It appeared that the operation could safely be delayed, and the patien

Question

It appeared that the operation could safely be delayed, and the patient was therefore given the choice  of waiting two or three weeks or would he like to proceed  immediately to surgery.

A. of waiting two or three weeks or would he like to proceed

B. to wait two or three weeks unless he would like to proceed

C. of waiting two or three weeks or he would proceed

D. of waiting two or three weeks or proceeding

E. to wait two or three weeks or proceeding

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ExpertsGlobal5 · Accepted Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem: 
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of the crucial part of this question is that the patient was given the option of either waiting two or three weeks or proceeding immediately to surgery.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Parallelism

• Two elements linked by conjunction must be parallel.

A:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “would he like to proceed”; the construction of this phrase leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that the patient was given the option of either waiting two or three weeks or proceeding immediately to surgery.

B:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “unless he would like to proceed”; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the patient was given the option of either waiting two weeks or three weeks, in the event that he did not want to proceed immediately to surgery; the intended meaning is that the patient was given the option of either waiting two or three weeks or proceeding immediately to surgery.

C:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “or he would proceed”; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the patient was given the option of either waiting two weeks or three weeks, otherwise he would proceed immediately to surgery; the intended meaning is that the patient was given the option of either waiting two or three weeks or proceeding immediately to surgery.

D:   Correct.  This answer choice uses the phrase “or proceeding”, conveying the intended meaning – that the patient was given the option of either waiting two or three weeks or proceeding immediately to surgery. Further, Option D correctly maintains parallelism between “waiting” and “proceeding”.

E:  This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “to wait” and “proceeding"; remember, two elements linked by conjunction must be parallel.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

dcummins · Answer

A - Incorrect

If we take the parallel items as (1) choice of waiting OR (2) would he like to proceed, the sentence is flawed in that it makes no logical sense to say he was given a choice of 'would he like...'
Alternatively, you could have incorrectly interpreted that his choice is between 2 and 3 weeks otherwise X will happen (i.e. that he would like to proceed).

B - Incorrect
'patient was therefore given the choice of waiting 2 or 3 weeks unless he would like'

This communicates that if the patient wants to proceed straight to surgery then he won't be given the choice of 2 or 3 weeks. This is because the 'unless' appears to modify the verb 'was given'. Looking at it from a different angle, the sentence conveys that the patient was given the choice of 2 and 3 weeks wait time, and he also had the option to have surgery immediately.

C - Incorrect
Similary, C suggests that the patient was given a choice between waiting 2 weeks and waiting 3 weeks, not a choice of waiting for surgery or having surgery immediately. In fact in incorrect construction of this sentence implies that him immediately proceeding to surgery is conditionally dependent on him accepting his choice of 2 and 3 weeks waiting.

D - Correct

D is logically and grammatically parallel, highlighting the clear choice that the patient needs to make two choices: wait or proceed
In all the other versions, there is no real clear choice. Other versions illogically conveyed some sort of conditional dependency or didn't logically highlight a clear and logical alternate, and thus 'choice, as clearly as D does.

E - Incorrect
proceeding is not logically or grammatically parallel with 'to wait'

akshsngh · Answer

It appeared that the operation could safely be delayed, and the patient was therefore given the choice of waiting two or three weeks or would he like to proceed immediately to surgery.

A. of waiting two or three weeks or would he like to proceed

B. to wait two or three weeks unless he would like to proceed

C. of waiting two or three weeks or he would proceed

D. of waiting two or three weeks or proceeding

E. to wait two or three weeks or proceeding

the patient was therefore given the choice  to   wait ..we need  to   so  A,C  and  D  are out .
between  B  and  E  look for parallelism .. .to wait  ..... to proceed  . 
hence  B  is the correct answer

Give kudos if you like my answer

Komal0804 · Answer

daagh  sir can you explain here?

Kritisood · Answer

as per me for B to be correct, it should've been as follows:

B. to wait two or three weeks unless he  would have liked  to proceed....

jaisonsunny77 · Answer

It appeared that the operation could safely be delayed, and the patient was therefore given the choice  of waiting two or three weeks or would he like to proceed  immediately to surgery.

A. of waiting two or three weeks or would he like to proceed  -  has a parallelism error: the verb ''waiting'' is being placed in parallel with the conditional word 'would'.  
 
B. to wait two or three weeks unless he would like to proceed  -  when we say that a person was ''given'' a choice, we can reasonably infer that the person has a minimum of two alternatives.  
 
C. of waiting two or three weeks or he would proceed  -  has a parallelism error: the verb ''waiting'' is being placed in parallel with the pronoun 'he'. 
 
D. of waiting two or three weeks or proceeding - has no error. Hence,    (D) is the right answer choice. 
    
E. to wait two or three weeks or proceeding  -  has a parallelism error: the infinitive verb ''to wait'' is being placed in parallel with the present progressive verb 'proceeding'.

ChiranjeevSingh · Answer

Here's the   official explanation   provided by the GMAC for this question:

The sentence describes two alternatives presented to a hospital patient needing surgery: (1) waiting a few weeks for the surgery; (2) going to surgery immediately. These options are best described by conjoining two parallel phrases using  or . It is unclear whether option (1) implies that a choice between waiting two weeks and waiting three weeks was for the patient to make.

Option A:  This version creates a structurally flawed sentence. For example,  choice of  cannot fit with the direct-question form  would he … surgery.  This form is not parallel with the verbal-noun form  waiting .

Option B:  The  unless  clause does not clearly express the alternatives constituting the choice (if the sentence were addressed directly to the patient, of course, a choice might have been conveyed by saying: “you can wait two or three weeks—unless you’d like to proceed to surgery immediately.”) The adverbial clause  unless … surgery  can be read as modifying the verb  was given  rather than  wait;  this wording confusingly suggests that the patient may have been offered a choice between waiting two weeks and waiting three weeks, as well as the option of having surgery immediately.

Option C:  The phrasing using  or  does not satisfy parallelism requirements and creates a structurally flawed sentence. The phrasing  he would proceed  is not parallel with  waiting . The wording confusingly suggests that the patient may have been offered a choice between waiting two weeks and waiting three weeks.

Option D:  Correct. This version is grammatically correct and satisfies the parallelism requirement for use of  or ; the verbal form  proceeding  is parallel with the verb form noun  waiting.

Option E:  This version is ungrammatical and fails to satisfy the parallelism requirement for use of  or; proceeding  is not parallel with  to wait.

The correct answer is D.

Please note that I'm not the author of this explanation. I'm just posting it here since I believe it can help the community.

VerbalBot · Answer

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It appeared that the operation could safely be delayed, and the patien

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