Bunuel wrote:
In the southern Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, whose highest elevation is just 15 feet above sea level, not only are residents vulnerable to encroaching sea levels resulting from climate change,
they can also expect additional devastation due to an increasing frequency of severe cyclones, which can decimate crops, destroy buildings, and natural vegetation.
(A) they can also expect additional devastation due to an increasing frequency of severe cyclones, which can decimate crops, destroy buildings, and
(B) they can also expect additional devastation due to an increasing frequency of severe cyclones, which can decimate crops, buildings, and
(C) but also expect additional devastation due to an increasing frequency of severe cyclones, which can decimate crops, buildings, and
(D) they can also expect additional devastation due to an increasing frequency of severe cyclones, with the effect of decimating crops and destroying buildings, in addition to
(E) but also expect additional devastation due to an increasing frequency of severe cyclones, which can decimate crops, destroy buildings, and
Differences in the answer choices provide clues about what a problem might be testing. Before reading the sentence, glance at the beginning of the underline and down the beginning (just the beginning!) of the five answer choices to look for one early clue as to what this sentence is testing. In this sentence, the underline starts just after a comma and the answers begin with either
they can also or
but also. Keep an eye out for issues with Structure, Modifiers, or Parallelism.
Issues:(1) Parallelism: R, S, and T list structureThe sentence contains two parallelism structures. It uses the idiom
not only X but also Y and the list structure R, S, and T. Start with whichever seems more straightforward to you.
The list structure in the original sentence is faulty:
decimate crops, destroy buildings, and natural vegetation. The first two elements of the list begin with verbs (
decimate and destroy) but the third one is just a noun. All three have to be in the same form, so eliminate answer (A). Glance down the rest of the answers. Eliminate (E) for the same error.
Answer (D) changes the structure a bit:
with the effect of decimating crops and destroying buildings, in addition to natural vegetation. This is an example of nested parallelism, or parallelism within parallelism. The innermost parallel structure is
decimating and destroying; those two words are parallel. The outer parallel structure is as follows:
with the effect of [Y, decimating and destroying], in addition to [Z, natural vegetation]. In this structure, the Y elements are still verbs while the Z element is still just a noun,
natural vegetation. Eliminate answer (D) for faulty parallelism in the outer parallel structure.
(2) Parallelism: Not only X but also Y structureThe sentence also contains a not only X but also Y structure. Examine it in the two remaining answer choices:
(B) not only are residents vulnerable …, they can also expect …
(C) not only are residents vulnerable …, but also expect …
There’s a really good trap here. The standard idiom is
not only X but also Y, but there are other ways you’re allowed to construct this idiom. It’s also acceptable to say
not only X but Y and it’s even sometimes okay to have
not only X, also Y. And this is one of those times!
Here’s an example of a “normal” usage of the full idiom: She likes not only pizza but also ice cream. In this example, all of the pieces fit the not
only X but also Y structure super neatly.
But that’s not how the sentence in this problem looks. There’s a complication going on here. The first part (
not only are residents vulnerable) is an inverted sentence structure: That is, the subject
residents comes after the verb
are. Because the X element is a complete sentence—that is, there’s a subject and a verb—the Y element also has to have a subject and verb. Answer (C) is missing the subject; it has only the verb
expect. Eliminate answer (C) as well as answer (E) for making this same mistake.
The Correct Answer: Answer (B) fixes the original error with the parallel list at the end of the sentence (
decimate crops, buildings, and natural vegetation). This choice also leaves in the original
not only X (but) also Y construction from the original sentence—because it’s correct! When you have this weird construction in which the
not only element is inverted, do *not* also invert the second half; instead, in the second element, the subject comes before the verb. Separately, you’re omitting the word
but, so the subject (and possibly the verb as well) will come first after the comma, before the word
also.
Correct: Not only are you really smart, but you’re also kind.
Correct: Not only are you really smart, but you’re kind.
Correct: Not only are you really smart, you’re also kind.
In all of the examples, the
you’re is before the
also (when the
also is present). It just seems weird in the third case because the word
but is omitted (which is unusual but still allowed!), so it can sound to your ear as though the
you’re is in the wrong place and should come later in the sentence.
The clue here is to pick up on the inverted sentence structure (
not only are residents) in the first half and then make sure you do still have a complete sentence (subject and verb) for the second half. In this case, the second half probably won’t invert the structure and it may omit either the
but or the
also.
close
31 Dec 2021, 04:00
48%
(01:54)
wrong 
