Researchers have discovered a new species of sparrow

[AugiTh]

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.

1) 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
2) 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
Explanation given by MGMAT:

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.



MGMAT says 1) above is the correct answer. However I find nothing wrong with choice 2) above. The statements (coloured in RED) in choice 2) above fits the explanation part (also coloured RED). Would be nice if you could explain why 1) is better than 2)

[rajan]

1) 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
2) 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

Hi Augith,

I have found another reasoning

Do you find the phrase 'almost wholly dependent on the berries of a certain type of vine that grows on cypress trees'
modifying sparrow?

To me this phrase, may modify researchers or sparrow

But if we include "is" in this phrase, making it a clause. Then, we solve the problem

that lives only in ... is almost wholly dependent on the...has coloring...



you can correct me if you find this reasoning wrong
Also, it would be great if MGMAT staff can put some light on this as well as other recent queries ( :wink: including mine, which is there with no replies for the last three days)

regards
rajan

[StaceyKoprince]

Hi, guys - traffic has been very high lately, so we have been a bit behind. We're only allocated one hour of paid time a day to answer questions, so it's tough to get through everything, even though we all end up donating an extra half hour or hour on our assigned days because we want to help you guys. So just be patient when traffic spikes - we'll get to you when we can! :)

The second answer choice listed breaks parallelism, as rajan noted. It basically says "that (a) lives, (b) almost wholly dependent and (c) whose coloring is. We don't have three parallel parts of speech there, as we do in the first answer choice listed above (that (a) lives, (b) is, and (c) has).

Remember that, for properly constructed lists, you should be able to finish the sentence with each separate item on the list. In this sentence, the list starts after the word "that":

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

The second and third sentences don't work.

[coolvishu11]

how is that (a) lives, (b) is, and (c) has) in parrellel.

it should be a)is living b)is depending c) is having
or

that a)lives b)depends c) has

Please can you explain

[StaceyKoprince]

lives, is, and has are all present tense verbs - the sparrow lives (today), the sparrow is (today) and the sparrow has (today). Hence, they are parallel.

[aritra.banerjee]

I have a question on the structure of the first answer choice - (that (a) lives, (b) is, and (c) has).

Don't we have to repeat THAT to make sure the structure is parallel? I mean like "that lives, that is, and that has". I rejected this answer choice because I didn't see the THATs repeating, although this did sound like the right choice.

Here's an example from the Manhattan SC Guide, Parallelism, page 61, problem 14. The correct answer is
"The consultant is looking for a cafe THAT has comfortable chairs and THAT provides free internet"

So based on the reasoning above, can we ignore the second THAT and re-write the sentence as
"The consultant is looking for a cafe THAT has comfortable chairs and provides free internet"

Or does the repeated THAT rule applies for only phrases?

As always, your help is greatly appreciated.

[tim]

You can say "that x, that y, and that z" or "that x, y, and z". If there are only two things, you can say "that x and that y" or "that x and y". In the latter example of each pair, it is x and y (and z) that are parallel, NOT the word "that". Again, either way is okay. Let me know if this answers your question..

[harsh.dharkar]

Is it also true that prepositional phrases cannot have noun + verb-ing form of construction as its object.
Thus
new species of sparrow living...is grammatical incorrect?

Another example - few signs of increasing energy prices driving up the cost of goods

Thanks
HD

[tim]

i wouldn't rule this construction out as a possibility..

[harsh.dharkar]

i wouldn't rule this construction out as a possibility..

Thank you for confirming.

[tim]

:)

[DDB]

You can say "that x, that y, and that z" or "that x, y, and z". If there are only two things, you can say "that x and that y" or "that x and y". In the latter example of each pair, it is x and y (and z) that are parallel, NOT the word "that". Again, either way is okay. Let me know if this answers your question..

Thank you Tim for this information. This has been a particular topic in parallelism I have struggled with. When should a word such as "that" be repeated in each element.

Is this also true with open and closed parallelism markers?

For example, "that both X and Y" or "both that X and that Y" assuming X and Y have similar construction of course.

[sg2010]

Hello -

I was wondering why the sentence has to be an x, y, z list. Why can't the "wholly dependent..." modify sparrow, and the list only be x, modifier of x, and y?

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

Here's a complete text of the problem:

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

OA: B

Good question, sg2010. That is possible, in theory, but it has a couple of problems in this example. In answer choice A, we'd need another comma to mark off the end of the modifier "almost wholly dependent...cypress trees" to give the structure you suggest. Plus, being a noun modifier, it should be placed as close as possible to the noun it's modifying, i.e. species of sparrow. Placing the modifier later in the sentence makes this relationship unclear. In any case, the comparison issue with answer A provides a definite reason to eliminate it.

[sg2010]

Thank you Sage!

Quick follow-up here.

You suggested two solutions 1) needs a comma before it and 2) noun modifier should be closer to the noun.

In terms of 1) Answer E does add that comma, so that would provide that structure no?

In terms of 2) I see that the modifier is further away from the noun "species" and is instead closer to "cypress groves." Is that the only reason to eliminate it then (for answer choice d). The "almost wholly dependent seemed to modify why species was dependent on the tree. Or is ", almost" not a modifier in and of itself? Do you need an adverbial modifier to make it clear ", almost wholly depending on the berries of a certain...".

As always would appreciate any help here if possible. Not sure of people's timeline, but if it is possible to get a response by Thursday, that would extremely amazing.