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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hi PrakharGMAT,

lets look at D..

appear equal in size to each other when they are sitting on a branch or in a nest, in the air, the Common Nighthawk appears much larger because of its greater wingspan

'each other' is redundant and also changes the meaning slightly..
It seems that they look equal to each other.. that is when they are sitting on branch, EACH sees the OTHER equal to itself..
Ofcourse thats illogical, it appears to others, so EACH other should be removed..

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.

Here is the thing about original meaning - it doesn't exist. Note that option (A) is in no way superior to other 4 options. The probability of option (A) being correct is 20% only. The distinction is not "original meaning" vs "altered meaning"; it is "logical" vs "illogical" meaning.

In option (A) and (D), "...equal in size to each other..." is somewhat illogical. For an onlooker, two things could be equal in size. They are not equal in size to each other.
On the other hand, you can say that when they stood side by side, they found that they were equal in height to each other... etc.

So you need to find the logically correct sentence. Option (E) is more appropriate because they appear equal in size to the onlookers.
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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.

First part (removing the modifiers):
While the Eastern Whip-poor-will -–a nocturnal bird that feeds mostly in the very early morning–- and the Common Nighthawk –-a nocturnal bird from the same family that, despite its name, feeds mostly during the morning and evening–- appear equal in size when sitting on a branch or in a nest;

The structure is: While X and Y appear equal in size; .... there is no independent clause before the semicolon. ( A semicolon must separate two independent clauses.)

[The only independent clause of the sentence comes AFTER the semicolon:
in the air, the Common Nighthawk appears much larger because of its greater wingspan.]

kindly explain why option 3 is incorrect

While the Eastern Whip-poor-will -–a nocturnal bird that feeds mostly in the very early morning–- and the Common Nighthawk –-a nocturnal bird from the same family that, despite its name, feeds mostly during the morning and evening–- appear equal in size when sitting on a branch or in a nest; in the air, the Common Nighthawk appears much larger because of its greater wingspan.

Note the structure of the sentence:

While E and C appear equal in size when sitting on a branch; C appears much larger ...

So what we have here is a subordinate clause (starting with "While") and an independent clause. You cannot combine the two with a semi colon.
To use a semi colon, you must have two independent clauses.
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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.

"Each other" and "one another" are interchangeable, though on this context they do not make sense. The phrase implies that bird A appears equal to bird B, and bird B appears equal to bird A.

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.

Great question.

Option A,B and D can easily be eliminated. (appear equal in size to each other is redundant).

We are left with C and E.

C makes the mistake of using a semi colon, while the first half of the sentence is clearly dependent on this clause.

Slash and burn - while they appear equal in size on branch and in nest, in air they appear unequal.

This leaves us with the correct option E.

Hope my reasoning was satisfying!

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

These are just two different ways of saying the same thing. There is no right or wrong meaning, no original or changed meaning. There is nothing that says that option (A) gives the original meaning. When we say error of "accuracy in meaning", we mean that it should be logical. It should not become senseless.
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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.

I agree that this is the fastest and most compelling way to answer this question!
But after reading all of the answers here, I don't understand why the experts haven't addressed this topic.
VeritasKarishma - may you please help?

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.

Hi daagh, can you please explain why a semicolon in option C is wrong.
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Superg8 The key to your question is that the sentence starts with "while." That "while" creates a dependent clause that needs to be completed with the clause at the end: "the nighthawk appears much larger." We can only use a semicolon if we have two independent clauses.
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