* Are youJUst as...so... or Just as...(clause)

[arul.bharath]

Just as listening to Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous fireside chats helps students of history understand the 1930s, an era marked by incredible domestic economic distress and unparalleled foreign conflict, so Abraham Lincoln's famous Second Inaugural Address helps students grasp the immense strife and challenge America faced in the post-Civil War era.
Consider the use of the idiom just as x, so y where x and y are parallel elements.
A) so Abraham Lincoln's famous Second Inaugural Address helps students grasp the immense strife and challenge America faced in the post-Civil War era.
B) Abraham Lincoln's famous Second Inaugural Address helps students grasp the post-Civil War era, a time of immense domestic challenge and strife.
C) reading Abraham Lincoln's famous Second Inaugural Address helps students grasp the post-Civil War era, a time of immense domestic challenge and strife
D) so reading Abraham Lincoln's famous Second Inaugural Address helps students grasp the post-Civil War era, a time of immense domestic challenge and strife
E) so reading Abraham Lincoln's famous Second Inaugural Address helps students grasp a time of immense domestic challenge and strife--the post-Civil War era

which is the best fit or which answer would gmat approve of?? C or D??

[vivek.bs2010]

Pure parallelism concepts.
Thought process -
Eliminate A and B - Even though the correct idiom is used in A, Just as listening to X..does not go parallel with...so Y helps students...
Eliminate C - Between C and D, I would prefer D because it has the correct idiomatic construction
D - looks good.
E - Follows idiomatic construction, but has a parallelism issue later on. first part of the sentence says "helps students of history understand the 1930s". Therefore, the second part of the sentence must also follow similar construction - "helps students grasp the Civil War...". but in option E, the "1930s" is made parallel to "a time of immense domestic challenge and strife". Not parallel. So eliminate.

Final answer - D

[saptadeepc]

Just as listening to Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous fireside chats helps students of history understand the 1930s, an era marked by incredible domestic economic distress and unparalleled foreign conflict, so Abraham Lincoln's famous Second Inaugural Address helps students grasp the immense strife and challenge America faced in the post-Civil War era.
Consider the use of the idiom just as x, so y where x and y are parallel elements.
A) so Abraham Lincoln's famous Second Inaugural Address helps students grasp the immense strife and challenge America faced in the post-Civil War era.
B) Abraham Lincoln's famous Second Inaugural Address helps students grasp the post-Civil War era, a time of immense domestic challenge and strife.
C) reading Abraham Lincoln's famous Second Inaugural Address helps students grasp the post-Civil War era, a time of immense domestic challenge and strife
D) so reading Abraham Lincoln's famous Second Inaugural Address helps students grasp the post-Civil War era, a time of immense domestic challenge and strife
E) so reading Abraham Lincoln's famous Second Inaugural Address helps students grasp a time of immense domestic challenge and strife--the post-Civil War era

which is the best fit or which answer would gmat approve of?? C or D??

I too think the answer should be 'D' but cant understand what the sentence "so reading Abraham Lincoln's famous Second Inaugural Address helps students grasp the post-Civil War era" means.

How can students grasp the era !

[RonPurewal]

what is the source of this problem?

the original post asks "which answer would GMAC approve of", suggesting that this problem is NOT from the official software.

please do one of the following:
1/ if this problem IS from the official software, please provide a screenshot.
2/ if this problem is NOT from the official software, please check to make sure the real source is not banned; if the real source is allowed, then post a new thread in the general verbal folder. thanks.