Hi Experts / chetan2u / VeritasPrepKarishma ,

I opted for D because this option tries to maintain the original meaning "Birds look similar when SITTING on branch" .But if I talk about option E, in this option "Birds look similar when they are on a branch".

So, option E slightly changes the meaning. Therefore I opted option D.

Can you please provide strong reason to eliminate D.

Please assist,
Thanks and Regards,
Prakhar
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structural errors are no problem to us because they are rules.
meaning errors are a problem to us. in analysing meaning errors we focus on
- illogic meaning
- unclear meaning
- not close meaning
- redundant meaning

if we can eliminate those kinds of meaning errors, our writen sentence become clear and concise and this is what gmat want from us.

comming back to this problem.

we see redundant meaning in "equal in each other", eliminate A,B,D.
structural errors in choice c is grammar rule , too easy.

Hi,

Can someone please elaborate how C was eliminated ? I've read the Explainations given above,
but I still don't understand how in C the 1st part is incomplete or the 2 clauses aren't independent.

kindly explain why option 3 is incorrect

Hello expert,

I understand that option 'e' is correct, but as this options has the usage of 'each other' and 'one another' , could you please explain the difference between "appear equal to one another" and "appear equal to each other" in context of this question.

I doubt anyone reading the passage would think the birds are comparing their size to the other bird. This would imply the reader is personifying the birds which readers are very very very very unlikely to do. Kind of a stupid question for that reason. The passage gives us no indicating that the birds are being personified. I don't think there is very much between, D & E. C has a pretty tricky semicolon which Karishma pointed out above has no independent clause.

Hi Karishma,
Option E changes the meaning as it says that the birds appear equal in size when they are seen in branches or in nests, whereas the original sentence says that the birds appear equal in size when they are sitting(not seen) in branches or in nests. Please clarify

Veritas Prep Official Explanation:

Explanation: The first thing to do on this problem is to get rid of all the garbage by using the slash and burn technique. The sentence starts with lots of unnecessary information and should be read like this: “While the two birds appear...” After simplifying that, the easiest answer to eliminate is (C). You cannot start a sentence with “While the two birds appear...” and then have a semicolon. When a semi-colon is used in a sentence like this, each portion on either side of the semi-colon must be a stand-alone sentence. In (A), (B), and (D) there appears to be a choice between “each other” and “one another” but that is a false decision point. “Each other” is used when there are two distinct entities or groups and “one another” is used when there are multiple entities or groups. It is unclear and unimportant in this sentence whether many birds are being referred to or each group of birds distinctly. The big problem in (A), (B) and (D) is the meaning: in those three sentences, the language infers that the birds only look this way to each other/one another when they are in certain situations. From the end of the sentence, it is clear that the goal of the sentence is to show the difference in how they look to anyone/anything when they are sitting on a branch or a nest vs. in the air. Also, in (A) and (B) “due to” is incorrect: when you are answering the question why, you should use “because” or a proper synonym. “Due to” means attributable to and can only be used with a linking verb: for instance, “x is “due to” y”. Correct answer is (E). The birds appear equal in size when they are seen (not when they are looking at each other/ one another) by anyone and in the air one appears larger “because” of its wingspan.
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A – Word choice problem, ‘due to’ is not the right word to use.
B – Word Choice problem, ‘equal in size to on another’ is improper phrasing.
C – The latter part of this sentence does not have a comparison object and so is incomplete
D – Correct.
E – Also correct and more concise that D.

E is the best option.