Parallelism with Clauses (that vs in which)

[matt.lopz]

I read in Manhattan SC Guide that relative clauses should start with same word in sentences exhibiting parallelism. Consider the sentence below taken from OG11 CR passage.

1. The train would be a fixed linear system, and we live in a world that is spreading out in all directions and in which consumers choose the free-wheel systems (cars, buses, aircraft), which do not have fixed routes.

that and in which are not similar. Is this usage okay in GMAT?

2. The train would be a fixed linear system, and we live in a world that is spreading out in all directions and that lets consumers choose the free-wheel systems (cars, buses, aircraft), which do not have fixed routes.

Is my modification better?

[changed_now]

not necessarily.
if both answer options are present, the modification is obviously the better choice.

But the unmodified one still holds when the other options are grammatically incorrect

[RonPurewal]

I read in Manhattan SC Guide that relative clauses should start with same word in sentences exhibiting parallelism. Consider the sentence below taken from OG11 CR passage.

1. The train would be a fixed linear system, and we live in a world that is spreading out in all directions and in which consumers choose the free-wheel systems (cars, buses, aircraft), which do not have fixed routes.

that and in which are not similar. Is this usage okay in GMAT?

i'd say it's ok, because there's no legitimate way to start them with the same word.

sometimes you have to use imperfect parallelism, because it's simply impossible to use perfect parallelism without a complete distortion of the sentence's meaning. this is one of those instances.

for more, see here:
post29804.html#p29804

2. The train would be a fixed linear system, and we live in a world that is spreading out in all directions and that lets consumers choose the free-wheel systems (cars, buses, aircraft), which do not have fixed routes.

Is my modification better?

nope. you can't use "lets" unless someone is literally letting consumers make the choices (i.e., making a conscious decision to allow them to do so). taken literally, this version doesn't make sense.