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Hello,
I have two SC's on Subject-Verb agreement.
1. The majority of students in this class are hard workers
Subject- 'majority of students'?
Verb - are
Can anybody explain why plural form(are) is used in above sentence. Majority is collective noun.hence its should be singular..Is 'majority of students' is plural? thats the reason?
2. A majority of railway commuters reads or listens to music while traveling
Subject- 'majority of railway commuters' ?
Verb - reads ,listens.
In the above Sentence, 'majority of railway commuters' is singular thats why 'reads' is singular?...pls explain.
I think Manhattan Verbal is a good book to clear some of the doubts one has about the subject - verb agreement errors.
Only "majority" is a tricky word because it can be used in as both plural and singular. The context in which it is used will decide whether the subject is plural or singular. Generally, when the majority is used to a group as in the second sentence it is singular:
2. A majority of railway commuters reads or listens to music while traveling
But, if majority is used to instead to signify a number (of the noun) than it is plural as in the first sentence:
1. The majority of students in this class are hard workers
Hope it helps.You will have to go with your instinct and common sense on this on.
Thank u for quick reply :-)....now i got it..btw these two SC's are from Manhattan. I agree it is a good book for SC.
I think Manhattan Verbal is a good book to clear some of the doubts one has about the subject - verb agreement errors.
Only "majority" is a tricky word because it can be used in as both plural and singular. The context in which it is used will decide whether the subject is plural or singular. Generally, when the majority is used to a group as in the second sentence it is singular:
2. A majority of railway commuters reads or listens to music while traveling
But, if majority is used to instead to signify a number (of the noun) than it is plural as in the first sentence:
1. The majority of students in this class are hard workers
Hope it helps.You will have to go with your instinct and common sense on this on.
Hi all,
1.Please tell me whether the following sentence formation is correct
He runs so everyday as to improve his stamina.
2.Kindly tell me the difference b/w so long as and as long as.
Quasars are so distant that their light has taken billions of years to reach the Earth;consequently we see them as they were during the formation of the universe.
A. we see them as they were during
B. we see them as they had been during
C. we see them as if during
D. they appear to us as they did in
E. they appear to us as though in
Quasars are so distant that their light has taken billions of years to reach the Earth;consequently we see them as they were during the formation of the universe.
A. we see them as they were during
B. we see them as they had been during
C. we see them as if during
D. they appear to us as they did in
E. they appear to us as though in
A - quasars still exist so i feel "were" is wrong in context
C - "as if" is wrong
D - "they did" does not fit properly...."they were" is a more appropriate usage
E - "as though in " is incorrect
B is the correct answer....
it can be explained as "consequently, we see them (today in the same structure) as they had been during the formation of the universe."
The correct answer is A...I picked on D as I felt 'they' will do better than 'we'...referring to 'Quasars'
Can U tell me why U choose 'We' there...
A - quasars still exist so i feel "were" is wrong in context
C - "as if" is wrong
D - "they did" does not fit properly...."they were" is a more appropriate usage
E - "as though in " is incorrect
B is the correct answer....
it can be explained as "consequently, we see them (today in the same structure) as they had been during the formation of the universe."
(#86
A is correct because "were" refers to the formation of the universe (a fact that happened in a specific time and only once). Simple Past is needed when you refer to an act that happened in a specif time or date or fact.
D is wrong because for GMAT it can be read that you were alive when the quasars appeared during the formation of the universe. It is wrong because the sentence can have an ambiguous meaning.
(#865
so ___as to is an adverb
as___ as is a comparison
To know which is the correct one, one should look to the meaning of the original sentence.
Hey guys,
try this one ....
Coming in from the rain, a gust of wind hit them with the ferocity of a small tornado.
A) Coming in from the rain, a gust of wind hit them
B) Coming in from the rain, they were hit by a gust of wind
C) After they had come in from the rain, they were hit by a gust of wind
D) After coming in from the rain, a gust of wind hit them
E) As they had come in from the rain, a gust of wind hit them
Hey guys,
Coming in from the rain, a gust of wind hit them with the ferocity of a small tornado.
A) Coming in from the rain, a gust of wind hit them
B) Coming in from the rain, they were hit by a gust of wind
C) After they had come in from the rain, they were hit by a gust of wind
D) After coming in from the rain, a gust of wind hit them
E) As they had come in from the rain, a gust of wind hit them
When u start with "Coming in from the rain.. it sounds like the gust of wind came from the rain.. So A & B is out..
E starts with "As they had"- which makes it sound like cause and effect.. So its out..
Between D and C - D is grammitically correct, shorter, and ends with the much required THEM- C sounds like the rain was hit with the wind..
Sam
Hey Sam,
This is the answer given..
Correct B) the basic problem is the dangling participial phrase at the beginning of the sentence. It has a different subject, they (understood), from the main clause, a gust (A) and (D). (C) and (E) are implausible because the gust of wind does not hit them after they enter.
Hey Sam,
This is the answer given..
Correct B) the basic problem is the dangling participial phrase at the beginning of the sentence. It has a different subject, they (understood), from the main clause, a gust (A) and (D). (C) and (E) are implausible because the gust of wind does not hit them after they enter.
My mistake.. Their explaination sounds more appropriate.. I sud have paid more attention..
Sam
hi everybody..
i am Sudeep .. currently working in MNC in bangalore...
i want to aapear for GMAT..can anybody let me know hwere can i get Kaplan material for study??
Hey guys,
try this one ....
Coming in from the rain, a gust of wind hit them with the ferocity of a small tornado.
A) Coming in from the rain, a gust of wind hit them
B) Coming in from the rain, they were hit by a gust of wind
C) After they had come in from the rain, they were hit by a gust of wind
D) After coming in from the rain, a gust of wind hit them
E) As they had come in from the rain, a gust of wind hit them
i think it would be correct to choose (B) here, as the first part of the sentence, 'coming in from the rain', refers to 'they' rather than the rain.
so, it is 'they' that has to follow this part rather than 'a gust of wind'.
of course, (C) has the same part corrected, but they were not hit by the wind 'after' they had come in, so i crossed it out.
I know the answer is correct (i saw the other posts), but i just wanted to know whether there's anything wrong with the way i figured it out. let me know if there is.
slam.
B is the correct answer.
Choice A. Coming in from the rain, (it cant be a thing, if it were it would say "the wind was coming in" crazy!)
Choice C. After they had come (change the meaning of the sentence that is referring to a while not to an after)
Choice D same mistakes than A and C.
Choice E As they had come (incorrect use of as/while with that verb tense)
In my view there is nothing wrong of how Slam figured it out.
Pls reply with explanations:
Nuclear power industry's cost to meet environmental safety norms is said to reach ten percent of the price per kilowatt-hour(KWH) of energy by the end of teh decade
A)
B)It is estimated that by the end of the decade the cost to nuclear power industry of meeting environmental safety norms will be ten percent of the price per kilowatt-hour(KWH) of energy
C)By the end of the decade, nuclear power industry's cost of meeting environmental safety norms is projected at ten percent of the price per kilowatt-hour(KWH) of energy
D)To meet environmental safety norms, the cost to nuclear power industry is estimated at ten percent of the price per kilowatt-hour(KWH) of energy by the end of the decade.
E) Nuclear power industry's cost by the end of the decade to meet environmental safety norms is estimated at ten percent of the price per kilowatt-hour(KWH) of energy.
This one is difficult.
I am not sure but I believe that the word COST must be followed by OF. I could check if the idiom is the COST of X to Y..
So A, B, D and E are wrong. C would be correct.
Another thing, the adverb "by the end of the decade" must be clear, so I would put it at the beginning or at the end of the sentence, but never in the middle.
Pls reply with explanations:
Nuclear power industry's cost to meet environmental safety norms is said to reach ten percent of the price per kilowatt-hour(KWH) of energy by the end of teh decade
A)
B)It is estimated that by the end of the decade the cost to nuclear power industry of meeting environmental safety norms will be ten percent of the price per kilowatt-hour(KWH) of energy
C)By the end of the decade, nuclear power industry's cost of meeting environmental safety norms is projected at ten percent of the price per kilowatt-hour(KWH) of energy
D)To meet environmental safety norms, the cost to nuclear power industry is estimated at ten percent of the price per kilowatt-hour(KWH) of energy by the end of the decade.
E) Nuclear power industry's cost by the end of the decade to meet environmental safety norms is estimated at ten percent of the price per kilowatt-hour(KWH) of energy.
i believe all the senetences apart from C) are either not correct grammatically or donot convey the meaning properly due the use of "by the end of the decade" in improper locations. only option B) has all the parts correctly placed n without any grammatical errors.