Employees also enjoy collaborating across departments, working in teams and _________ from a wide range if sources.

Employees also enjoy collaborating across departments, working in teams and _________ from a wide range if sources.

• A. Obtaining data
• B. Managing budgets
• C. Presenting findings
• D. Developing strategy

Answer: (A)

Parallel structure in a list is what this item tests. The sentence streams three activities that people enjoy, and each should match in form. The first two are present participles—collaborating across departments and working in teams—so the blank should also be an -ing phrase that fits naturally with those actions. Obtaining data from a wide range of sources is a seamless continuation: it describes an active, ongoing activity that complements teamwork and cross-department effort by pulling in information from diverse places to inform decisions. The other options would shift the focus away from gathering information or break the parallel flow—managing budgets is a budgeting task, presenting findings is a post-data activity, and developing strategy is a planning activity—so they don’t fit as neatly with the pattern of the list.

Parallel structure in a list is what this item tests. The sentence streams three activities that people enjoy, and each should match in form. The first two are present participles—collaborating across departments and working in teams—so the blank should also be an -ing phrase that fits naturally with those actions. Obtaining data from a wide range of sources is a seamless continuation: it describes an active, ongoing activity that complements teamwork and cross-department effort by pulling in information from diverse places to inform decisions. The other options would shift the focus away from gathering information or break the parallel flow—managing budgets is a budgeting task, presenting findings is a post-data activity, and developing strategy is a planning activity—so they don’t fit as neatly with the pattern of the list.