MalharPagay
Bunuel, can you please explain why "as well as", in option B, is redundant?
Even though I also chose B over D as it seemed better written than D. (Absence of comma before D threw me off, and it looked clumsy wrt B).
OA says, that B has a redundant "as well as". I do not completely agree with this assessment. What decides whether "and" should be used or "as well as" should be used is the meaning of the sentence. If you want to add equal importance to both the elements presented. Say in A and B, if A and B are of equal importance then here the usage of "as well as" would be wrong. Because as well as introduces an additive phrase, a noun modifier that is not considered part of the subject.
Quoting
mikemcgarry from
Magoosh-
Quote:
"X and Y" is parallel structure, and both elements are regarded equally. In the construction "X as well as Y," X is the main focus and Y is an afterthought, of secondary importance: they are definitely not presented rhetorically as equals. This second structure is NOT parallelism.
Similarly, we would have "X and Y do P," plural verb, because "and" makes a plural subject even if X and Y are singular. That's called a compound subject. By contrast, we would have "X as well as Y does P," singular verb, because "as well as" creates what is called an additive phrase as explained above.
In our given question, it is tough to know whether the author wants to emphasize on both "working spheres" and "other sectors of the society" equally, or does she wants to emphasize more on "working sphere" and take "other sectors of the society" as an additive phrase.
Also, X as well as Y can also be read as- Not only X but also Y. I play Chess as well as read novels. It means- I not only play chess but also read novels.
IanStewart I hope this is a fair assessment.