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The Mars Exploration Program established that the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether or not Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars.
A. The Mars Exploration Program established that the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether or not Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars.
B. The Mars Exploration Program established that the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as to determine the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars.
C. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars.
D. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help to determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars
E. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission is to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars.
Sourced from RSSing.com -- As usual, no OA or OE is available. What is given after three days is my own OA and not the original author's. A lot of discussions with reasoning are welcome.
_________________
A. The Mars Exploration Program established that the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether or not Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars.
B. The Mars Exploration Program established that the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as to determine the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars.
C. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars.
D. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help to determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars
E. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission is to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars.
Sourced from RSSing.com -- As usual, no OA or OE is available. What is given after three days is my own OA and not the original author's. A lot of discussions with reasoning are welcome.
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Thank you Daagh for your time on GMAT Club and all your contributions! Thank you for everything you did!
Your work will remain a great tribute to you here on GMAT Club!
-bb
Your work will remain a great tribute to you here on GMAT Club!
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Gnpth
The Mars Exploration Program established that the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether or not Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars.
A. The Mars Exploration Program established that the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether or not Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars. -- Whether or not is redundant and incorrect
B. The Mars Exploration Program established that the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as to determine the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars. --- as well as determining is the correct verb when we join a verb; 'as well as to determine' is not
Please read the part below in proof of this; <https://www.thefreedictionary.com/as+well+as>
C. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars. ---- The two things that are parallel here are 1. to help and 2. to study. Correct choice.
D. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help to determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars ------ to help 'to determine', especially because of the infinitive marker before determine is not to be taken as parallel 'to study'
E. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission is to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars. --- Goals … is --SV error
_________________
Quote:
The Mars Exploration Program established that the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether or not Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars.
A. The Mars Exploration Program established that the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether or not Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars. -- Whether or not is redundant and incorrect
B. The Mars Exploration Program established that the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as to determine the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars. --- as well as determining is the correct verb when we join a verb; 'as well as to determine' is not
Please read the part below in proof of this; <https://www.thefreedictionary.com/as+well+as>
Quote:
C. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars. ---- The two things that are parallel here are 1. to help and 2. to study. Correct choice.
D. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help to determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars ------ to help 'to determine', especially because of the infinitive marker before determine is not to be taken as parallel 'to study'
E. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission is to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars. --- Goals … is --SV error
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Thank you Daagh for your time on GMAT Club and all your contributions! Thank you for everything you did!
Your work will remain a great tribute to you here on GMAT Club!
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Your work will remain a great tribute to you here on GMAT Club!
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niks18
How is the list parallel in B?. "as well as" is redundant. We say X, Y and Z. Not X as well as Y and Z.
Posts: 6,486
Updated on: 19 Jan 2020, 21:24
Originally posted by ExpertsGlobal5 on 18 Jan 2020, 01:49.
Last edited by ExpertsGlobal5 on 19 Jan 2020, 21:24, edited 1 time in total.
Last edited by ExpertsGlobal5 on 19 Jan 2020, 21:24, edited 1 time in total.
Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
Choice A: In Option A, we see a parallelism error between "to help determine", "to study" and "as well as determining"; remember, lists must be parallel. Furthermore, Option A utilizes the redundant and unidiomatic phrase "whether or not"; the correct form of this phrase is "whether". Thus, Option A is incorrect.
Choice B: Option B maintains parallelism, subject-verb agreement, and proper idiom usage. Thus, Option B is correct.
Choice C: Option C repeats the parallelism error found in Option A. Thus, Option C is incorrect.
Choice D: Option D repeats the parallelism error found in Options A and C. Furthermore, the phrase "to help to determine" is needlessly wordy. Thus, Option D is incorrect.
Choice E: Option E repeats the parallelism error found in Options A, C, and D and features a subject-verb disagreement between "goals" and "is". Thus, Option E is incorrect.
Hence, B is the best answer choice.
To understand the concept of “If v/s Whether on GMAT”, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
_________________
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
daagh
Choice A: In Option A, we see a parallelism error between "to help determine", "to study" and "as well as determining"; remember, lists must be parallel. Furthermore, Option A utilizes the redundant and unidiomatic phrase "whether or not"; the correct form of this phrase is "whether". Thus, Option A is incorrect.
Choice B: Option B maintains parallelism, subject-verb agreement, and proper idiom usage. Thus, Option B is correct.
Choice C: Option C repeats the parallelism error found in Option A. Thus, Option C is incorrect.
Choice D: Option D repeats the parallelism error found in Options A and C. Furthermore, the phrase "to help to determine" is needlessly wordy. Thus, Option D is incorrect.
Choice E: Option E repeats the parallelism error found in Options A, C, and D and features a subject-verb disagreement between "goals" and "is". Thus, Option E is incorrect.
Hence, B is the best answer choice.
To understand the concept of “If v/s Whether on GMAT”, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
_________________
General Discussion
A is out since when we use whether the "or not" state is already intended.
B is out since the meaning and parallelism changes.
C- Seems to be okay. We have correct modifiers, verb, and parallelism. So hold.
D. to help to determine is wordy. Just to help determine is good. So out.
E. use of singular verb is for plural subject goals is wrong.
So I go with option C.
B is out since the meaning and parallelism changes.
C- Seems to be okay. We have correct modifiers, verb, and parallelism. So hold.
D. to help to determine is wordy. Just to help determine is good. So out.
E. use of singular verb is for plural subject goals is wrong.
So I go with option C.
daagh
IMO B
A. The Mars Exploration Program established that the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether or not Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars.-------main goals are being lists her so the list should be parallel. "whether or not" is redundant
B. The Mars Exploration Program established that the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as to determine the role of water, and to study the the climate and geology of Mars.------------the list is parallel here and redundancy has been removed. Correct
C. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climad geology of Mars.------list is not parallel
D. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help to determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars------list is not parallel.
"to help to determine" is incorrect
E. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission is to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars.-------.S-V issue and list is not parallel
nitesh181989
Joined: 06 Sep 2013
Last visit: 26 May 2025
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Location: India
Concentration: Leadership, Strategy
Schools: ISB '19 (A)
GMAT 1: 770 Q50 V44
GPA: 3.7
WE:Information Technology (Consulting)
IMO D
As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help to determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars
To help is followed by the infinitive 'to determine' and the participle 'determining' in parallel, connected together through 'as well as'.
'To help' and 'to study' are also parallel after the helping verb 'are'.
As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help to determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars
To help is followed by the infinitive 'to determine' and the participle 'determining' in parallel, connected together through 'as well as'.
'To help' and 'to study' are also parallel after the helping verb 'are'.
I chose B
I think determining isnt parallel and in B also "to help to determine" - I think its wrong
I think determining isnt parallel and in B also "to help to determine" - I think its wrong
i also chose B. Well the reason is "X, as well as Y, and Z" in this X is the main focus and Y is after thought
X :- to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life
Y :- to determine the role of water
Z :- to study the climate and geology of Mars
X and Z makes the list so they have to be parallel
Plus in all other options A,C,D,E "determining the role of water" is acting a modifier. So i choose B
X :- to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life
Y :- to determine the role of water
Z :- to study the climate and geology of Mars
X and Z makes the list so they have to be parallel
Plus in all other options A,C,D,E "determining the role of water" is acting a modifier. So i choose B
Posts: 26
Gnpth
Could you help explain why you think the meaning is changed in B? Thank you.
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rekhabishop
Joined: 22 Sep 2016
Last visit: 18 May 2018
Posts: 128
Location: India
Schools: Degroote McMaster"19 (A$) HBS '20 (D) Stanford '20 (D) Wharton '20 (D) Booth '20 (D) Kellogg '20 Haas '20
GMAT 1: 710 Q50 V35
GPA: 4
Schools: Degroote McMaster"19 (A$) HBS '20 (D) Stanford '20 (D) Wharton '20 (D) Booth '20 (D) Kellogg '20 Haas '20
GMAT 1: 710 Q50 V35
Posts: 128
daagh
I think that the answer is B, due to parellelism. Although, I am not very sure. :|
Hi
i have my gmat on monday
can wait for the OA but want to know it
and what is the level of the question
i have my gmat on monday
can wait for the OA but want to know it
and what is the level of the question
So far, most of the opinions have been tentative among B, C, D; it is difficult to assign a difficulty value in such fluid contexts. However, I feel since it is drawing so much of munching, it should be 750 + level
_________________
_________________
Thank you Daagh for your time on GMAT Club and all your contributions! Thank you for everything you did!
Your work will remain a great tribute to you here on GMAT Club!
-bb
Your work will remain a great tribute to you here on GMAT Club!
-bb
daagh
Hi daagh, Please let us know the OA. I guess most of them are tending towards B. But I'm not really sure how in B all 3 items as parallel?
since the presence of as well as. Please provide your explanation.
as well as is a additive phrase, it wont draw the compound verb AND. THE main scientific goal, the means we are talking about the main goal, hence only one goal and the verb should be IS. E maintains parallelism.
Experts please let me know is my logic is correct !! I don't see a problem with E
Experts please let me know is my logic is correct !! I don't see a problem with E
daagh
Thanks daagh for the succinct explanation.
However I would like to clear few doubts over here - In option B apart from the error "as well as determining to" are there any other errors or does the sentence distorts the intended meaning? Because I feel that option B is more direct than the passive construction used in Option C, so if there were no idiom error then B could have been a strong contender.
True; if there were no idiom errors in B, then there would be two correct answers. But the risk is that the question would be invalid.
_________________
_________________
Thank you Daagh for your time on GMAT Club and all your contributions! Thank you for everything you did!
Your work will remain a great tribute to you here on GMAT Club!
-bb
Your work will remain a great tribute to you here on GMAT Club!
-bb
daagh
Thanks for sharing the OA before time.
I went with B.
_________________
- Stne
anuj11
Answer choice E states “...main scientific goal[s]...is to”
Goals, which is plural, should be followed by “are” not “is”.
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