins as capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness—and to grasp spontaneously

B.dolphins' ability to recognize themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered as a sign of self-awareness—and of spontaneously grasping

C.dolphins to be capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness—and to grasp spontaneously

D. that dolphins have the ability of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered as a sign of self-awareness—and spontaneously grasping

E. that dolphins are capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness—and of spontaneously grasping

I rejected option d because ability of is unidiomatic.But the explanation in the Og says that there is one more error in the sentence that of recognizing is not parallel to grasping.
I think that they are parallel. of can be taken as comman as it is taken in many of the other OG questions. 
 
eg.
Lawmakers are examining measures that would require banks to disclose all fees and account requirements in writing, provide free cashing of government checks, and to create basic savings accounts to carry minimal fees and require minimal initial deposits.

(A) provide free cashing of government checks, and to create basic savings accounts to carry
(B) provide free cashing of government checks, and creating basic savings accounts carrying
(C) to provide free cashing of government checks, and creating basic savings accounts that carry
(D) to provide free cashing of government checks, creating basic savings accounts to carry
(E) to provide free cashing of government checks, and to create basic savings accounts that carry
 The explanation of this question says that both "to disclose,to provide ,and to create" and "to disclose,provide ,and create" are correct.
 
please help.

Also wanted to know that which one of the following questions is correct.
1)sid thinks that rahul is the best batsman and that nayan is he best bowler. 
2)sid thinks that rahul is the best batsman and nayan(is) the best bowler.
 
i think that the 2nd sentence is correct as the clause starts from rahul and that is only a connector. 
 
please help.

EducationAisle · Answer

While in this case, both are correct, but we cannot have a  blanket  rule that in  every  case, we can remove the  preposition , and the sentence would still be correct. For example:

i)  Rahul is as comfortable with Shoaib as with Shane Warne .

The above sentence is  not  the same, when the second preposition  with  is removed:

ii)  Rahul is as comfortable with Shoaib as Shane Warne .

Statement ii) has two interpretations:

a)  Rahul is as comfortable with Shoaib as (Rahul is comfortable with) Shane Warne 
b)  Rahul is as comfortable with Shoaib as Shane Warne (is comfortable with Shoaib)

Coming on to this question, I would agree that there does not seem to be an explicit need of repeating the  of  with  spontaneously grasping , since there does not seem to be any ambiguity in the sentence. However, if you notice, there is another preposition  in  before  spontaneously grasping , and so, by repeating  of , the sentence just becomes very easy and unambiguous to read.

Also, I noticed that none of the posters above pointed out that D uses the incorect idiomatic construct  considered as . The correct idiom is just  considered .

hdwnkr · Answer

"Considered" is never used with a preposition such as "as" or with an infinitive form such as"to be". It is on its own. This helps eliminate B and D.

Parallelism helps eliminate A and C

Hence, E

Skywalker18 · Answer

The results of two recent unrelated studies support the idea that dolphins may share certain cognitive abilities with humans and great apes; the studies indicate  dolphins as capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness—and to grasp spontaneously  the mood or intention of humans.

A. dolphins as capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness—and to grasp spontaneously-- the studies indicate needs THAT ; parallelism issue - capable of recognizing and to grasp are not parallel

B. dolphins' ability to recognize themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered as a sign of self-awareness—and of spontaneously grasping -- same as A

C. dolphins to be capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness—and to grasp spontaneously -- same as A

D. that dolphins have the ability of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered as a sign of self-awareness—and spontaneously grasping -- ability of is unidiomatic ; considered as is incorrect

E. that dolphins are capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness—and of spontaneously grasping- Correct

Answer E

sanpreetsingh · Answer

A,B,C - "that" is needed to make the sentence unambiguous
D - Breaks parallelism of... and.. without of

Hence, E is the answer.

XYZABCABC · Answer

Hi  egmat

If the sentence was short, can we then apply ellipsis?

For e.g,

1. Dolphins are  capable of recognizing  themselves in mirrors  and   of  spontaneously  grasping  the mood or intention of humans.

2. Dolphins are  capable of recognizing  themselves in mirrors  and      spontaneously  grasping  the mood or intention of humans.

Are both the sentences above correct?

Regards

Prasannathawait · Answer

The results of two recent unrelated studies support the idea that dolphins may share certain cognitive abilities with humans and great apes; the studies indicate dolphins as capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness—and to grasp spontaneously the mood or intention of humans.

A.  dolphins as capable  of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness— and to grasp spontaneously
 
B.  dolphins' ability to recognize themselves in mirrors —an ability that is often considered as a sign of self-awareness—and of spontaneously grasping

C.  dolphins to be capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors —an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness—and to grasp spontaneously

D. that dolphins have the ability of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered as a  sign of self-awareness—and spontaneously grasping

E. that dolphins  are capable of recognizing themselves  in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign  of self-awareness—and of spontaneously grasping

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

The main concept tested here is  parallelism , which when identified can lead you to the right option.

What is the idiomatic structure here? 
 … capable of X… and of Y

Let’s look at the options one after the other:

A.  dolphins as capable  of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness— and to grasp  spontaneously
 ‘indicate that’ is the idiomatic expression. ‘and to grasp’ breaks the parallelism with ‘capable of’. The intent here is that the dolphins are capable of (A) recognizing and (B) grasping   Eliminate.

B.  dolphins' ability to  recognize themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered as a sign of self-awareness— and of spontaneously  grasping
 ‘indicate that’ is the correct expression. It is unidiomatic to say ‘considered as’ on the GMAT. Moreover, if you substitute this option back in the sentence, you’ll see that the main verb is missing.   Eliminate.

C.  dolphins to be  capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often considered a sign of self-awareness— and to grasp  spontaneously
 Same as B – absence of ‘that’ and lack of parallelism ‘to grasp’   Eliminate.

D. that dolphins have the  ability of  recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often  considered as  a sign of self-awareness—and spontaneously grasping
 ‘considered as’ is unidiomatic. This option also breaks parallelism with the preposition ‘of’.   Eliminate.

E.  that dolphins  are capable of recognizing themselves in mirrors—an ability that is often  considered a  sign of self-awareness— and of spontaneously grasping 
 Idiomatic expression ‘often considered a’. ‘indicate’ is followed by ‘that’.   This is the best option.

Hope this helps!

mba757 · Answer

Hello experts!

Quick question within B, is the "themselves" wrong because "dolphins'" is in the possessive?

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Many people would consider that reference incorrect, but personal pronouns referring to nouns in the possessive form have appeared in correct answers to GMAT SC questions. So, it wouldn't make sense to eliminate a choice because it included such a reference.

mba757 · Answer

I believe I saw similar instances. But in this answer choice, would it not be wrong? Something about "themselves" referring back to "dolphins'" (in the possessive) seems off.

thangvietnam · Answer

if i remember correctly, in a gmatprep problem, "considered as+noun" appears in 5 answer choices. so, "considered as+noun" is inferior and could be incorrect only in presence of 'considered +noun"

The results of two recent unrelated studies support the idea

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