Published last year, the noble laureate’s essay on self-organizing

Question

Published last year, the noble laureate’s essay on self-organizing economy provided a well analyzed perspective,  but it did not furnish neither original thought  nor discussed a practical solution.

A) but it did not furnish neither original thought
B) but it did not furnish either original thought
C) though it failed in furnishing any original thought
D) though it furnished no original thought
E) though it did not furnish any original thought

tbhauer · Accepted Answer

A. Incorrect. using not and neither in the same clause creates a double negative, resulting in a positive meaning.
B. Incorrect. Nor, a negative conjunction, cannot be used with either, a positive conjunction.
C. Incorrect. Failed in and nor do not correlate together.
D. Correct. No and nor are properly correlated. 
E. Incorrect. Did not does not correlate.

avinashiitp · Answer

I do not agree with option D. It violates parallelism, noun and verb in the marker, whereas in the option E rectifies all the error.

tarun001 · Answer

D doesn't seem parallel to me as it says that the essay furnished no (original thought) nor (discussed a solution). Original thought (noun) is not parallel to discussed (verb). E seems parallel to me as it says that the essay (did not furnish any original thought) nor (discussed a solution). Both are clauses so parallel.  AndrewN  can you please share your valuable insights on my analysis.

AndrewN · Answer

I am going to take a hands-off approach to this one,  tarun001 , because I know how difficult it can be to write a logically sound SC question. I would not write the sentence in any of the ways we see above. As always, I would advise you to stick with official material—you know you can trust the questions.

I know this may not be the answer you were seeking, but thank you, nevertheless, for thinking to ask.

- Andrew

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  tarun001 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To clarify, your observation would be correct had Option D used the idiomatic construction "neither A nor B"; “neither A nor B” is an idiomatic construction wherein A and B must be parallel; this rule does not hold for the construction "no A nor B".

In Option D, the parallelism marker is the conjunction "nor", and it joins the parallel verb phrases "furnished no original thought" and "discussed a practical solution".

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

SanJain · Answer

Here, a nor cant come without neither. Only one option has neither in it. Therefore, answer should be A

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  SanJain ,

We hope this finds you well.

To clarify, “neither” cannot be used without “nor”, but “nor”  can  be used without “neither”.

Further, Option A utilizes a double negative in the phrase "did not furnish neither", producing an incoherent meaning. Option A also fails to maintain parallelism between A ("original thought") and B ("discussed a practical solution") in the idiomatic construction "neither A nor B"; 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.

By contrast, Option D avoids the double negative error and maintains parallelism between "furnished no original thought" and "discussed a practical solution" - the elements linked by the conjunction ("nor" in this case).

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

NawalDwivedi · Answer

While the explanation seems correct for the answer option D, why is answer option E incorrect ?

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  NawalDwivedi ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, Option E fails to maintain parallelism between "it did not furnish any original thought" and "discussed a practical solution"; remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("nor" in this case) must be parallel.

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

VerbalBot · Answer

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Published last year, the noble laureate’s essay on self-organizing

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