Unlike computer skills or other technical skills, there is a disinclination on the part of many people to recognize the degree to which their analytical skills are weak.
(A) Unlike computer skills or other technical skills, there is a disinclination on the part of many people to recognize the degree to which their analytical skills are weak.
(B) Unlike computer skills or other technical skills, which they admit they lack, many people are disinclined to recognize that their analytical skills are weak.
(C) Unlike computer skills or other technical skills, analytical skills bring out a disinclination in many people to recognize that they are weak to a degree.
(D) Many people, willing to admit that they lack computer skills or other technical skills, are disinclined to recognize that their analytical skills are weak.
(E) Many people have a disinclination to recognize the weakness of their analytical skills while willing to admit their lack of computer skills or other technical skills.

I am not sure between D and E !
Please comment.
Thanks in advance !

IMO:D

E changes the meaning ...it means

many ppl have a X while willing to Y.

means, while doing some action they have X, not always.

so D should be the answer.

* "have a disinclination to recognize" is wordy/unidiomatic, and is definitely inferior to "are disinclined to recognize".

* if you're going to use "while" with an adjective phrase (while willing to...), then that adjective phrase should precede the main verb.
i.e., many people, while willing to... , are disinclined to...

* there's also a slight change in meaning.
"recognize that their ... skills are weak" just means that the people should know that they have weak skills.
"recognize the weakness..." means that they should actually be able to point out the specific weakness.

(D) Many people, willing to admit that they lack computer skills or other technical skills, are disinclined to recognize that their analytical skills are weak.
(E) Many people have a disinclination to recognize the weakness of their analytical skills while willing to admit their lack of computer skills or other technical skills.


Between D and E, where got stuck. I choose D because the construction of E with
"to recognize the weakness of their analytical skills" it implies that people would be trying to recognise the magnitude of the weakness. D is more absolute and succintly describes the admission of many people of the of lack computer skills or other technical skills, and disinclination to recognize that their analytical skills are weak.

Is this a valid / logical reason or have i just got lucky.

In (E), I would not say "to recognize the weakness of their analytic skills" refers to the magnitude of the weakness, as it does the specific weakness they have. This wording seems to imply that the person would be able to say "One weakness of my analytic skills is X." However, the intent of the sentence is not necessarily to point out the specific weaknesses, but rather to recognize that in general, these skills are weak.

(D) is definitely more clear than (E), by creating a sentence structure that compares "recognizing" and "disinclined."

_________________
Ben Ku
Instructor
ManhattanGMAT

I rejected E because to me it looks like saying "many people" have disinclination for one thing only when (because of "while") they are willing to admit the second thing.

Is this reasoning incorrect ?

No, I'm afraid that reasoning is incorrect. It would be perfectly fine for people to be "disinclined" to do one things, while being "willing" to do several others. "I am disinclined to run errands, but I am willing to cook and clean." No grammatical issue there.

I have a doubt about correct option D.

Many people, X, are disinclined ...

X = willing to admit that they lack computer skills or other technical skills

X is an ING modifier and set-off by a pair commas and acting as a noun modifier. Is this the correct use of ING modifier when set-off by a pair of commas? I believe that in such case it act as adverbial modifier. Can you please clarify that where I am lagging?

Similar things, I found like this.
Plural noun, including ..., ....

Think of it as an appositive if you have to in order to deal with the commas issue. Bottom line is, unless you can point to what you do think it modifies, you’re not allowed to question the obvious interpretation.. :)

_________________
Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor

why not select C?

primarily, it makes no sense to say that analytical skills help people recognize that they are weak. in order for the sentence to make sense, it needs to identify the domain in which people are weak, as opposed to suggesting a general weakness..

_________________
Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor