Researchers have discovered a new species of sparrow

[aaa]

Researchers have discovered a new species of sparrow that lives only in cypress groves, almost wholly dependent on the berries of a certain type of vine that grows on cypress trees and whose coloring is completely different from all other sparrows.

a that lives only in cypress groves, almost wholly dependent on the berries of a certain type of vine that grows in cypress trees and whose coloring is completely different from

b that lives only in cypress groves, is almost wholly dependent on the berries of a certain type of vine that grows on cypress trees, and has coloring completely different from that of

c living only in cypress groves, is almost wholly dependent on the berries of a certain type of vine that grows on cypress trees, and whose coloring is completely different from

d that lives only in cypress groves, almost wholly dependent on the berries of a certain type of vine that grows on cypress trees, and whose coloring is completely different from that of

e living only in cypress groves, depending almost wholly on the berries of a certain type of vine that grows on cypress trees, and having coloring completely different than

The correct answer is B.

The original sentence intends to identify a sparrow by the fact that it lives in cypress groves, eats certain berries, and has certain coloring. All these facts about the sparrow must be presented in parallel form. However, in the original sentence, these facts are presented in different forms. We need to find a choice that presents them all in parallel fashion. Moreover, "whose coloring is different from all other sparrows" is incorrect. The sparrow's coloring is different from the coloring of other sparrows, not from the sparrows themselves. We need to find a choice that makes this clear.

I'm having trouble understanding why B is parallel. I understand noun, adjective, verb, adverbial, etc. parallel structures, but more complex parallel structures are confusing me. Please let me know if you have any helpful hints. Thanks

[dbernst]

aaa, I agree this is a tricky parallel construction problem. The key is to look for comparable sentence structures and make sure they are presented in a congruent manner.

In this sentence we are provided three pieces of information about the sparrow: it lives only in cypress groves, it is almost wholly dependent on the berries of a certain type of vine that grows on cypress trees, and it has coloring completely different from that of all other sparrows.

A. Lack second verb, causing both modifier and parallel construction errors
B. CORRECT. Presents list of verbs in congruent manner
C. Lacks parallel construction as living is not parallel to is
D. Lack second verb, causing both modifier and parallel construction errors
E. Verbs are parallel but awkward; simple past is preferable to -ing verbals.

Since your question was about parallel construction, these explanations focus solely on parallelism. Several additional grammatical errors are also contained with choices A, C, D, and E.

-dan

[xic990]

aaa, I agree this is a tricky parallel construction problem. The key is to look for comparable sentence structures and make sure they are presented in a congruent manner.

In this sentence we are provided three pieces of information about the sparrow: it lives only in cypress groves, it is almost wholly dependent on the berries of a certain type of vine that grows on cypress trees, and it has coloring completely different from that of all other sparrows.

A. Lack second verb, causing both modifier and parallel construction errors
B. CORRECT. Presents list of verbs in congruent manner
C. Lacks parallel construction as living is not parallel to is
D. Lack second verb, causing both modifier and parallel construction errors
E. Verbs are parallel but awkward; simple past is preferable to -ing verbals.

Since your question was about parallel construction, these explanations focus solely on parallelism. Several additional grammatical errors are also contained with choices A, C, D, and E.

-dan

But Is the correct sentence a run-on?
Researchers have discovered a new species of sparrow that lives only in cypress groves, is

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

What do you mean by a run-on?

[BolunL411]

What do you mean by a run-on?

I have the same concern.
if we choose B, then we need to add THAT in the sentence right?
Or is ellipsis of "that" acceptable here? Could you elaborate the rules?

Researchers have discovered THAT a new species of sparrow that lives only in cypress groves, is almost wholly dependent on the berries ..., and has coloring completely different from ...

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

It's important to view correct answers (at least of official material) as always correct and to try to find out why. As you say, we don't need to repeat the word 'that'. This is just a simple list: Researchers have discovered that (1), (2), and (3). We could say: Researchers have discovered that (1), that (2), and that (3). but it would make the sentence very that-y.

[Gui]

aaa, I agree this is a tricky parallel construction problem. The key is to look for comparable sentence structures and make sure they are presented in a congruent manner.

In this sentence we are provided three pieces of information about the sparrow: it lives only in cypress groves, it is almost wholly dependent on the berries of a certain type of vine that grows on cypress trees, and it has coloring completely different from that of all other sparrows.

A. Lack second verb, causing both modifier and parallel construction errors
B. CORRECT. Presents list of verbs in congruent manner
C. Lacks parallel construction as living is not parallel to is
D. Lack second verb, causing both modifier and parallel construction errors
E. Verbs are parallel but awkward; simple past is preferable to -ing verbals.

Since your question was about parallel construction, these explanations focus solely on parallelism. Several additional grammatical errors are also contained with choices A, C, D, and E.

-dan

Hi! Do alternative C and E have a meaning issue? " Researchers have discovered a new species of sparrow living only in..."

The correct construction is "Researches have discovered a new species of sparrow that..." right?

Can you clarify this issue for me?

Many tks!

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

Please try to make your questions as clear as possible. There's no need to quote previous posts unless it's directly relevant to your question.

As I understand it, you're asking if there's a difference in meaning between the following sentences:
Scientists have discovered a new species of sparrow that lives only in cypress groves.
Scientists have discovered a new species of sparrow living only in cypress groves.

I would suggest that there's a subtle difference: the 'that modifier' makes it clear that the fact is a general one about the sparrow species' behavior. The 'noun -ing' modifier follows the tense of the verb, suggesting that the sparrow might simply have been just living temporarily in the swamp when the scientists discovered them. However, I think this difference is probably too slight to be tested directly on GMAT problems.

[JbhB682]

I thought D was accurate as the format could be a parallel list with 2 items only not three (the middle item could be a modifier)

Parallel format of D containing only two items in the list : X, modifier, and Y

X = that lives in cypress groves......
modifer = almost wholly dependent on the berries....
Y = whose coloring is completely different from that of...

[esledge]

I thought D was accurate as the format could be a parallel list with 2 items only not three (the middle item could be a modifier)

Parallel format of D containing only two items in the list : X, modifier, and Y

X = that lives in cypress groves......
modifer = almost wholly dependent on the berries....
Y = whose coloring is completely different from that of...

I agree that the middle term could be a modifier; I almost prefer that interpretation, as the thing about berries (of vines that grow on cypress) is an idea that depends on the bird living in cypress groves. However, if we go with this interpretation, choice (D) is still wrong because "that" in X doesn't match "whose" in Y.

Choice (B) uses "that" for all of the items:
...a new species of sparrow that:
X = lives only in cypress groves,
Y= is almost wholly dependent on the berries of a certain type of vine that grows on cypress trees, and
Z = has coloring completely different from that of...

[JbhB682]

Hi Emily - Option D - "that" and "whose" can be made parallel, given they are both relative noun modifiers, this way I thought

Option D :

...a new species of sparrow :

X = that lives only in cypress groves

modifier = ,almost wholly dependent on the berries of a certain type of vine that grows on cypress trees, [the comma in front and the comma at the end belong the modifier]

And

Y = whose coloring is completely different from that of

[esledge]

No, there is some history of the GMAT not accepting "whose" and "that" as parallel.

When I first started teaching 16 years ago, there was an OG question in which a whose/that mismatch was explicitly given as the reason to eliminate. That particular question is no longer in the OG, but the current OG does say in various places that "who" can't refer to non-person things. Even if we allow an exception for animals, "who" could refer only to "sparrow" (not species, which is a thing...and anyway, the sparrow is what has different coloring from other sparrows), but then why are we using "that" to refer to sparrow in the other part of the sentence? Does the "that" refer to "species"? Maybe, because the "species....lives only in cypress groves" makes sense. So the mismatch creates a lack of clarity, which is the opposite of what good parallel structure does. The GMAT would even prefer to repeat the exact same word unnecessarily to reinforce good parallelism! (Not that choice (B) does this, but if (B) had two more "that"s---one in front of "is almost" and another in front of "has coloring"--- the GMAT would be fine with that!