HOT Competition 27 Aug/8AM: The Income Tax Office of investigations an

Question

The Income Tax Office of investigations and inspections plans to sharpen its examination of stock analysts  to investigate not only whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also whether disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or when they are  paid for their work by a company’s investment department.

A. to investigate not only whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also whether disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or when they are

B. to investigate not only whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also if disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or they are

C. to not only investigate whether or not research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also if disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or are

D. not only to investigate whether or not research is an independent function at brokerage firms, but also whether conflicts result when analysts own the stocks they write about or are

E. not only to investigate whether research is an independent function at brokerage firms, or whether conflicts result when analysts own the stocks they write about or when

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

CRACK Verbal Explanation

A. CORRECT ANSWER.  Correct usage of 'not only but also'. Maintains parallelism.
B. Not only whether' and 'but also if' are not parallel. Note also that "if" is used to state a condition not a choice.
C. not only investigate' and 'but also if' are not parallel. Use of 'whether or not' introduces redundancy. Usage of "if" is incorrect.
D. not only to investigate' and 'but also whether' are not parallel. "whether or not" is redundant.
E. not only to investigate' and 'but also whether' are not parallel.

aswindvc · Answer

The Income Tax Office of investigations and inspections plans to sharpen its examination of stock analysts to investigate not only whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also whether disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or when they are paid for their work by a company’s investment department.

A. to investigate not only whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also whether disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or when they are

“Not only whether......but also whether..” . Correct parallel structure maintained. So option A is correct.

B. to investigate not only whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also if disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or they are

“Not only whether....but also if....”. Incorrect parallelism. So option B is wrong.

C. to not only investigate whether or not research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also if disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or are

“Not only investigate...but also if...” . Incorrect parallelism. So option C is wrong.

D. not only to investigate whether or not research is an independent function at brokerage firms, but also whether conflicts result when analysts own the stocks they write about or are

“Not only to investigate....but also whether....”. Incorrect parallelism. So option D is wrong.

E. not only to investigate whether research is an independent function at brokerage firms, or whether conflicts result when analysts own the stocks they write about or when

“Not only... needs but also..” . Incorrect parallel structure. So option E is wrong.

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Nevernevergiveup · Answer

A. to investigate not only whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also whether disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or when they are.......correct as is

B. to investigate not only whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also  if disputes result  when analysts own the stocks they write about or they are

D. not only to investigate whether or not research is an independent function at brokerage firms, but also whether conflicts result when analysts own the stocks they write about or are............ to is not parallel to whether

C. to not only investigate whether or not research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also  if disputes  result when analysts own the stocks they write about or are.............parallelism issue again.

E. not only to investigate whether research is an independent function at brokerage firms , or whether  conflicts result when analysts own the stocks they write about or when............... but also is missing

sonee@gmail.com · Answer

OA is A.

The Income Tax Office of investigations and inspections plans to sharpen its examination of stock analysts to investigate not only whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also whether disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or when they are paid for their work by a company’s investment department.

A. to investigate not only whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also whether disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or when they are

B. to investigate not only whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also if disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or they are

C. to not only investigate whether or not research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also if disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or are

D. not only to investigate whether or not research is an independent function at brokerage firms, but also whether conflicts result when analysts own the stocks they write about or are

E. not only to investigate whether research is an independent function at brokerage firms, or whether conflicts result when analysts own the stocks they write about or when

My POE is as follows:
Option A seems fine to me as, with no grammatical mistakes, parallelism markers are placed correctly. The list is aptly worded - So I keep A as a contender
Option B list is not parallel . not only x but also Y, where X and Y should have a similar grammatical structure. But in this option, not only whether... but also if ....  So option B is not correct as it as parellelism error. 
Option C has whether or not.  Usage of whether or not is redundant so eliminate C and Option D for the same reasons  
Option E uses only not only parallelism marker, whereas it should always be used with but also idiomatically.  So this sentence is also wrong.

So Option A is the best possible choice

JonShukhrat · Answer

What we are tested on here is the correct usage of the idiom “not only X, but also Y” in which X and Y must be parallel.

A.  to investigate not only whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also whether disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or when they are

This one has a correct parallelism with two similar noun clauses: to investigate not only X, but also Y
X = whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies
Y = whether disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about

There are other two parallel elements that make choice A superior: disputes results when X or when Y
X = when analysts own the stocks they write about
Y = when they are paid for their work…

B.  to investigate not only whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also  if  disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about  or they are

1. we can see that “whether clause” and “if clause” are not as parallel as choice A’s similar elements are. The reason is that “whether clause” is a noun clause that is the object of the verb “investigate”, as in “investigate something”. However, “if clause” is not a noun clause, but a conditional marker, so it cannot be the object of the verb “investigate”. 
2. in simple words, we cannot write “to investigate if disputes result” as to investigate something. So such usage is wrong. 
3. because the second “when” misses after “or”, this sentence is not as easily readable as choice A. We will have to reread it several times before we get the core meaning.

C.  to not only investigate whether or not research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies, but also  if  disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or  are  paid for their work by a company’s investment department

1. not only investigate, but also if disputes = not only verb, but also conditional clause. We can see that these two are not parallel.
2. “or are paid” makes the sentence further unreadable because a reader may relate “are” to another plural noun “disputes”. Since “or” is parallel marker, it can grammatically make “are” to “result”. This is not the intended meaning though.

D.  not only to investigate whether or not research is an independent function at brokerage firms, but also  whether  conflicts result when analysts own the stocks they write about or  are

1. not only infinitive, but also noun clause – is not parallel at all. 
2. “whether or not” – is a redundant construction in this choice because “not” can be omitted but easily discerned by the reader. 
3. “or are paid” makes the sentence further unreadable because a reader may relate “are” to another plural noun “disputes”. Since “or” is parallel marker, it can grammatically make “are” to “result”. This is not the intended meaning though.

E.  not only to investigate whether research is an independent function at brokerage firms,  or whether  conflicts result when analysts own the stocks they write about or  when 
 
1. we have the first halve of the idiom but the other half is missing. 
2. “when paid for their work” part misses a verb and thus is a fragment.

Hence   A

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BenjaminS · Answer

This question tests the parallelism.

Meaning 
 The Income Tax Office of investigations and inspections   (Subject)   plans   (Verb)  to sharpen its examination of stock analysts to investigate  whether research is an independent aspect at brokerage companies  and  whether disputes result when analysts own the stocks they write about or when they are paid for their work by a company’s investment department.

Analysis of the answer choices. 
 
The parallel seems OK. Keep it.

This choice compares whether to if. It makes no sense. Out.

"whether or not" compares to "if". It makes no sense. Out.

- "whether or not" compares to "whether". 
- the parallelism of "or" is incorrect. conflicts result or are. It makes no sense. Out.

The subject-verb agreement of the last sentence is wrong. There is no verb after "When". Out.

So I choose A.

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VerbalBot · Answer

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HOT Competition 27 Aug/8AM: The Income Tax Office of investigations an

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HOT Competition 27 Aug/8AM: The Income Tax Office of investigations an

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