SC question on parallelism

[joindk]

Q: We live in a world in which crime is rampant, children are recalcitrant, change is the only constant, and uncertainty prevails.

(A) children are recalcitrant, change is the only constant, and uncertainty prevails.
(B) children are recalcitrant, change is the only constant, and uncertainty is prevalent.
(C) in which children are recalcitrant, in which change is the only constant, and in which uncertainty is prevalent.
(D) where children are recalcitrant, where change is the only constant, and where uncertainty is prevalent.
(E) where children are recalcitrant, change is the only constant, and uncertainty is prevalent.

I went with (B) but OA is (C). Can someone explain?

Thanks

[tim]

this is nonsense. B and C are equally valid. frankly, i can't find a definitive problem with any of the five answer choices. where did this question come from? wherever it came from, you should be VERY suspicious of that as a source of practice questions..

[joindk]

Hi Tim,

I was reading mgmat's sc book. In chapter 4 it says that 'parallel classes should start with same word."

Ex:
WRONG: I want to retire to a place where I can relax AND that has low taxes.
RIGHT: I want to retire to a place where I can relax and where the taxes are low

And it also says: in the example above, the principle of concision yields to the mandate of parallelism. So, I guess C is the better answer.

In the right sentence, can't we say:
I want to retire to a place where I can relax and the taxes are low.

Although, I would agree, it sounds awkward.

[tim]

as for your quote about "parallel classes [sic]", please note that the book says "should", which means it does not always have to be true. in fact, this rule appears to have been eliminated entirely from our 5th edition book (i could not find it there but found it in the 4th edition)..

yes, your example is correct. still waiting on a source for the original problem that started this thread..

[joindk]

Hi Tim,

I tried finding the source but couldn't. The question was in a collection of questions I downloaded from gmat club.

Sorry about that.
Thanks

[joindk]

Following explanation was given in the document that I downloaded from gmat club:

"in which" is a part of a prepositional phrase. If we start the parallelism after "in which" we are using parallel fragments. Also, without "in which" the subsequent phrases seem to modify the noun " crime" as opposed to " world"

Is the explanation sound?

[tim]

TOTALLY wrong. there is nothing wrong with B, and in fact i would pick B over C if i were forced to. fortunately a real GMAT problem would never require you to make a choice like this between two equally valid answers..