Not only did the systematic clearing of forests

[nowwithgmat]

hello instructor
i have question about participle modifier in option E
"giving consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture"
does it correctly modify preceding clause ..
if not. could u please tell why ??

[RonPurewal]

hello instructor
i have question about participle modifier in option E
"giving consumers relatively inexpensive houses and furniture"
does it correctly modify preceding clause ..
if not. could u please tell why ??

ya, that modifier is wrong.

clearly, (a) creating farmland and (b) giving consumers cheap houses and furniture are two different, independent effects.
(b) doesn't describe (a), and isn't intimately related to (a) in any way, so the use of a modifier here is illogical.

note that, in the correct answer, these two effects are placed in parallel with "and" -- an interpretation that makes much more sense.

[Suapplle]

If I understand you correctly, you are arguing that "clearing" (a gerund) cannot logically "give" consumers anything. But why then argue that "farmland" can? "Farmland" is as inanimate as "clearing." In fact, the GMAT seems to think that either noun can "give" these things to consumers; "give" here is in the sense of "provide."

The "it" clearly refers to "clearing," for two reasons:
1) "houses" is plural, but "it" is singular
2) "clearing" is the subject of the sentence, and we use "it" as a subject pronoun; thus, "clearing" is the most logical antecedent.

Hi,instructor,I am still confused.
In choice (b),"which" seems to modify the"farmland",does it make sense here?

[RonPurewal]

In choice (b),"which" seems to modify the"farmland",does it make sense here?

That's correct. And, no, it doesn't make sense, since those two things are two completely separate uses of the land.

[kouranjelika]

Hey Guys,

Quick question, IF we could use the "not only...but also" construction here (if as Ron mentioned, the meaning was not in fact distorted as these things have opposite effects), could we say both, NOT ONLY did the clearing create and *give* bla bla bla, BUT ALSO or BUT IT ALSO.
Is the pronoun is mandatory, can we make a quick elimination based on something like this? I wanted to do that first off but hesitated because I thought "it also" sounded better, but wasn't sure if that's correct parallelism or not.

Thank you!

[RonPurewal]

could we say both, NOT ONLY did the clearing create and *give* bla bla bla, BUT ALSO or BUT IT ALSO.

You need "it".

The part following "not" has both a subject (the clearing) and a verb (did ... create and give), so you'd need both a subject and a verb after "but", too.
"Only" and "also" are adverbs; as such, they have no effect on the grammatical integrity of the construction (albeit a huge effect on its meaning).

Both of these are correct:

Not only does this drug enhance alertness, but it also suppresses appetite.

This drug not only enhances alertness but also suppresses appetite.

Putting half of the former with half of the latter would result in an incorrect sentence.

[Suapplle]

In choice (b),"which" seems to modify the"farmland",does it make sense here?

That's correct. And, no, it doesn't make sense, since those two things are two completely separate uses of the land.

Ron, thanks a lot~

[RonPurewal]

You're welcome.

[RomanN658]

This is a GMAT Prep question. I got the same one today. Isn't 'not only ....., but it also ....' construction awkward ?

the correct answer, (d), doesn't have that construction.

--

incidentally, note that, even if it were used with proper parallelism, the "not only ... but also" construction still wouldn't be appropriate here.

rhetorically, the "not only ... but also" construction is used for 2 parallel items that reinforce each other.

example:
weight training not only increases muscle mass and strength but also boosts bone density. --> notice that the two effects mentioned are both positive effects.

in this sentence, the 2 effects are contrasting: the first half (farmland/houses/furniture) is positive, but the second half (erosion/deforestation) is negative.
thus, "not only ... but also" is inappropriate; just use traditional "but (also)", by itself, instead. that's exactly what choice (d) does.

Hi Ron,

on PP. 707 of OG13, GMAC concluded, "if the first embedded clause is negated, the affirmed second clause cannot also be true." Also, on PP.297 of OG verbal, GMAC explained, "but also must be used as part of the correlative pair not only...but also." According to those information, I can infer that GMAC thinks but and also can not be used together except some idiomatic usage. But you mentioned in your post that we can solely use but(also). Please clarify!

Thanks

[RonPurewal]

Statements about whether something can be true are statements about meaning, not structure. They apply only to the specific context of the problem at hand.

All they're saying is this:
If you say "...but also as a sign that ____", the context requires that this be sign #2. The thing also must be a sign of something else.
This is not a "rules" thing. You can figure this out by sitting down and thinking about what the sentence is saying, and about what the word "also" does.

What they're saying has zero applicability to any other sentence.

[RonPurewal]

As another example, look at the first sentence of the explanation for choice A in OG verbal CR #60 (page 212). There, they use just "...but also", to indicate contrast (as explained above).
Not only ... but also... would be nonsense there.

I don't think I've seen this in an official problem, but there's absolutely no reason why it couldn't be in one. It's a thing.

[RomanN658]

Dear Ron,

Great analogy! Using Grammar as a tool to help us to clearly and effectively communicate with others. I will try to look at the big picture and not be distracted by details.

Your are inspiring as always!

[RonPurewal]

Thanks.

[NarenS469]

Besides other issues in option (a,) "gave "should be "give" in following sentence.
"Not only did the systematic clearing of forests in the United States ......... gave"
did +1st form of the verb............
does gmat test basic things such as this one ?

nicely done. that's certainly not "basic"; you have to have a rather sophisticated understanding of english verbs, AND the ability to connect pieces of a verb over a long distance, to understand this one.

Hello Instructors,

As per the explanation above, the verb should be 'give' because should be parallel to 'create' correct?

Thanks,

Naren

[RonPurewal]

technically the verbs are "did create" and "did give" ... but, yes, that's the idea.