Last visit was: 25 Apr 2026, 00:50 It is currently 25 Apr 2026, 00:50
Home
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
User avatar
annusngh
User avatar
Joined: 30 Jul 2013
Last visit: 24 Aug 2018
Posts: 16
Own Kudos:
59
 [15]
Given Kudos: 54
Location: India
Concentration: International Business, Strategy
GPA: 2.4
WE:General Management (Insurance)
Posts: 16
Kudos: 59
 [15]
Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human has a skull tha Updated on: 01 May 2018, 23:53
Originally posted by annusngh on 25 Apr 2017, 11:26.
Last edited by Bunuel on 01 May 2018, 23:53, edited 1 time in total.
Renamed the topic and edited the question.
3
Kudos
Add Kudos
12
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
00:00
Start Timer
Pause Timer
Resume Timer
Show Answer
Hide
Show
History
D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

35% (medium)

Question Stats:

66% (01:22) correct 34% (01:38) wrong based on 631 sessions

History

Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human has a skull that is not an unbroken casing with "soft spots," rather it is a series of body plates joined together by anatomical lines known as sutures.


A. Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human has a skull that is not an unbroken casing with "soft spots," rather it is

B. Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human's skull is neither an unbroken casing with "soft spots," but it is

C. Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human's skull is not an unbroken casing or does it have "soft spots," but rather

D. Although soft enough to grow, a newborn human's skull is not an unbroken casing with "soft spots," but rather

E. Although being soft enough to grow, a newborn human's skull is not an unbroken casing with "soft spots," but
ShowHide Answer
Official Answer
D
avatar
AlexGmat2017
avatar
Joined: 13 Jan 2017
Last visit: 20 Apr 2021
Posts: 29
Own Kudos:
5
 [1]
Given Kudos: 92
Posts: 29
Kudos: 5
 [1]
Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human has a skull tha 26 Jul 2017, 13:39
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Somebody ready to help distinguish btw D. and E.?
User avatar
sanket0086
User avatar
Joined: 16 Mar 2016
Last visit: 18 Feb 2018
Posts: 5
Own Kudos:
1
Given Kudos: 8
Posts: 5
Kudos: 1
Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human has a skull tha 12 Aug 2017, 21:43
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AlexGmat2017
Somebody ready to help distinguish btw D. and E.?
Show more

being is awkward and redundant....but rather together is redundant in D
User avatar
Dkingdom
User avatar
Joined: 13 Apr 2017
Last visit: 12 Mar 2021
Posts: 65
Own Kudos:
68
 [2]
Given Kudos: 30
Location: India
Concentration: General Management, International Business
Schools: INSEAD Jan '19 LBS '19 HEC Jan 2018 Intake IESE '20
GMAT 1: 660 Q40 V41
GPA: 3.4
WE:Engineering (Energy)
Schools: INSEAD Jan '19 LBS '19 HEC Jan 2018 Intake IESE '20
GMAT 1: 660 Q40 V41
Posts: 65
Kudos: 68
 [2]
Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human has a skull tha 02 Sep 2017, 05:08
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
How can the OA be D? Isn't "but" and "rather" redundant?
Moreover can we use FANBOYS (but) with a subordinate conjunction (Although), in one sentence?
User avatar
sayantanc2k
User avatar
Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Last visit: 09 Dec 2022
Posts: 2,391
Own Kudos:
15,572
 [3]
Given Kudos: 26
Location: Germany
Schools:
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V47
WE:Corporate Finance (Pharmaceuticals and Biotech)
Expert
Expert reply
Schools:
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V47
Posts: 2,391
Kudos: 15,572
 [3]
Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human has a skull tha 07 Sep 2017, 06:07
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Dkingdom
How can the OA be D? Isn't "but" and "rather" redundant?
Moreover can we use FANBOYS (but) with a subordinate conjunction (Although), in one sentence?
Show more

"But" and "rather" can be used together - the contrast is emphasized when "but rather" is used.

Here "although" and "but" are NOT related to each other - "But" is related to "Not" ( idiom: Not X, But Y: X = an unbroken casing with "soft spots", Y = a series of body plates).
avatar
aaggarwal191
avatar
Joined: 02 Sep 2018
Last visit: 19 Dec 2019
Posts: 24
Own Kudos:
5
Given Kudos: 12
Location: India
Schools: Sauder '21 DeGroote'21 Alberta"21 Ryerson"20 Molson '21 HEC Montreal '21
Schools: Sauder '21 DeGroote'21 Alberta"21 Ryerson"20 Molson '21 HEC Montreal '21
Posts: 24
Kudos: 5
Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human has a skull tha 30 Mar 2019, 01:20
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Why option A is incorrect ,I was confused between A and D
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 24 Apr 2026
Posts: 6,079
Own Kudos:
5,140
 [1]
Given Kudos: 744
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 6,079
Kudos: 5,140
 [1]
Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human has a skull tha 30 Mar 2019, 03:27
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
aaggarwal191
Why option A is incorrect ,I was confused between A and D
Show more
Apart from being a little awkward (its being), option A puts a newborn human right after the comma.

Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human has a skull...

This makes it sound as if a newborn human is soft enough to grow, which is not the intended meaning. Take a look at the correct option:

Although soft enough to grow, a newborn human's skull...

This is much clearer. :)
User avatar
Bunuel
User avatar
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Last visit: 25 Apr 2026
Posts: 109,822
Own Kudos:
811,109
Given Kudos: 105,878
Products:
GMAT Club Tests Forum Quiz
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 109,822
Kudos: 811,109
Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human has a skull tha 31 Aug 2019, 07:12
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
annusngh
Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human has a skull that is not an unbroken casing with "soft spots," rather it is a series of body plates joined together by anatomical lines known as sutures.


A. Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human has a skull that is not an unbroken casing with "soft spots," rather it is

B. Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human's skull is neither an unbroken casing with "soft spots," but it is

C. Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human's skull is not an unbroken casing or does it have "soft spots," but rather

D. Although soft enough to grow, a newborn human's skull is not an unbroken casing with "soft spots," but rather

E. Although being soft enough to grow, a newborn human's skull is not an unbroken casing with "soft spots," but
Show more

Official Explanation



Creating a filter: in the original sentence, the phrase "despite its being soft enough to grow" grammatically modifies "human," and that's not the intended meaning. The skull of the newborn is what's soft, according to the intended meaning. We eliminate (A) and go straight to the other answer choices to eliminate others with modification errors.

Applying the filter: as it turns out, (B) through (E) are all free of the error in (A). So we'll move straight to finding defects in the other choices.

Finding objective defects: choices (B) and (C) use the gerund unnecessarily in the phrase "despite being," so we focus on (D) and (E), which end differently. The phrase "but rather" is clear in this case, in which we are saying the baby's skull is not one thing, but rather another. Since the word "but" alone can mean different things, we prefer to use "but rather" when relevant for clear meaning, though it's not an absolute requirement. Choice (E) is scarcely flawed, but (D) is objectively clearer and still succinct.

The correct answer is (D).
User avatar
VerbalBot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 01 Oct 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 19,425
Own Kudos:
1,010
Posts: 19,425
Kudos: 1,010
Despite its being soft enough to grow, a newborn human has a skull tha 05 Sep 2021, 16:30
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7391 posts
AbhishekP220108
504 posts
bhanu29
358 posts