Th Cat, tricky Q

[elevinty]

The basic needs of the average cat are simple and largely inexpensive: food, water, affection, and shelter, and occasional visits to the veterinarian.

(A) and occasional visits to the veterinarian
(B) with occasional veterinarian visits
(C) with occasional visits to the veterinarian
(D) yet occasionally visiting the veterinarian
(E) but some occasional visits to the veterinarian are needed




OA C
how come the oa is c is beyond me
need explanations please...

[elevinty]

here is my question: how do we know when to use "with"?

this is my rational and plz correct me if am wrong:

I eliminated D and E right away because there is no contrast
In B I dont have a specific reason but at the same time who in earth would say veterinarian visits ???
between A and C: honestly I chose A at the beginning because "with" is almost always wrong in the GMAT, but then when I looked at A, it seemed like if "and" is introduced it's either trying to parallel with another element and make them equal on the same logical level(which is not here) or it's trying to connect two Independent clauses together(which in this case there is no verb, "to" here I would say is acting as subordinator I know it's weird but sometimes "to" actually function like that, even if it didn't there is still no verb) so A is out.
In C: "with" is acting as a preposition and it's adding new information to the first bit, and ofcourse it can come anywhere in the sentence and still modify the main clause because the whole phrase is an adverb.

[akhp77]

This problem is from KAPLAN 800 but now it is in Kaplan GMAT Advanced 2009-2010 Edition.

We should not suppose to problem from KAPLAN in Manhattan forum.

[elevinty]

I didnt know that it's from kaplan, sorry if I violated the forum rules

[tim]

Students, PLEASE read the names of the forums and post in the correct place. And PLEASE do not ever post something unless you know where it is from. You need to have a book or a software program in front of you when you post the question. Not only does this help us avoid legal issues, but it also helps ensure your questions are copied accurately..

Now, to answer the "with" question: this is a case of nested parallelism, and it's not appropriate to talk about A, B, and C, and D; instead, we need two different parallel markers: A, B, and C, with D. Now we've grouped A/B/C together and set that group parallel to D..