Transplanting is one of the methods that is commonly used for the seed

Question

Transplanting is one of the methods that is commonly used for the seeding of rice in irrigated fields, and is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in a variety of spatial configurations.

A. is commonly used for the seeding of rice in irrigated fields, and is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in

B. is commonly used for rice seeding in irrigated fields, and is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in

C. are commonly used for the seeding of rice in irrigated fields, and is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery for

D. are commonly used for the seeding of rice in irrigated fields, and is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in

E. are commonly used for the seeding of rice in fields that are irrigated, and it is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in

Sumi1010 · Answer

either  manually (adverb)  or  by mechanical transplanting machinery (by + noun)

None of the choices abide the commonly known rule :  In Either X Or Y, X and Y should be parallel and comparable.

Am I missing any exceptional concept?

mendax · Answer

In my opinion, the answer should be B.

AS per Subject Verb Agreement, 'is' should be used, eliminating C,D and E option. B option seems to be more concise and should be the answer.

sarthakaggarwal · Answer

True, even I was thinking the same

100mitra · Answer

Correct Answer : D

Original Sentence:
Transplanting is  one of the methods  that  is commonly used for the seeding of rice in irrigated fields, and is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in  a variety of spatial configurations.

A.  is  commonly used for the seeding of rice in irrigated fields, and 
  is  performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting  machinery in 
 Flaw: 
Phrase  One of the Methods  - Plural, Usage of " is ", after "that" singular, creates -  SV Agreement flaw 
Phrase  the seeding of rice in irrigated fields  - Singular, this phrase needs singular " is "

B.  is  commonly used for  rice seeding in irrigated fields , and 
  is  performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting  machinery in 
 Flaw : 
- Same error as in option A
- Dangling Modifier error, phrase,  rice seeding in irrigated fields

C.  are  commonly used for the seeding of rice in irrigated fields, and 
  is  performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting  machinery for 
 Flaw : 
- Preposition  For  to talk about a purpose or a reason for something, wrong placement, makes intended meaning demean

D.  are  commonly used for  the seeding of rice in irrigated fields , and 
  is  performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in
 - Correct  
- No SV Agreement Error, Preposition usage of IN is correct, Modifier is placed properly.

E.  are  commonly used for the seeding of rice in fields 
  that   are  irrigated, and 
  it  is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in
 Flaw - Completely flaw

sivatx2 · Answer

A.  is  commonly used for the seeding of rice in irrigated fields, and is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in 
  Linking verb 'is' must be 'are' as 'methods' is plural. Eliminate

B.  is  commonly used for rice seeding in irrigated fields, and is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in 
  Linking verb 'is' must be 'are' as 'methods' is plural. Eliminate

C. are commonly used for the seeding of rice in irrigated fields, and is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery  for  
  Idiomatic expression error, with 'for a variety'. It must be 'in a variety'. Eliminate

D.  are  commonly used for the seeding of rice in  irrigated fields , and is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery  in  
  This choice eliminates subject-verb, preposition, and redundancy problems in other choices. This is the correct answer choice, D

E. are commonly used for the seeding of rice in fields  that are irrigated , and  it  is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in 
  "Irrigated field" is more concise, than using "that are irrigated". Also, pronoun 'it' is redundant( though grammatically correct) as the conjunction, 'and' connects to the main clause of the sentence. Eliminate

auaeca · Answer

In my opinion the correct answer should be B.

As I see it, subject verb agreement in Transplanting is/are elimnates answers C to E.

Sumi1010 · Answer

I still don't agree that D is a right sentence. 
Could you please help?

mikemcgarry   AndrewN

StarTrooper · Answer

Even if you consider either X or Y, for e.g. I will be writing the exam either with a pen or by using a marker - the intent of the sentence remains intact. Moreover, literally, every answer choice has this construction so I will not question the buildup here even if it is messy.

Between Answer B and D Subject - Verb Agreement is the clear winner with D. 
Consider this:  Reading papers   in journals that  are  prestigious  is  great for comprehension exercise. 
Here the reading journals is the subject and is singular - and the correct verb is  is , the  are   is the verb for journals, which is strictly modified by the  that  pronoun thus, plural in nature.

That is why the best case here is D not B

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  Sumi1010 . This is a case in which the GMAT™ SC task may lead you to believe in an artificial distinction. The real question is whether answer choice (D) presents a sound sentence in written English, and the answer is yes, it does. The sentence, with (D) inserted:

You have correctly identified the parts of speech:  manually  is an adverb and  by  is a preposition followed by a noun. The sentence would be  improved  by listing the parallel elements in a tighter manner:

a) performed either manually or  mechanically  by transplanting machinery (and no, in case you were curious, there is no ambiguity surrounding the prepositional phrase, since the meaning of  manually  would preclude the reading that the machinery was  operated  manually)

b) performed either  by hand  or by mechanical transplanting machinery

On the GMAT™, yes, I would expect to encounter tighter parallelism in a correct answer. But the sentence is still functional as is, and besides, remember that you are always bound by what is on the screen, not by what you want to be there. Here, if all five answer choices incorporate the problematic element, then you should play ball and look for other decision points to determine which of the five is the least debatable, that is it. When I see a sentence such as the one above, I think that the author of the question may have taken a linguistic liberty and that I need to relax my rule-based mindset a bit and approach the question on its own terms. (And if I find I am unable to get past an issue, I move on to official questions.)

Thank you for thinking to ask me about this one. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

A. is commonly used for the seeding of rice in irrigated fields, and is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in
are should be the right usage therefore out

B. is commonly used for rice seeding in irrigated fields, and is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in
Similar reasoning as A

C. are commonly used for the seeding of rice in irrigated fields, and is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery for
for isn't the rightt usage due to which meaning is distorted therefore out

D. are commonly used for the seeding of rice in irrigated fields, and is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in
The meaning is perfect therefore let us hang on to it

E. are commonly used for the seeding of rice in fields that are irrigated, and it is performed either manually or by mechanical transplanting machinery in
that usage in the middle isn't providing the right meaning therefore out

Therefore IMO D

VerbalBot · Answer

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Transplanting is one of the methods that is commonly used for the seed

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Transplanting is one of the methods that is commonly used for the seed

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