Prep-74 求解释

Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould has argued that many biological traits are not the products of natural selection, favored due to their enhancement of reproduction or survival, but that they are simply random by-products of other evolutionary developments.

(A) due to their enhancement of reproduction or survival, but that they are

(B) due to the reproduction or survival they enhance, but they are

(C) because they enhance reproduction or survival, but

(D) because they enhance reproduction or survival, but are
                

(E) because of enhancing reproduction or survival, but are

答案是D 但是not...but的在这句话里的应用前后明显不平行啊。C为何不对呢？？

答案是D 但是not...but的在这句话里的应用前后明显不平行啊。C为何不对呢？？

XXX has argued that traits are not the products, but are by-products.

This might make it more clear.

C: but分句後面沒有are，會變成favored, but ..變成修飾語，修飾the products of natural selection

Here's the problem: In the context of this longer,
more complicated sentence, the 'but' (without 'are' after it) is,
unfortunately, ambiguous. Consider this sentence:

Jimmy was not the typical class president, loved by most of the
students, but also hated by a fair number as well; rather, he was loved by all
the students.

The most probable reading here is that all of the words 'loved by most
of the students, but also hated by a fair number as well' are a description of
'the typical class president.'

If you look at choice C, it can be read this way;
one could (probably should, even) take ALL the words '...favored because they
enhance reproduction or survival, but simply random byproducts...' as an
elaboration on the phrase 'products of natural selection'.

It's harder to see than in the example of Jimmy, above, for two reasons:

(1) Because of the way the original sentence is written, you're biased toward
reading the sentence the way it's 'supposed' to be written. (In the example
with Jimmy, there's no prompt sentence, so you're free to read it as you like.)