The many extant fossils yet to be attributed to a species suggest that

Question

The many extant fossils yet  to be attributed to a species suggest that our classification of extinct species is either deficient, with many unclassified species meriting distinct branches on the taxonomic tree, or that  our method of identification is lacking, with many fossils indeed attributable to known extinct species.

A to be attributed to a species suggest that our classification of extinct species is either deficient, with many unclassified species meriting distinct branches on the taxonomic tree, or that

B attributed to a species suggest that our classification of extinct species is either deficient, and that many unclassified species merit a distinct branch on the taxonomic tree, or that

C to be attributed to a species suggest our classification of species that are extinct is either deficient, because many unclassified species merit on the taxonomic tree a distinct branch, or

D to be attributed to a species suggest either that our classification of extinct species is deficient, many unclassified species meriting distinct branches on the taxonomic tree, or that

E attributed to a species suggests that our classification of extinct species is either deficient, because many unclassified species merit distinct branches on the taxonomic tree, or

kungfury42 · Answer

I think it should be C but I'm unable to come up with a decent explanation for the same. Hoping others can share their answers and their thought process behind this question.

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cyrwr1 · Answer

Went with Choice D.
yet to be.... 
and suggest that..
and  either that  our classification vs.  or that  our method

Bunuel · Answer

Magoosh Official Explanation:

Usual suspects

Parallelism

There is some mighty complex parallelism going on here since we need to juggle two elements: “suggest that” and “either…or”. See each answer choice below.

Subject-verb agreement

The noun “fossils” should take “suggest”, not “suggests”. Unfortunately, noticing this only helps get rid of (E).

Not-so-usual suspects

Idiom: Yet TO BE “participle-ed”

This describes something that has yet to happen. We can eliminate (B) and (E).

(A) To simply the parallel clauses: suggest that NOUN PHRASE is EITHER adj. OR

At this point, immediately after the OR we would need an adjective. Instead we get a new relative clause starting with “that”. Clear violation of parallelism.

(B) attributed should be “to be attributed”. (See “not-so-usual suspects”).

(C) Same parallelism issues as (A).

(D) moves the “either” right before the “that” and directly after “suggest”. This juxtaposition allows for parallelism between the two “that” clauses. Notice the part that comes right after the first “that”, “our classification of extinct species is deficient” is parallel the noun phrase that comes after the second “that”, “our method of identification is lacking”.

Absolute phrase alert: “many unclassified species meriting distinct branches.” This phrase modifies the entire preceding clause, or elaborates on it. The absolute phrase is a fragment that usually contains a participle.

(E) Same as (B).

BingoBanguBongu · Answer

C doesn't have a "that" for suggest. Wrong

The many extant fossils yet to be attributed to a species suggest that

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The many extant fossils yet to be attributed to a species suggest that

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615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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