Sentence Correction

236. Degler does more than merely summarizing existing research; he constructs a coherent picture of two centuries of studies dealing with the changing roles of women.
(A) Degler does more than merely summarizing
(B) Degler's study is more than a mere summarizing of
(C) Degler has done more than a mere summarizing of
(D) Degler's study has done more than summarize merely
(E) Degler does more than merely summarize

Help again!!..I opted for A & the correct choice is E.

summarize vs summarizing

<tense> There is no need to use -ing here.
sahil's notes: frown on -ings

Its E

merely is an adverb and summarizing is a gerund. So merely cannot modify summarizing.

whereas merely can go with summarize which is a verb

this is a comparison and he summarizes and constructs - so A, B and C are all out on this basis. then the question is one of where the merely goes - does he merely summarize or does he summarize merely one thing - the meaning is kept in place with E - he not only merely summarizes, he constructs.

samyak wrote:236. Degler does more than merely summarizing existing research; he constructs a coherent picture of two centuries of studies dealing with the changing roles of women.
(A) Degler does more than merely summarizing
(B) Degler's study is more than a mere summarizing of
(C) Degler has done more than a mere summarizing of
(D) Degler's study has done more than summarize merely
(E) Degler does more than merely summarize

Help again!!..I opted for A & the correct choice is E.

I see that you don't underline the incorrect portion in SCs. Please take care of it in future posts to make life of responders easier.

Phirozz wrote:Its E

merely is an adverb and summarizing is a gerund. So merely cannot modify summarizing.

whereas merely can go with summarize which is a verb

This is a perfect explanantion. As Becky mentioned summarizes and contructs are parallel. But the point I missed is "does and summarize", as they are seperated I didn't get that and opted A (didnt realize the adverb form).
Thank you both...