Hundreds of species of fish generate and discharge electric currents

Question

Hundreds of species of fish generate and discharge electric currents, in bursts or as steady electric fields around their bodies, using their power  either to find and attack prey, to defend themselves, or also for communicating and navigating.

(A) either to find and attack prey, to defend themselves, or also for communicating and navigating

(B) either for finding and attacking prey, defend themselves, or for communication and navigation

(C) to find and attack prey, for defense, or communication and navigation

(D) for finding and attacking prey, to defend themselves, or also for communication and navigation

(E) to find and attack prey, to defend themselves, or to communicate and navigate

dream21 · Accepted Answer

Hundreds of species of fish generate and discharge electric currents, in bursts or as steady electric fields around their bodies, using their power either to find and attack prey, to defend themselves, or also for communicating and navigating.

(A) either to find and attack prey, to defend themselves,  or also  for communicating and navigating  (Wrong Idiom) 
(B) either  for finding and attacking prey , defend themselves, or for communication and navigation  (Purpose so "to" required) 
(C) to find and attack prey,  for defense , or communication and navigation  (Parallelism Not Correct) 
(D)  for finding and attacking prey , to defend themselves, or also for communication and navigation (Purpose so "to" required)
(E)  to find and attack prey, to defend themselves, or to communicate and navigate

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Verb Forms + Parallelism + Idioms

• “to + base form of verb” is the correct infinitive verb form construction, which is used as a noun, to show purpose/intent of an action, and to modify adjectives and verbs.
• “neither A nor B” and “either A or B” are idiomatic uses and are only used when referring to two elements; A and B must be parallel. 
• All elements in a list must be parallel.

A:  This answer choice incorrectly uses the construction "either...or" to refer to a list of three elements; remember, “neither A nor B” and “either A or B” are idiomatic uses and are only used when referring to two elements; A and B must be parallel.

B:  This answer choice incorrectly uses the construction "either...or" to refer to a list of three elements; remember, “neither A nor B” and “either A or B” are idiomatic uses and are only used when referring to two elements; A and B must be parallel. Further, Option B fails to maintain the correct infinitive verb form construction ("to + base form of verb" - "to + defend" in this case), as it omits the "to"; remember, “to + base form of verb” is the correct infinitive verb form construction, which is used as a noun, to show purpose/intent of an action, and to modify adjectives and verbs.

C:  This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism among "to find and attack prey", "for defense", and "communication and navigation"; remember, all elements in a list must be parallel.

D:  This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism among "for finding and attacking prey", "to defend themselves", and "for communication and navigation"; remember, all elements in a list must be parallel.

E:   Correct.  This answer choice maintains the correct infinitive verb form construction ("to + base form of verb" - "to + find", "to...+ attack", "to + defend", "to + communicate", and "to...+ navigate" in this sentence). Further, Option E maintains parallelism among "to find and attack prey", "to defend themselves", and "to communicate and navigate". Additionally, Option E avoids the idiom error seen in Options A and B, as it does not employ the "either...or" construction.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Either-Or" and "Neither-Nor" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RRXig-qbG8

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

blueseas · Answer

IDIOM TEST:
EITHER X OR Y
X and Y MUST BE PARALLEL.
only E is USING parallel structure.

hence E

GMATPill · Answer

Note you can also flip the sentence as such:

"Using their power to A, to B, and to C, hundreds of species of fish generate and discharge electric currents."

The descriptive phrase "in bursts or as steady electric fields around their bodies" - really is just fluff.

Since the above flipped sentence makes sense, then we can say the original unflipped version makes sense as well.

honchos · Answer

EITHER X OR Y is a dual marker of parallelism. It can compare only two items. So use of EITHER X OR Y
is wrong here.

C and D doesn't have ||'sm. E wins.

warriorguy · Answer

I have a query

I have read that - the construction is generally in the format ---> to X, Y and Z and NOT --> to X, to Y and to Z.

Though I chose E because it was the best among other options but is it stylistically correct?

abhimahna · Answer

No, both are optional. We can have either 'once outside' or 'every time inside' rule.

So, both the below statements are correct.

Either to X, to Y or to Z

or

to Either X,Y or Z.

grad2020 · Answer

in Option E

to defend  is part of II list or is modifier of  to find and attack prey  ?

I thought its acting as modifier and if this is the case then "Either to X or to Y" is valid.

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  gaitbhu , when you say you thought its acting as  modifier , then your interpretation is that fish attack prey in order to defend themselves!

Well, by some stretch of imagination, I suppose that's possible (attack is the best defense:)).

However, if that was the intent, one would  not  have expected a  comma  after prey. Isn't it?

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Hundreds of species of fish generate and discharge electric currents, in bursts or as steady electric fields around their bodies, using their power  either to find and attack prey, to defend themselves, or also for communicating and navigating .

(A) either to find and attack prey, to defend themselves, or also for communicating and navigating  "to find", "to defend" and " for  communicating" are not parallel. Eliminate.

(B) either for finding and attacking prey, defend themselves, or for communication and navigation  "for finding", "defend" and "for communication" are not parallel. Eliminate.

(C) to find and attack prey, for defense, or communication and navigation  "to find", "for defense" and "communication" are not parallel. Eliminate.

(D) for finding and attacking prey, to defend themselves, or also for communication and navigation  "for finding", " to  defend" and "for communication" are not parallel. Eliminate.

(E) to find and attack prey, to defend themselves, or to communicate and navigate  Correct answer.

Hope this helps.

kadamhari825 · Answer

Hello experts  sayantanc2k   AjiteshArun   VeritasKarishma

Though I got this question correct by looking at parallelism, i could not understand what  using their power either to find and attack prey, to defend themselves, or to communicate and navigate   is doing in the sentence. Is it modifying the earlier clause  Hundreds of species of fish generate and discharge  ? but for me it is hard to see how the phrase "using......and nevigate" modifying the earlier clause.

Thanks and regards

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  kadamhari825 ,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt.

Here, "using their power either to find and attack prey, to defend themselves, or to communicate and navigate" modifies the action "generate and discharge electric currents" to convey that the fish generate and discharge electric currents for the purpose of using their power either to find and attack prey, to defend themselves, or to communicate and navigate. Remember, the introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “using” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.

To understand the concept of "Comma plus Present Participle for Cause Effect relationship" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~3 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVLneikI70Q

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

KarishmaB · Answer

This is the structure of the sentence:

Fish generate and discharge electric currents, in bursts or as steady electric fields..., using their power to do A, to do B or to do C.

A - find and attack prey, (find & attack are related actions. They find and then attack)
B - defend themselves, 
C - communicate and navigate (again, relation actions)

"using their power to do A, to do B or to do C" modifies the previous clause "fish generate and discharge electric currents...".

So they use the currents for A, B or C.

Tanvi01 · Answer

Hi In this ques how can I find parallelism in first 'OR' i.e. present after bursts.
Hundreds of species of fish generate and discharge electric currents, in bursts OR as steady electric fields around their bodies, using their power either to find and attack prey, to defend themselves, or also for communicating and navigating.

EducationAisle · Answer

Parallelism is between the following two  prepositional phrases :
(i) in bursts 
OR 
(ii) as steady electric fields

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  Tanvi01 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, this "or" is a parallelism marker between the prepositional phrases "in bursts" and "as steady electric fields"; we can determine this by taking a look at what the sentence is trying to present a contrast between through this "or"; from the preceding clause "Hundreds of species of fish generate and discharge electric currents", we can tell that the two elements being contrasted are the two ways in which the fish discharge electric currents.

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

anshul0130 · Answer

ExpertsGlobal5   KarishmaB  - Can you pls review my analysis of the correct answer and confirm whether it's correct or not?

Hundreds of species of fish generate and discharge electric currents, in bursts or as steady electric fields around their bodies, using their power to find and attack prey, to defend themselves, or to communicate and navigate.

In the correct option, "in bursts or as steady electric fields around their bodies" describes how electric currents are discharged so if we remove the portion in between comma then present participle(using) modifies currents.

Hundreds of species of fish generate and discharge electric currents using their power to find and attack prey, to defend themselves, or to communicate and navigate.

Thanks,
Anshul

KarishmaB · Answer

Yes, this is correct. Just note that "using their power ..." is a present participle at the end of the sentence separated by a comma. It modifies the previous clause "they generate and discharge electric current", not just currents.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  PanpaliaAnshul ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, your reasoning is largely correct, but as  KarishmaB  has written, "using" modifies the entire preceding clause, not just "currents"; remember, the introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “using” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship, and this relationship exists between the action conveyed in the clause before the comma and the present participle phrase.

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

Hundreds of species of fish generate and discharge electric currents

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Hundreds of species of fish generate and discharge electric currents

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