The reason that lean meats, such as salmon, improve mood in

Question

The reason that lean meats, such as salmon, improve mood in some people is because these foods contain the chemical tryptophan that promotes the same increase in serotonin as do relaxation and exercise ; this increase helps to keep emotions under control by aiding sleep, calming anxiety, and relieving depression.

(A) The reason that lean meats, such as salmon, improve mood in some people is because these foods contain the chemical tryptophan that promotes the same increase in serotonin as do relaxation and exercise 
(B) The reason that lean meats, such as salmon, improves mood in some people is because they contain the chemical tryptophan, which promotes the same increase in serotonin as do relaxation and exercise 
(C) The reason that lean meats, such as salmon, improves mood in some people is that these foods contain the chemical tryptophan, which promotes the same increase in serotonin like relaxation and exercise 
(D) Lean meats, such as salmon, improve mood in some people because they contain the chemical tryptophan, which promotes an increase in serotonin, just like relaxation and exercise do 
(E) The reason that lean meats, such as salmon, improve mood in some people is that these foods contain the chemical tryptophan, which promotes the same increase in serotonin as do relaxation and exercise

gmatprepab · Accepted Answer

I agree to the rest of your reasoning except D. D is wrong not because "they" is ambiguous (indeed it is not), but because incorrect usage of just like in this option. Just like is considered bad idiomatically, along with incorrect usage of verb "do" with a preposition "like"

Marcab · Answer

The logic of the sentence is that lean meats improve mood because these food contain some chemical which is responsible for the same increase in serotonin as do relaxation and exercise.

A and B can be straightaway eliminated on the basis of redundancy issue. "Reason....because" is redundant. "They" is ambigous.
C has SV disagreement; illogical comparsion.
D "they" is ambigous.

Hope this helps.

PrashantPonde · Answer

The choice A also makes which/that error. “That” is correctly used to add information necessary to identify the noun that precedes it (in this case, “tryptophan”). Here, the choice has already identified tryptophan by name, so the additional information is unnecessary—thus, “that” should be replaced with “which.”

GuptaDarsh · Answer

hi .. you are right with the idiom Just as 
"Just as" is similar to "As...S"o in usage. 
Right : As X....so Y ; Just as X.....So Y ; Just As X Y
Wrong: Just Like X...So Y

but imo "they" in option D is also ambiguous as to whether it refers to "Lean meats" or "some people"

shelrod007 · Answer

(A) The reason that lean meats, such as salmon, improve mood in some people is because these foods contain the chemical tryptophan that promotes the same increase in serotonin as do relaxation and exercise : - Redundant reason / because , Which that error too
(B) The reason that lean meats, such as salmon, improves mood in some people is because they contain the chemical tryptophan, which promotes the same increase in serotonin as do relaxation and exercise : Subject Verb error ( Lean meats - improve )
(C) The reason that lean meats, such as salmon, improves mood in some people is that these foods contain the chemical tryptophan, which promotes the same increase in serotonin like relaxation and exercise : Subject Verb error ( Lean meats - improve )
(D) Lean meats, such as salmon, improve mood in some people because they contain the chemical tryptophan, which promotes an increase in serotonin, just like relaxation and exercise do

ronoun reference they is incorrect , just like should be as
(E) The reason that lean meats, such as salmon, improve mood in some people is that these foods contain the chemical tryptophan, which promotes the same increase in serotonin as do relaxation and exercise

ronoun reference they is incorrect , just like should be as (E) The reason that lean meats, such as salmon, improve mood in some people is that these foods contain the chemical tryptophan, which promotes the same increase in serotonin as do relaxation and exercise

nycgirl212 · Answer

I don't see how in A there is a "that/which" error. The information related to tryptophan seems essential

anand123456 · Answer

What about Improve and Improves 
For Me-- improve is action for subject The reason which is singular,but as given in OA it is action verb for lean meats.
Need explaination for that.

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  anand123456 ,

The verb for  the reason that...  is  is .

The   reason   that   lean meats   , such as salmon,     improve    mood in some people    is    that these   foods      contain   ...

pzgupta · Answer

mani4gupt · Answer

Please someone explain when to use improve and improves.

Posted from my mobile device

pzgupta · Answer

Depends on whether the subject is plural / singular.
If the subject is singular --> improves
If the subject is plural --> improve

abhishekmayank · Answer

Hi  AjiteshArun ,

I understand the option D is wrong, but I don't think that it is wrong because of ambiguity of the pronoun "they".

The subject pronoun of a subordinate clause unambiguously refers to the subject of the main clause. In that sense, the pronoun "they" must be referring to "Lean meats".

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  abhishekmayank ,

I try not to look at a lot of pronoun "rules" as absolutes, so I would not think (as a general rule) that a pronoun in the subject position of a dependent clause refers unambiguously to a noun in the subject position of the main clause. But you're right in saying that there are other ways to take D out. I'd take that option out because it has a clause after a  like  (the GMAT is expected to look at this kind of  like  as a preposition, and prepositions are normally followed by noun phrases). This is also something that I don't consider an absolute, but I think it is more reliable than pronoun ambiguity.

...  just like   relaxation and exercise do ...  ← "relaxation and exercise do" is a clause (subject + verb combination)

khera · Answer

The underlined portion of the original sentence incorrectly connects "The reason..." with "...is because..." The correct usage is "The reason...is that..." Additionally, the word "that" after tryptophan is used incorrectly. “That” is used to add information necessary to identify the noun that precedes it. If the information is not necessary, use "which." Here, tryptophan was already identified by name, so the additional information is unnecessary. “That” should therefore be replaced with “which.”

Scan and Group the Answer Choices:

Apart from whether they contain the errors noticed above, (A), (D), and (E) have the verb “improve,” while (B) and (C) have “improves.” The subject of that verb is "meats," a plural noun. Plural nouns need plural verbs, so "improve" is the correct form ("meats...improve").

Eliminate Wrong Answer Choices:

Interestingly, only (A) uses "that" after "tryptophan." All of the other choices correctly change "that" to the correct "which."

Only (C) and (E) correctly use "The reason...is that..." (A), (B), and (D) can therefore be eliminated. (B) also uses the the wrong verb form of "improves." (D) also introduces two new errors: the pronoun “they” is ambiguous, and the word “like” is used incorrectly to compare verbs.

(C) correctly uses "The reason...is that...," but contains the wrong verb form of "improves" and can thus be eliminated.

(E) is correct, as it fixes both noticed errors and uses the correct form of "improve"

TAKEAWAY: When you have a long sentence with a large portion underlined, look out for multiple errors and work first with whichever error you prefer. Don't forget that choices can introduce new errors as well.

VerbalBot · Answer

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The reason that lean meats, such as salmon, improve mood in

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