Question 9 & 11, pg63, MGMAT SC

[VarnikaG288]

11. The band chosen for the annual spring concert appealed to both the student body as well as to the administration.

What I did: the student body as well as the administration

But the ans is: the student body and the administration.

Do we use 'and' with 'both' or can we use 'both...as well as..'?

9. The blizzard deposited more than a foot of snow on the train tracks, prompted the transit authority to shut down service temporarily, and causing discontent among commuters who were left stranded for hours

shouldn't, 'deposited more...', 'prompted the....' and 'causing discontent....' be parallel? why is 'deposited more...' not parallel?

[RonPurewal]

Do we use 'and' with 'both'

Yes.

or can we use 'both...as well as..'?

No.

[RonPurewal]

9. The blizzard deposited more than a foot of snow on the train tracks, prompted the transit authority to shut down service temporarily, and causing discontent among commuters who were left stranded for hours

shouldn't, 'deposited more...', 'prompted the....' and 'causing discontent....' be parallel? why is 'deposited more...' not parallel?

Putting all three of these in parallel doesn't make sense. They're not three parallel ideas.
In other words, these don't make sense as "A, B, and C" or as "three bullet points".

The way they actually make sense is this:
- A bunch of snow fell...
... with TWO CONSEQUENCES:
"”prompting the transit authority to shut down service
"”causing discontent among commuters

Step 1 is always "determine the intended meaning".
If you don't know what the sentence is actually trying to say, it's impossible to determine the right structure.