Even in early February — while the world focused on China — the virus

Question

Even in early February — while the world focused on China — the virus  was not only likely to be spreading in multiple American cities, but also seeding blooms  of infection elsewhere in the United States.

A) was not only likely to be spreading in multiple American cities, but also seeding blooms

B) was not only likely to be spreading in multiple American cities, but also to be seeding blooms

C) was only likely to spread in multiple American cities, and also seeding blooms

D) were not only likely to be spreading in multiple American cities, but also to seed blooms

E) were not only likely to be spreading in multiple American cities, but also be seeding blooms

adstudy · Accepted Answer

From the sentences we can see a 3 v/s 2 split, with "WAS" and "WERE" Clearly the subject is 'Virus', which is singular . Hence D and E are out Now lets take C first. C has both grammatical and meaning issues. Analysing from both perspectives - Meaning issue with C -> The initial prompt says 2 things happened. 1. Virus was likely to be spreading in multiple American cities 2. Virus was likely to be seeding blooms of infection elsewhere in the United States But option C says that 2 things happened. 1. Virus was only likely to spread in multiple American cities (not anywhere else in the world). 2. Virus was seeding blooms of infection elsewhere in the United States. So you see how their is a clear difference between the prompt and option. Hence C is out on the basis of meaning. Lets move to the grammtical error with C Grammatical error with C -> 1. 'and also' is redundant. Also is never required after and (atleast on the GMAT

) 2. Parallelism issue. The phrases "to spread in multiple American cities" and "seeding blooms of infection elsewhere in the United States" should be parallel but they are not making it an issue. Hence C is Out Now we are left only with A and B. Lets put them side by side - A) was not only likely to be spreading in multiple American cities, but also seeding blooms B) was not only likely to be spreading in multiple American cities, but also to be seeding blooms The only difference between the two is of two words, that is, "to be". Now if you note this to be changes meaning from prompt and also distorts parallelism . Meaning wise -> The prompt says "virus was likely spreading and was likely seeding blooms of infection" The option says "virus was likely spreading and was seeding blooms of infection" You see the difference ? Addition of 'to be' makes the seeding definite and not likely and that is, for sure, not the case or original meaning. Parallelism -> likely to be spreading in multiple American cities, to be seeding blooms You notice how the adverb 'likely' is present in the first part of not only but missing in the second part after but also. Hence B is Out Now most you might ask, everything is okay but how is A correct as it is missing 'likely to be' in the second part and destroying parallelism. The answer to this is Ellipses . Ellipses has omitted the already understood part from the previous 'not only clause' - likely to be. I get that this may not be the most suitable sentence but is the best of the lot. Hoping this to be helpful.

Anupamakashyap97 · Answer

Why is it not the option B? Since this is a closed marker -not only.....but also- shouldn't the entities enclosed be parallel; hence the addition of to be?

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Hi Anupama

When assessing parallelism, it helps to consider the sentence as a mathematical expression with parentheses. We have some leeway in where to place the parentheses, but, as in a mathematical operation, the terms outside the parentheses must be applied to every term inside upon expansion. Let us consider an example.

At the next meeting, the company directors will  ( assess the yearly plan, discuss the compensation policy, and make a final decision regarding closure of the Bosnian operations ) .

Note the placement of the parentheses - on expansion, the portion outside, "directors will", needs to be applied to each item inside ie; "assess...", "discuss..." and "make...". This is a correct construction and it maintains parallelism. Alternatively, we could also have:

At the next meeting, the company directors  ( will assess the yearly plan, will discuss the compensation policy, and will make a final decision regarding closure of the Bosnian operations ) .

Here, the parentheses are applied after "directors", which must now be applied to every item inside ie; "will assess...", "will discuss..." and "will make...". This construction is also correct and maintains parallelism.

Now, let us use the approach to assess options (A) and (B).

(A) Even in early February — while the world focused on China — the virus  was not only likely to be  ( spreading in multiple American cities, but also seeding blooms  of infection elsewhere in the United States ) .

If we place the parentheses in this way, the sentence can be read as: Even in early February — while the world focused on China — the virus was not only likely to be spreading in multiple American cities, but also likely to be seeding blooms of infection elsewhere in the United States.

(B) Even in early February — while the world focused on China — the virus  was not only likely  ( to be spreading in multiple American cities, but also to be seeding blooms  of infection elsewhere in the United States ) .

As you can see, both constructions maintain parallelism and are correct from that perspective. Option (A) is more concise and hence is a better option.

Hope this helps.

Anagarwal15 · Answer

Hey there
I can see the most favored incorrect choice is (B) because its structure looks more parallel.

But let us first look at the meaning aspect of it.

Even in early February — while the world focused on China — the virus was not only likely to be spreading in multiple American cities, but also seeding blooms of infection  elsewhere in the United States.

The author says that with the start of February everyone in the world was still focusing on China. But, the virus was very likely to spread in multiple American cities. It means that the virus has not yet spread but there are high chances that it can spread in various American cities. The next part says that the virus also seeds a large amount of infection in other parts of the united states. This means that the virus has already started spreading the infection. This is not a likely or possible situation. it has already started.

So the meaning is that the spread of the virus in some American cities is likely, but the spread of infection in other parts of US has already begun.

Note: don't miss out on the bold part.

According to choice B, the structure is parallel no doubt, but the parallel structure changes the meaning. Now both the spread of the virus in some parts and spread of a large amount of infection in other parts both have become likely because of repetition of 'to be'

B) was not only  likely to be spreading  in multiple American cities, but also  ( likely )to be seeding blooms

Even in early February — while the world focused on China — the virus

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Even in early February — while the world focused on China — the virus

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