Quick grammar question before SAT!!

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Although the candidate promised both to cut taxes and improve services, he failed to keep either of them after the election.</p>

<p>(A) Although the candidate promised both to cut taxes and improve services, he
(B) The candidate, having promised both to cut taxes and improve services
(C) Although the candidate made promises both to cut taxes and improve services, he
(D) Having promised, first, to cut taxes and, second, to improve services, the candidate
(E) The candidate's promises were both to cut taxes and improve services, he</p>

<p>Answer: A</p>

<p>Now, here's my problem: I thought when you used "both" and "and", there had to be parallelism. For example, wouldn't that sentence be right as:</p>

<p>Although the candidate promised both TO cut and TO improve services, he failed to keep either of them after winning the election. The correct answer doesn't have that parallelism, so why is it right? same with "and" questions. if im using "and", should there ALWAYS be parallel structure (e.g - we got degrees IN this and IN that)</p>

2

<p>What's wrong with choice C here?</p>

3

<p>A seems wrong to me. ----failed to keep either of them--this must refer to promises =them, but C and E are wrong too because of the parallelism you mention. Better: Although the candidate made promises to cut taxes and to improve....,he</p>

4

<p>I never pay attention to parallelism and still get around perfect score for the writing section. I actually figured out i score better when im really tired and not so picky about small things. Don't think so complicated.. :)</p>

5

<p>if this is a real SAT question, (a) isn't the answer</p>

6

<p>2 amber: in c them has nothing to refer to (that was the official explanation)</p>

7

<p>C is wordy, A sounds the best to me..</p>

8

<p>What? I don't see anything wrong with C except that it's slightly wordy. I don't see a parallelism error, however.</p>

9

<p>Wait, I think A is wrong and C is correct.</p>

<p>in A, 'them' refers to nothing because 'promised' is in verb form! In C, 'promises' is the noun that 'them' refers to. Does anyone agree? Unless this question comes from a real SAT, I think the editors may have made a mistake here in saying A is correct...</p>

10

<p>In A wouldn't to "cut taxes AND improve services" refer to them?</p>

11

<p>I think C is correct, too; it's the only one that mentions "promises" to go with "them."</p>

12

<p>does "them" have to refer to a noun? I'm getting confused now..</p>

13

<p>ah... hold on. i got a hold of the answer key and the answer is A. can someone explain why it is definitely a instead of c?</p>

14

<p>"Them" is a pronoun, it needs a plural noun as an antecedent. A is wrong!</p>

15

<p>A can't be the answer...the them can't refer to the verb clause, it needs a noun</p>

<p>Ugh, though I hate these "both" questions. I know it's simple parallelism with that, but I can't stand it when it isn't clear. Like the OP, I wanted to see </p>

<p>"Although the candidate promised both TO cut and TO improve services..."</p>

<p>Why can the second to be omitted in standard written english? It sounds just off to me without it.</p>

16

<p>Although the candidate promised both to cut taxes and improve services, he failed to keep either of them after the election.</p>

<p>The TO you see there is NOT part of the infinitive! it's just an introduction to a list.</p>

<p>this is a stupid question and if it's from the SAT, then they're really on the edge of utilizing their own rules</p>

17

<p>Ah, got it...thanks, that really threw me off because I was looking so hard at the verb stuff =/</p>

18

<p>wait so in sentences like these
should it be "both to cut and improve services... or both to cut and TO improve services..."</p>

<p>anyone know for sure?</p>

19

<p>OP, I don't know how you got A as the correct answer. If I recall correctly, this question is from an online test. I posted a topic about this a few months ago and C was the correct answer: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=358976%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=358976&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>