While some propose to combat widespread illegal copying of computer

So here we are applying V-A-N diagram; Verb is preferable to adjective, and adjective is preferable to Noun. As (V+ing) form is closer to verb, it is also preferable to Adjective and noun.
I think now it is clear to me. Thank you

does "others are calling " in E seem bit awkward as compared to the rest of the sentence?

imho,

suggest can be used only in two forms: "suggest that..." OR suggest+gerund. So, A and E remains

E more parallel

While some propose to combat widespread illegal copying of computer programs by attempting to change people's attitudes toward pirating, others by suggesting reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others by calling for the prosecution of those who copy software illegally.

(A) by suggesting reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others by calling
(B) by suggesting the reduction of software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others call
(C) suggest the reduction of software prices for decreasing the incentive for pirating, and still others call
(D) suggest the reduction of software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others by calling
(E) suggest reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others are calling

GMATNinjaTwo Could you help to explain "the reduction of" vs "reducing" & "call" vs "are calling" in answers (C) and (E)?

Could you help me understand why is Option E preferred to Option C.

I agree with Eden. Certainly this is not a topic that will stand good to common reasoning, especially the way non-natives like me have been taught to look at parallelism. The three verbs in tandem are the present tense- propose, suggest and are calling-, as found in E, although the third verb is a bit of a baffle in that it is a present progressive. But considering that the other nearest choice C, which maintains almost equal parallelism among all the three verbs under question, has serious idiomatic flaws such as ‘for decreasing’, we have to grudgingly reconcile to Choice E.
Choice A is a fragment; B and D fault on parallelism.

This is as far as I could go on this. Incidentally, was this choice ever carried over from OG 10 to OG 11 and then on to OG 12? I doubt.

Hello SafalSharma,

I will be glad to help you with this one.

Let's take a look at Choice C:

suggest the reduction of software prices for decreasing the incentive for pirating, and still others call: Incorrect

i. This choice is incorrect for the usage of for decreasing. Per the context of the sentence, the purpose of reducing software prices is to decrease the incentive for pirating. Hence, the correct phrase is to decrease to show the purpose/intent.


Let's look at Choice E now:

suggest reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others are calling: Correct

This choice is correct for maintaining parallelism among the structures - some propose, others suggest, and others are calling. I do agree that the last verb can very well be written in simple present tense. However, this is the only grammatically as well as logically correct answer choice.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

https://gmatclub.com/forum/while-some-propose-to-combat-widespread-illegal-copying-of-computer-151395.html

While some propose to combat widespread illegal copying of computer programs by attempting to change people's attitudes toward pirating, others by suggesting reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others by calling for the prosecution of those who copy software illegally.


(A) by suggesting reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others by calling

(B) by suggesting the reduction of software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others call

(C) suggest the reduction of software prices for decreasing the incentive for pirating, and still others call

(D) suggest the reduction of software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others by calling

(E) suggest reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others are calling

Ans E:

MGMAT's comments


While some propose to combat widespread illegal copying of computer programs by attempting to change people's attitudes toward pirating, others by suggesting reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others by calling for the prosecution of those who copy software illegally.

A)by suggesting reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others by calling

B)by suggesting the reduction of software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others call

C)suggest the reduction of software prices for decreasing the incentive for pirating, and still others call

D)suggest the reduction of software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others by calling

E)suggest reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others are calling

The parallel verbs are some PROPOSE (to combat), SUGGEST (reducing), and ARE CALLING (for X). All three verbs are in the present tense (although the third is in the present progressive, it's still considered present). If I could wave a wand, I would choose to make the third verb CALL, not ARE CALLING, but I don't have that option while retaining correct grammar in the rest of the sentence (e.g., in choice C, the expression "for decreasing" is definitely incorrect -- you must express the intended result of "reducing software prices" with an INFINITIVE such as "to decrease").

I am baffled with this question. I am still not able to understand what is the key learning that i can take from options C and E.

I read the above explanations, but still not so clear as some mentioned : for decreasing is wrong, 2 ing together is wrong, gmat doesn't prefer this.

Please help to explain AndrewN GMATNinja .

While some propose to combat widespread illegal copying of computer programs by attempting to change people's attitudes toward pirating, others by suggesting reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others by calling for the prosecution of those who copy software illegally.

(C) suggest the reduction of software prices for decreasing the incentive for pirating, and still others call
(E) suggest reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others are calling

Yes, mSKR, this is not a pretty question. I echo the thoughts of daagh in the Most Helpful Expert Reply. I suppose the takeaway is to choose the lesser of two evils. Compare (C) and (E) side by side:


Split #1: the reduction of v. reducing
Analysis: The GMAT™ tends to favor more concise options, although the reduction of better parallels the prosecution of in the non-underlined portion of the sentence. I would not necessarily favor one answer choice over the other on this consideration alone.

Split #2: for decreasing v. to decrease
Analysis: No case can be made for the former in the context of this sentence. The shortened in order to wins, hands down, as the only idiomatic option. Split #2 goes to (E).

Split #3: call v. are calling
Analysis: The parallelism of the verbs favors the former: some propose... others suggest... and still others call. But is the present progressive actually wrong at the end of the list? No. It is certainly less parallel, but the meaning and tense are both fine. Again, I would not rely on this split alone to determine an answer.

Of the options presented, then, (E) makes a more compelling case than (C) based on a single fatal flaw in (C). If you are certain something is wrong in one answer, then choose another, even if it makes you uncomfortable. I cannot tell you how many questions I have missed in practice because I liked one part of an answer choice better than its counterpart in another, but after getting burned so many times, I started to take the other route, and that is why I teach others to get rid of answer choices only if they are sure something is wrong in them.

I wish I had a more satisfactory answer, but this is just a less-than-ideal question.

- Andrew

Hi AndrewN

So can we conclude if we face a situation like this, when we are torn between 2 options in which one has an erroneous idiomatic usage and the other has a parallelism flaw, we should opt for the choice that has a correct idiomatic usage ? Does the GMAT considers unidiomatic usage more wrong than faulty parallelism ?

The suggestion is for taking up an action - a gerund is closer to a verb (i.e. an action) than a concrete noun is. Hence "suggest reducing prices " should be preferable to "suggest the reduction".