prabsahi - Not everything is idiom and Usually gmat do not present question on only idiom basis.


thangvietnam - I am not sure about the rule u mentioned, and that does not sound legit.



Good job on eliminating A, B and E. Now, Both of you have not mentioned (perhaps overlooked.) the use of 'at this stage' in C and D. Use at two different places to modify different entities, This one is a deciding factor for sure. In C is bird is on that stage?
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daagh AjiteshArun generis

Can you please brief in E what is the antecedent of "it" ?

Option E is

... the wealth of enigmatic fossils seems more likely that it will inflame debates on the origin of birds at this stage than to...

I suppose that the it refers to the wealth of enigmatic fossils, but the structure (the wealth of enigmatic fossils seems more likely that it) itself is not correct.
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Since it is a very weirdly constructed problem with a fair chance to misguide you, I believe that I have some different approach

Look if you do not spot it while reading, a SVA (Agreement) error, you can see the difference in the options, when you see such a difference, you can then think over it
we need a verb for THE WEALTH
A singular noun, so the verb should be seems
now as for C,D,E


EASY WAY
See if you're very confident in SC the easy way is best for u
C uses more.... rather than construction, very unidiomatic
E has an empty it

HARD WAY
If you are blanked out on grammar rules, this method will certainly work

Try to find the difference between options
you'll see

C v D
PLACEMENT OF "at this stage"
Now think a little

GMAT has done this. You must have seen questions where the word placement changes meaning, such as "only", etc

What does the C say in parts?

TO INFLAME DEBATE ON BIRDS AT THIS STAGE

What does D say?

AT THIS STAGE TO INFLAME DEBATE ON BIRDS

Since the rest of the sentence says nothing about the stage on which the birds are at, we can safely believe that the option C was not conveying the meaning
Now as for option E
you can say D is concise, also the "it" is not getting an antecedent
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I have still doubt on debate on and debate over? Anyone can help.

Could someone please explain why the parallel structure of the verbs are not taking into account?

Parallel marker - While A, B

While (A) many of the dinosaur fossils found recently in northeast China seem to provide evidence of the kinship between dinosaurs and birds, (B) the wealth of enigmatic fossils seem more likely at this stage..

The verb seem and seems would not be parallel. or does this rule not apply to verbs?

as the wealth will take singular verb seems so option option a and b is rejected , now in option c, d and e than is parallelism marker and only option d follows structure of " to inflame ........ than to " so option d is correct answer choice

DC 1: As the sentence is starting with subordinating conjunction ''While'' this sentence is a DC. ''While many of the dinosaur fossils found recently in northeast China seem to provide evidence of the kinship between dinosaurs and birds''.

IC: The wealth of enigmatic fossils seem more likely at this stage that they will inflame debates over the origin of birds rather than settle them.

Error 1: The Wealth is Singular. ''Seem'' should also be singular, which is '''Seems''.
Error 2: Whenever ''More'' is in the statement, we need to use only ''Than'' not ''Rather Than''.
Error 3: What does ''They'' Refer to?
Error 4:In this sentence ''Seems'' should be followed by ''To''
Error 5: Parallelism (Seem ____________ to _________than to settle them).


a) Error 1 + Error 2 + Error 3 + Error 4 + Error 5
b) Error 1 +Error 4 + Error 5. Here ''it'' refers to the Wealth.
But the placement of ''at this stage'' is wrong. This modifies the ''Orgin of Birds''.
c) Error 2 + Error 5
But the placement of ''at this stage'' is wrong. This modifies the ''Orgin of Birds''.
d) Correct.
e) Error 4. Here ''it'' refers to the Wealth.
But the placement of ''at this stage'' is wrong. This modifies the ''Orgin of Birds''.

So, option D is correct.


Kudos, if my explanations helps.

GMATNinja

Hi Ninja, I understand that C is wrong because of the confusion caused by the position "in the near future". However, I do not think the parallelism was an issue. I can see the "to" to applied to "settle" as well. Do you agree?

While many of the dinosaur fossils found recently in northeast China seem to provide evidence of the kinship between dinosaurs and birds, the wealth of enigmatic fossils seem more likely at this stage that they will inflame debates over the origin of birds rather than settle them.


(A) seem more likely at this stage that they will inflame debates over the origin of birds rather than -> we are talking about "the wealth" (singular subject), so use of seem (plural verb) is incorrect.

(B) seem more likely that it will inflame debates over the origin of birds at this stage than -> Same as A.

(C) seems more likely to inflame debates on the origin of birds at this stage rather than -> "to inflame" and "settle" are not parallel. Incorrect.

(D) seems more likely at this stage to inflame debates over the origin of birds than to -> Subject verb and parallelism issues are resolved.

(E) seems more likely that it will inflame debates on the origin of birds at this stage than to -> "that it will" is incorrect.

So, I think D.

While many of the dinosaur fossils found recently in northeast China seem to provide evidence of the kinship between dinosaurs and birds, the wealth of enigmatic fossils seem more likely at this stage that they will inflame debates over the origin of birds rather than settle them.


(A) seem more likely at this stage that they will inflame debates over the origin of birds rather than

"wealth of enigmatic fossils" is singular. Do not be fooled into thinking that the plural 'seem' is required because of the presence of 'fossils'

(B) seem more likely that it will inflame debates over the origin of birds at this stage than

"wealth of enigmatic fossils" is singular. Do not be fooled into thinking that the plural 'seem' is required because of the presence of 'fossils'

(C) seems more likely to inflame debates on the origin of birds at this stage rather than

"at this stage" is meant to convey the idea "at the present time" or "right now". Its placement in this sentence belongs after "likely".

(D) seems more likely at this stage to inflame debates over the origin of birds than to Correct

"to inflame" and "to settle" are parallel

(E) seems more likely that it will inflame debates on the origin of birds at this stage than to

The use of the future tense is incorrect here because it conflicts with the present tense conveyed by "at this stage"
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While many of the dinosaur fossils found recently in northeast China seem to provide evidence of the kinship between dinosaurs and birds, the wealth of enigmatic fossils seem more likely at this stage that they will inflame debates over the origin of birds rather than settle them.

wealth is a collective noun and it is singular in nature
the correct verb for wealth is seems


Incorrect as per above discussion


"to inflame" not parallel to "settle"


Perfect parallelism and SV agreement.


Not a parallel structure

D is clear win.
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V-S spotted:
1. found- (While may of, describes the disnosour fossils) The dinasour fossils, subject= S
2. to provide- infinitives (not a verb)
3. will inflame debates- X (cannot find the subject, ERROR)
4. settle them- X (cannot find the subject, ERROR)

(A) seem more likely at this stage that they will inflame debates over the origin of birds rather than
seem, verb = P
subject= S
S≠V

will inflame debates- X (cannot find the subject, ERROR)

(B) seem more likely that it will inflame debates over the origin of birds at this stage than
seem, verb = P
subject= S
S≠V

it, personal pronoun (S) = the wealth of the enigmatic fossils (S) | ok

(C) seems more likely to inflame debates on the origin of birds at this stage rather than
seems, verb = S
subject= S
S=V

to inflame debates than settle them. infintive vs verb. Error

(D) seems more likely at this stage to inflame debates over the origin of birds than to
seems, verb = S
subject= S
S=V

to inflame debates than to settle them. infintive vs infinitive. OK

(E) seems more likely that it will inflame debates on the origin of birds at this stage than to
seems, verb = S
subject= S
S=V

will inflame debates (P)
it, personal pronoun (S) = the wealth of the enigmatic fossils (S)

V≠PP

Also, will inflame debates vs to settle them. Error in comparsion.