The maternal copy of Nesp55 may encourage the mice to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or defending the group.

A: The maternal copy of Nesp55 may encourage the mice to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or defending the group.

B: Whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or acting in the defense of the group, the mice may be encouraged by the maternal copy of Nesp55 to take more risks on behalf of the group.

C: The maternal copy of Nesp55 encourages mice to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or the defense of the group.

D: Whether looking for food, finding a nest, or defending the group, the maternal copy of Nesp55 may encourage the mice to take more risks on behalf of the group when doing such activities.

E: The mice may be encouraged by the maternal copy of Nesp55 to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or acting in the defense of the group.

A is the correct choice

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I am confused as to how the comparison in this sentence is correct - in all 5 options it implies that the comparison is made against the status quo, i.e. more risky than at present, however this is not stated. Does it not need to state what the comparison is made against?

Original is clear and the parallel structure of looking,,,finding,,,,defending.

Ok, here is how I read and solved the problem. I hope the MGMAT masters are able to lend their advice if I am incorrect about my analysis.


Here is how I read the question:

The maternal copy of Nesp55 may encourage the mice to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or defending the group.

Here is how I read the question:
The maternal copy may encourage the mice to take more risks [on behalf of the group], whether that risk involves (risk=singular, involves=singular)

.. looking for food,
...finding a nest,
..or defending the group.

These are all the risks that the "Copy" is encouring the other mice to take on.

Despite the length and complexity of the subject being discussed, because I have no clue what the sentence actually referring to, I couldn't find any errors.



A: The maternal copy of Nesp55 may encourage the mice to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or defending the group.

B: Whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or acting in the defense of the group, the mice may be encouraged by the maternal copy of Nesp55 to take more risks on behalf of the group.


"the mice may be encouraged by the maternal copy" is very passive. While not incorrect, we have a more active choice. Not to mention the causation is flipped. It was the "the copy's" encouragement of risk taking that led the mice to look, find and defend. We don't need to have that modifier clause in the beginning. It is very awkward to have it placed in the beginning.



C: The maternal copy of Nesp55 encourages mice to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or the defense of the group.

Notice that "may" is dropped in the sentence. The original sentence implied that the maternal copy "may" have encouraged other mice to take risks, while this answer choice explicitly states that "the copy" did in fact encourage the risk taking. This choice changes the meaning.

Also note the lack of parallelism.
whether that risk involves ... looking ... finding .. or the defense??
These elements all need to be -ing verbs.


D: Whether looking for food, finding a nest, or defending the group, the maternal copy of Nesp55 may encourage the mice to take more risks on behalf of the group when doing such activities.

The causation is flipped. It was the "the copy's" encouragement of risk taking that led the mice to look, find and defend. We don't need to have that modifier clause in the beginning, it gives us the awkward feeling the initial clause is trying to modify the mice rather than the risk taking.

E: The mice may be encouraged by the maternal copy of Nesp55 to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or acting in the defense of the group.

More passive. "The copy encourages the mice" is more active, with the noun that performing the action on the noun that is being acted upon. "The mice may be encouraged by the copy" is not preferred.

"acting in the defense" is quite redundant. Defending is an act of itself. We can just say "defending the group" rather than "acting in the defense of the group".

I am sensing a Subject Verb agreement error.

The maternal copy Vs encourage


Am i missing something ??

Yes, this one is much more about parallelism and meaning.

Also, to add to the excellent explanation above, answer choice D starts out with an incorrect modifier. The modifier is clearly trying to refer to the mice, but instead is modifying this particular gene.

_________________
Jamie Nelson
ManhattanGMAT Instructor