Two new studies indicate that many people become obese more due to the

I'm clearly late to the party here, but I'll add my two cents, just in case it helps anybody.

Whenever I see the construction BECAUSE + OF, my expectation is that the next word is going to be a noun that caused something. For example:

Tim refused to take his children to school because of the rain.

What was the cause of Tim's refusal to take his children to school? The rain. This construction is fine. Not a great reason to deny your kids an education, but logical enough.

However, if I see "BECAUSE" without "of," my expectation is that a full clause will follow, and the clause's action is what caused something:

Tim refused to take his children to school because he preferred to sleep late and eat chocolate doughnuts in bed.

Why did Tim to refuse to take his kids to school? Because he preferred to do something else, namely to sleep late and eat chocolate doughnuts in bed. (Mmm... doughnuts. ) This time an entire clause functions as the cause of Tim's terrible parenting. This is also okay.

The problem is when we see BECAUSE + OF and the writer tries to communicate that the cause isn't simply the ensuing noun, but rather an implied action. For example:

Tim refused to take his kids to school because of chocolate doughnuts having been eaten in bed by Tim.

When I see "BECAUSE + OF," my expectation is that the noun that follows is the cause of Tim's refusal. But chocolate doughnuts themselves didn't cause Tim to refuse to take his kids to school. If I read the sentence a few times, I can probably figure out what the writer meant to convey, but because my default interpretation is illogical, this construction is problematic.

We get a similar problem in (E):


At first glance, the BECAUSE + OF construction makes it seems as though the bodies are themselves the cause. But that doesn't make sense. The people aren't obese because of their bodies. They're obese because their bodies do something. Again, I can probably figure out what the writer means if I reread the sentence a few times, but this version is confusing at best.

Contrast this with (D):


Now, when I see BECAUSE without the preposition, my expectation is that the entire ensuing clause is the cause of the obesity. This makes perfect sense -- the people in the study are obese because their bodies burn calories too slowly.

Because (D) is clearer and more logical than (E), (D) is our winner.

I hope that helps!
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I don't mean to sound like a douche, but way too many times do I notice people in this forum use words like "looks parallel" or "the gerund is correctly used" or "the past participle is bla bla", and yet the correct answer flies over their heads..

Don't focus too much on technicalities, that's exactly what the GMAT wants you to do, to focus too deeply into technical aspects and miss the bigger picture. ESPECIALLY so for short problems like this one (longer, more convoluted problems need more in depth technical analysis).

If we look at E: "it has more to do with their BODIES burning calories too slow than because of THEIR eating too much" ... What are we comparing? What does the "their" refer to, the eating of the bodies? That makes no sense. No technical analysis needed, it's just seeing a clear picture of the intended meaning of the author.

D tells us that it has more to do with "THEIR (the people) bodies burning calories too slowly than because THEY (the people) eat too much".. THAT'S the correct comparison.

Focus on understanding the intended meaning, and when you get the intended meaning, that's when you can focous on technicalities. Start from step 1 and move up, don't start on step 5.

Hi russ9,

The basic rule for comparison is that the compared entities should be logically and grammatically parallel.
Now, the compared entities are said to be logically parallel when the comparison is between similar entities.

• Unlike the honeybee, the yellow jacket can sting repeatedly without dying. (‘honeybee’ and ‘yellow jacket’ are compared)
• Heating-oil prices are expected to be higher this year than the last year. (‘Heating-oil prices this year’ are compared to ‘heating-oil prices last year’)

The comparison is said to be grammatically parallel when the compared entities are grammatically parallel to each other i.e. a noun is compared to a noun and a clause is compared to a clause.

• This year refiners are paying $5 a barrel more than they were paying last year. (The two highlighted clauses are compared to each other)


Coming to your question, here is OPTION B:

• Two new studies indicate that many people become obese
o more due to their bodies burning calories too slowly
o than to eating too much.

The compared entities are:

1. “their bodies burning calories too slowly”
2. “eating too much”


Note that the first part begins with “their bodies”, but the second entity starts with “eating”. “Eating” is not logically parallel to “their bodies”. We cannot disregard “their bodies” and say that “eating” and “burning” are parallel.

This option has one more error. ‘Due to’ is not correct idiom in this context. ‘Due to’ can be used to modify nouns only; it cannot be used to modify an action. Since ‘due to’ modifies the clause “many people become obese” in the given sentence, this usage is incorrect.

To know more about the usage of ‘due to’, please refer to the following article:
due-to-vs-because-of-140393.html


OPTION D

• Two new studies indicate that many people become obese
o more because their bodies burn calories too slowly
o than because they eat too much.

This options represents a parallel comparison between the following two clauses:
1. because their bodies burn calories too slowly
2. because they eat too much


Hope this helps!
Deepak
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(A) due to the fact that their bodies burn calories too slowly than overeating
MORE "due to the fact that X" than "overeating" - is not parallel construction

(B) due to their bodies burning calories too slowly than to eating too much
MORE "due to their bodies" THAN "to eating" - is not parallel in structure

(C) because their bodies bum calories too slowly than that they are overeaters
MORE "because X" THAN "that they" - is not parallel...

(D) because their bodies bum calories too slowly than because they eat too much
(E) because of their bodies burning calories too slowly than because of their eating too much
(E) is wordier than (D). (D) is simple and grammatically correct... Always go for the simple sentence

Answer: D

(A) due to the fact that their bodies burn calories too slowly than overeating not parallel and wordy: due to the fact that
(B) due to their bodies burning calories too slowly than to eating too much not parallel and wordy

(C) because their bodies burn calories too slowly than that they are overeaters not parallel

(D) because their bodies burn calories too slowly than because they eat too much parallel and comparison is clear. . hence CORRECT

(E) because of their bodies burning calories too slowly than because of their eating too much passive and wordy

press kudos if it helps
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I think we all agree that D is correct. As it is more parallel.
But for all of us E also look parallel but actually E is having wrong use "Because of".

"because" vs "because of"

1). Because - is a conjunction, used at the beginning of a clause, before a subject and verb.

We were late because it rained.
I'm happy because I met you.

2). Because of - is a two - word preposition, used before a noun or a pronoun.

We were late because of the rain.
I'm happy because of you.

Hi,

Can you please explain to me why "b" is NOT parallel? I saw "bodies burning" vs. "eating" and thought it was parallel b/c of the ing?

Two new studies indicate that many people become obese more due to the fact that their bodies burn
calories too slowly than overeating.

(C) because their bodies bum calories too slowly than that they are overeaters

Can someone just explain what "that" in choice C is referring to?
As in the exact phrase I would replace "that" with?

Thank you

Hello anaccident.

"that" in C does not refer to anything. Two nouns before "that" are plural (bodies & calories), technically "that" must be "those" to maintain parallel structure. BUT if that were the case, the sentence wouldn't make any sense. The only appropriate word makes the sentence compelling is "because".

Hope it helps.

A simple test of idiomatic parallelism. It should be – ‘more due to than due to’ or ‘more because than because’ or ‘more because of than because of’

(A) due to the fact that their bodies burn calories too slowly than overeating ---- than due to is missing --- unparallel

(B) due to their bodies burning calories too slowly than to eating too much -- same as in A.

(C) because their bodies burn calories too slowly than that they are overeaters --- than because is missing; unparallel.

(D) because their bodies burn calories too slowly than because they eat too much – correct parallelism and concise.

(E) because of their bodies burning calories too slowly than because of their eating too much—. A verb combo such as 'burn' and 'eat' is more dynamic than the ing form 'burning' and 'eating'.

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Hi, can anyone post the justification for the POE and the explanations for the right answer?

Thanks

Posted from my mobile device

Although, based on the PoE, I had chosen the answer 'D', on the thread (probably my Brunuel) and it showed me that it was incorrect, the OA was 'A', but now when the discussion was move to this link, the OA is 'D'.

Anyways, most of the people have given their justification above. but since you still have a doubt, I will try my best.

Two new studies indicate that many people become obese more due to the fact that their bodies burn calories too slowly than overeating.

(A) due to the fact that their bodies burn calories too slowly than overeating - Nothing wrong with "due to" (when used, replace 'Due to' with 'Caused by'). [color=#ed1c24][color=#0000ff]Error here is in parallelism[/color] - burn does not go in parallel with overeating[/color]
(B) due to their bodies burning calories too slowly than to eating too much - Nothing wrong with "due to" (when used, replace 'Due to' with 'Caused by'). Error here is grammatical - 'to' must be followed by an infinitive(1st form of verb , eat, in this case) and NOT by "ing" form
(C) because their bodies burn calories too slowly than that they are overeaters - wrong comparison b/w "their bodies burn calories too slowly" vs "overeaters"
(D) because their bodies burn calories too slowly than because they eat too much - CORRECT comparison with the correct use of " more because X... than because 'Y'
(E) because of their bodies burning calories too slowly than because of their eating too much - incorrect comparison
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Hope this helps..
Thanks
The Graceful
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Press kudos, if you appreciate the efforts and/or liked my explanation
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... (Subj) studies (V) indicate that .... (Obj) people become obese more due to the fact that their bodies burn calories too slowly than overeating.

1. Not parallel structure between parts of comparison
(A) due to the fact that [people's] bodies burn calories too slowly than [due to] overeating
Compares "the fact" to "overeating," should be comparing 2 actions but there's no verb in the second part.

(B) due to [people's] bodies burning calories too slowly than [due] to eating too much
Compares "their bodies burning" to "eating." Not parallel.

(C) because [people's] bodies burn calories too slowly than [because] that [people] are overeaters
Comparing an action of "their bodies" to a state of being of people. Not parallel.

2. Meaning
(D) because [people's] bodies burn calories too slowly than because [people] eat too much
Comparing an action of people's bodies to an action of people. Correct parallel structure.

(E) because of [people's] bodies burning calories too slowly than because of [people's] eating too much
Comparing "people's bodies" doing something to "people's eating" doesn't make sense.

Please help choose between D & E.

Hi RiseAndShinee, with E, the sentence is:

Two new studies indicate that many people become obese more because of their bodies burning calories too slowly than because of their eating too much.

Couple of issues:

i) From a meaning clarity perspective, because of should be preferably immediately followed by the actual cause (slow burning of calories by their bodies), rather than bodies.

ii) The phrase their eating is considered an awkward construct by GMAT. In an official explanation, OG says: "The -ing form of a verb can be used as a noun, but it is often awkward, particularly when with a possessive".
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In choice E,
'because of burning' is wrong because 'because of VERBing' is considered always wrong in GMAT!
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VeritasKarishma mam GMATNinja sir Kindly explain how to choose between Options D and Option E

(D) is much cleaner and clearer. After 'because' it uses a clause. The parallelism is clear "more because their bodies burn ... than because they eat ..."

(E) uses the awkward construction "their doing...".
"their bodies burning" - bodies is the noun and burning modifies it.
but "their eating" - eating is a gerund.
The parallelism is not very clean.
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Important point to note here: due to can never modify a verb, as it is an adjective. To modify a verb, we need to use because of
While "bodies" is a noun, "bodies burning fat" is a verb. Therefore, if we talk about "bodies burning fat", we cannot use "due to"


use of "due to" is justified since it modifies "fact". However, fact doesn't make people obese, the meaning inferred from (A). Drop (A)



Use of "due to" infers that "people get obese due to their bodies", as "due to" cannot modify the clause "bodies burning calories too slowly". Incorrect. Drop (B)


"because" modifies "their bodies burn calories too slowly", which is correct. Good for the first split. Keep (C)


Correct use of modifiers, as in (C). Keep it for now.


Correct use of modifiers. Keep it for now.

Now, to find out the best out of (C), (D) & (E), let us observe the part not underlined: "Two new studies indicate that many people become obese more". It wants us to compare two clauses

(C) (i) their bodies burn calories too slowly
(ii) that they are overeaters
Clearly, they are not parallel. Reject (C)

(D) (i) because their bodies burn calories too slowly
(ii) because they eat too much
"because" used in both. They are parallel. Keep (D) for now

(E) (i) because of their bodies burning calories too slowly
(ii) because of their eating too much
"burning" is a verb, while "eating", as can be inferred from the structure, is used as a participle. We cannot compare a verb with a participle. Reject (E)

Therefore, the correct answer is (D)