The USDA strictly prohibits vegetables that are grown using genetic

Question

The USDA strictly prohibits vegetables that are grown using  genetic engineering or ionizing radiation, and with sewage sludge,  from being labeled “organic.”

A. genetic engineering or ionizing radiation, and with sewage sludge,
B. genetic engineering or ionizing radiation, or the use of sewage sludge,
C. genetic engineering or ionizing radiation, as well as the use of sewage sludge,
D. genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, and sewage sludge
E. genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, or sewage sludge

elegantm · Accepted Answer

The USDA strictly prohibits vegetables that are grown using genetic  engineering or ionizing radiation, and with sewage sludge,  from being labeled “organic.”

A. genetic engineering or ionizing radiation,  and with  sewage sludge, 
 - AND changes the original intent since such use means that vegetable would be prohibited only if it is grown using all the 3 methods. Moreover, use of WITH breaks the parallelism. Hence Incorrect.

B. genetic engineering or ionizing radiation, or  the use of  sewage sludge, 
 - Use of THE USE OF breaks the parallelism. Hence Incorrect.

C. genetic engineering or ionizing radiation,  as well as the use of  sewage sludge,
 - AS WELL AS changes the original intent. Use of THE USE OF breaks the parallelism. Hence Incorrect.

D. genetic engineering, ionizing radiation,  and  sewage sludge 
 - AND changes the original intent since such use means that vegetable would be prohibited only if it is grown using all the 3 methods. Hence Incorrect.

E. genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, or sewage sludge
 CORRECT

mukul vaidya · Answer

Option E looks the best out of all.

Posted from my mobile device

mohshu · Answer

"grown using " is common for the items in the list ,,,
E is the best,,,maintains parallelism

arvind910619 · Answer

Hi experts what is the difference between "or "and" and " in choices D and E

pinkpeonies · Answer

I think E is the best option USDA prohibits a, b or c from being labeled "organic"

alandizzle · Answer

E looks best.

When providing a list that is independent of each of the other referenced items, OR is used instead of AND. Using AND changes the meaning of the intended sentence.

Krystallized · Answer

Hi,
Can anybody please explain how "ionizing radiation" is parallel with "genetic engineering and sewage sludge."?

nightblade354 · Answer

arvind910619 , the difference between 'or' and 'and' is as follows:
-- In baseball, you will be suspended for taking drugs X, Y, or Z -- This means if you take ANY of them, you are suspended. 
-- In baseball, you will be suspended for taking drugs X, Y, and Z-- This means you have to take ALL of them to be suspended.

Kevinjoshi ,
The three items are parallel because the use of any of them discounts the ability to be labeled 'organic'.

A. genetic engineering or ionizing radiation, and with sewage sludge, --  This is saying we can use genetic engineering or radiation and as long as we don't use sewage sludge, then it is organic. I don't think that is what the question is saying.  
B. genetic engineering or ionizing radiation, or the use of sewage sludge, --  'using the use of' makes this sentence incorrect 
C. genetic engineering or ionizing radiation, as well as the use of sewage sludge, --  same as B 
D. genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, and sewage sludge --  See my explanation to Arvind above 
E. genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, or sewage sludge --  Winner

Does this help?

Krystallized · Answer

nightblade354

Thanks for your detailed explanation. But, I still have a doubt. In the given sentence three items are parallel so if we break the whole sentence into three parts it must make sense.
i.e.

1. The USDA strictly prohibits vegetables that are grown using genetic engineering from being labeled “organic.” 
2. The USDA strictly prohibits vegetables that are grown using sewage sludge from being labeled “organic.” 
3. The USDA strictly prohibits vegetables that are grown  using ionizing radiation  from being labeled “organic.”

In the above sentences 1st & 2nd make sense, but the red colored part in the 3rd sentence seems odd to me.
Is my understanding correct or I am missing some basics here??

However, I do agree that out of D & E, E is logical and perhaps the correct answer.

mohshu · Answer

E maintains parallelism in a right way
usage of OR is right,, AND is not correct

nightblade354 · Answer

Kevinjoshi ,

Are you a native speaker? If so, don't let your ear dictate what is the correct answer. That will trip you up a lot of the time. You have to think logically about each statement and its meaning.

Glad you came around on the correct answer! As long as you understand why, which I think you are getting close to, this was a positive exercise!

chesstitans · Answer

this question and E are two important patterns in gmat.

himanshu0123 · Answer

Hi, I am concerned about the phrase 'from being labelled organic''. Is this a prepositional modifier or ing verbal modifier. What is it modifying?

Also, is 'labelled' modifying the noun organic?

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  himanshu0123 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, "from being labeled “organic” is a prepositional phrase, more specifically a prepositional adverb phrase that acts upon the verb "prohibits".

Further, "organic" actually modifies "labeled", as it describes what the object is being labeled as.

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

himanshu0123 · Answer

ExpertsGlobal5

Hi, thank you for your response!

Is 'labelled' a noun because 'organic' modifies it. How to distinguish it from ed verbal.

In another sentence, ''He is being considered for the job''

what does '' being considered'' modify and what kind of modifier is this?

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  himanshu0123 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, "labeled" is not a noun; it is a past participle that is part of the passive continuous verb "being labeled".

Further, in the sentence ''He is being considered for the job.'' "is being considered" is a simple present continuous tense verb written in the passive form; its active form is "is considering".

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

The USDA strictly prohibits vegetables that are grown using genetic

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The USDA strictly prohibits vegetables that are grown using genetic

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