Under high pressure and intense heat, graphite, the most stable form

Question

Under high pressure and intense heat, graphite, the most stable form of pure carbon, changes into the substance commonly referred to as diamond and  remaining this way whether or not  the heat and pressure are removed.

(A) remaining this way whether or not 
(B) remaining like that even as
(C) remaining as such whether or not 
(D) remains in this way although
(E) remains thus even when

Source: OG verbal review 2: Q45.

https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/22/science/with-a-mighty-squeeze-nitrogen-is-transformed.html

The transformation is similar to that of carbon. Under high pressure and intense heat, graphite, the most stable form of pure carbon, changes into diamond and remains diamond  even when  the heat and pressure are taken away.

AryamaDuttaSaikia · Answer

X, Although Y

- Although introduces "Contrast".

Typical structure of "although" - depedent clause marker - Although X,Y

2 things:

1. X & Y needs to be parallel

2. The subject of X and the subject of Y needs to be related. (Since we are starting a sentence in X with "although" , we need to complete the sentence by referring to a related subject in Y)

Hope it helps!

Gomze · Answer

I am not sure why E is correct?Can somebody explain this?

sayantanc2k · Answer

Options A, B and C can be eliminated on the same ground:
The use of conjunction "and" calls for another verb (to be parallel with "changes"): "changes and remains" is the correct parallel structure. Therefore options A, B and C can be eliminated because they use present participle "remaining", which cannot be parallel to the verb "changes".

Between options D and E, E is better due to concision (using one word "thus" instead of three "in this way" to indicate the same meaning).

daagh · Answer

"changes into the substance commonly referred to as diamond and remaining this way"

The one takeaway from this question is that whenever one sees the construction " and +verbing", it should flash a red signal that that it is a precursor to a potential parallelism error. Immediately look for a similar participle construction on the left of 'and', very often it has been seen that there is a verbed clause rather than a present participle. We can remove a good chunk of faulty choices, as the at least three choices that we can dump in one stone in this given case.

nitishkr · Answer

In D, "although" is not correct as suggested above. I am not sure "this way" is acceptable as it is vague usage.
In E, "thus" can be replaced with "so" and vice versa.

I had a car, thus, I drove.
I had a car, so I drove. (No change in meaning)

Thus, (So,) E is much better choice than D. 
Please correct me if wrong.

realslimsiddy · Answer

Could someone explain E? Other SC questions have taught me than 'When' has to be used when something is referring to time. Here in E when is referring to condition "Removal of heat and pressure'. 
IMO both D and E are not a good answer

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

In (E), "when" is used to indicate that, at a time "when" heat and pressure are removed, the substance remains diamond.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

This question is based on Parallelism and Construction.

The conjunction ‘and’ just before the underlined portion of the sentence connects the two independent clauses - the most stable form of pure carbon  changes  into the substance commonly referred to as diamond  and   remaining  this way whether or not the heat and pressure are removed. As can be seen from the highlighted portions,  ‘remaining’ is not parallel to ‘changes’. So, Option A  can be ruled out.

The same error is repeated in Options B and C . So, those options can be ruled out too.

The conjunction ‘although’ is redundant as there is no contradiction implied in the sentence. So,  Option D  can also be ruled out.

This option has the appropriate verb form ‘remains’ that is parallel to ‘changes’.  The adverb ‘thus’ refers to the changed form of graphite. And the adverb ‘when’ refers to the time at which heat and pressure are removed.
 Therefore, E is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

sanjeevsinha082 · Answer

A. Parallelism requires 'changes' to be parallel to 'remains'. Hence incorrect. Also 'whether' 
implies an alternative so 'whether or not' is unnecessary. 
B. No Parallelism. 'like' can only be used to compare nouns 
C. Same as A 
D. in this way" can refer only to the MANNER IN WHICH AN EVENT OR ACTION OCCURS 
OR IS PERFORMED. It CANNOT refer to the physical state of something. 
E. Correct.

kadamhari825 · Answer

Hello experts  sayantanc2k   AjiteshArun

I could not understand why although is incorrect in option D because if we replace although with  Even though ., it is making sense   graphite changes..... and remains in this way even though heat and pressure are removed  
please correct me if i am making any mistake in understanding.

Thanks in advance.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  kadamhari825 ,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt.

The use of "although" in Option D incorrectly implies that the graphite that has turned into diamond remains diamond,   despite the fact   that the heat and pressure are removed; the intended meaning is that the graphite that has turned into diamond remains diamond,   even after   the heat and pressure are removed.

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

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  kadamhari825 ,

Under certain {conditions}, graphite changes into diamond, and remains diamond even when those {conditions} are removed. Now, we need to take a meaning call on how  ~ definite we want to be about the removal of those {conditions}. Here's a similar example:

1.  The immune system retains a memory of the virus for at least 6 months after vaccination  although it isn't exposed to the actual virus in that time period .  ← This means that the immune system  definitely is not exposed  to the virus during the time period mentioned (6 months after vaccination).

2.  The immune system retains a memory of the virus for at least 6 months after vaccination  even when it isn't exposed to the actual virus in that time period .  ← This means that the immune system retains a memory of the virus  irrespective of  whether it is exposed to the virus during the time period mentioned or not.

Since we don't want to assume that a person won't be exposed to the virus in that 6 month time period, we choose (2), not (1). Similarly, the intended meaning of this SC question is that diamond remains diamond, irrespective of whether the {conditions} are removed.

kadamhari825 · Answer

Thanks  ExpertsGlobal5   AjiteshArun  for quick reply.

Dinesh654 · Answer

Hello experts,

Key concept to learn here!

‘Remains in this way’ VS ‘thus’

‘Remains this way’ sounds ok to me- Diamond is a form of graphite and it remains this way after the application of high pressure and heat.

Thus- means therefore and I think it should come before remains.

like- thus remains even when heat and pressure are removed.

Remains thus sounds odd and is a poor construction.

Why?

GMATGuruNY · Answer

For the purposes of the GMAT,  way  =  a METHOD or PROCESS .
OAs in the OG12:
 There are several WAYS to build solid walls using just mud, but the most extensively used METHOD has been to form the mud into bricks. 
 The only WAY for growers to salvage frozen citrus is to have it quickly PROCESSED into juice .

Option D in the SC posted here:
 Graphite changes into the substance known as diamond and remains in this way. 
Conveyed meaning:
 Graphite changes into the substance known as diamond and remains IN THIS METHOD OR PROCESS. 
This meaning is nonsensical.
Even worse, it contradicts the non-underlined portion at the end, which refers to the CESSATION of the process ( the heat and pressure are removed ).
Eliminate D.

In the context of this SC,  thus  =  in this STATE .
OA:  Graphite changes into the substance known as diamond and remains thus even when the heat and pressure are removed. 
Conveyed meaning:
 Graphite changes into the substance known as diamond and remains IN THIS STATE even when the heat and pressure are removed. 
This meaning makes sense.

Dinesh654 · Answer

As a matter of fact, way also means - state, I have attached a photo. According to google, third or fourth meaning of way is state.
Can you please look into this.
 MartyTargetTestPrep

GMATGuruNY · Answer

Many usages that are considered acceptable outside the GMAT (at least in certain contexts) will be considered errors on the GMAT.
For example:
Outside the GMAT,  which  often serves to refer to an entire clause.
Generally, this sort of usage is not permissible on the GMAT.

The family was in a poor way .
This wording seems far too colloquial for the GMAT.
Note also that this wording is the very last example cited in your screenshot, suggesting that it is less preferred.
The OAs cited in my earlier post seem to indicate the following:
On the GMAT,  way  should refer not to a state but to a method or process.

An additional point:
 in this way  appears in an INCORRECT answer.
Rather than try to justify its usage, we should strive to understand why the GMAT might consider it less preferable than  thus , the adverb used in the OA.

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

I'd add to what  GMATGuruNY  said that I have seen "way" used to refer to a state only in situations in which that state is a CONDITION, such as "in a poor way," meaning "in a poor condition."

I don't think "way" would be used in describing a state of being such as that of carbon in a diamond state.

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Under high pressure and intense heat, graphite, the most stable form

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