Question

The Supreme Court can effectively rule on a case in two ways, either by deciding to hear the case and handling down its judgment, or rather to simplify refuse to hear the case at all.

• A. either by deciding to hear the case and handing down its judgment, or rather to simplify refuse
• B. either by deciding to hear the case and handing down its judgment, or by simplify refusing
• C. by either deciding to hear the case and hand down its judgment or to simplify refuse
• D. to hear a case and to hand down its judgment, or to refuse simply
• E. either by deciding to hear the case and hand down its judgment, or the simple refuse

Hint:

When you see correlative conjunctions like "either...or," "neither...nor," "not only...but also," or "both...and," immediately check if the grammatical structure following the first part is identical to the structure following the second part.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
This question tests parallelism with the correlative conjunction "either...or...". The grammatical structure following "either" must be parallel to the structure following "or."
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
The sentence sets up a parallel structure with "either...or...". The structure after "either" is a prepositional phrase: "by deciding... and handing...". Therefore, the structure after "or" must also be a prepositional phrase starting with "by."
Original Sentence: "...either by deciding..., or rather to simplify refuse...". The two parts are not parallel. "rather to simplify refuse" is ungrammatical and doesn't match the "by [verb]-ing" form.
Let's analyze the options:

(A) Incorrect. "to... refuse" is not parallel with "by deciding."
(B) Correct. This option provides a parallel structure: "either by deciding... or by simply refusing...". Both parts begin with "by" followed by a gerund ("-ing" verb). "Simply" is the correct adverb form.
(C) "by either deciding... or to simply refuse" is not parallel.
(D) This option removes the "either...or..." structure and is not parallel ("to hear..." vs. "to refuse...").
(E) Ungrammatical. "the simple refuse" is incorrect.
Step 3: Final Answer:
The "either...or..." construction requires parallel grammatical forms. The phrase "by deciding..." must be paired with "by refusing...". Option (B) correctly implements this parallel structure.