TotalGadha GMAT

It’s been a long time since I last posted.  Sindhoor came to my rescue again. Dagny

Many of the questions in GMAT’s SC section are on pronoun- antecedent agreement or Subject-Verb agreement.  When you look at it, the concept of “Agreement” is very simple to understand.

Singular subject should have a singular verb and plural subject should have a plural verb.

‘Team India are playing for pride today as they are already out of the cup’ is wrong. By using both ‘are’ and ‘they’ the test setter tries to confuse you. Because ‘Team India’ is singular it should be followed by a singular verb ‘is’ and pronoun ‘it’.

Very simple! The good news is that some of the questions on agreement that the GMAT throws at you are as simple as that above. The only thing the GMAT does is append a lot of ‘crap’ to the sentence just to confuse you - ‘CUT THE CRAP’ and you almost solved the question.

The following examples from the OG11 depict exactly that:

Example1:

Efforts to equalize the funds available to school districts, a major goal of education reformers and many states in the 1970’s, has not significantly reduced the gaps existing between the richest and poorest districts.

(A) has not significantly reduced the gaps existing
(B) has not been significant in reducing the gap that exists
(C) has not made a significant reduction in the gap that exists
(D) have not significantly reduced the gap that exists
(E) have not been significant in a reduction of the gaps existing

The Crap here is ‘a major goal of education reformers and many states in the 1970’s’.  So let us cut it:

Efforts to equalize the funds available to school districts, a major goal of education reformers and many states in the 1970’s, has not significantly reduced the gaps existing between the richest and poorest districts.

It’s clear now that the plural subject ‘Efforts’ should be followed by a plural verb ‘Have’. In a matter of seconds you have come down to just two options.

Example 2:

Since 1986 enrollments of African Americans, American Indians, and Hispanic Americans in fulltime engineering programs in the United States has steadily increased, while the number of other students who enter the field has fallen.
(A) has steadily increased, while the number of other students who enter the field has fallen
(B) has steadily increased, while other students entering the field have declined in number
(C) increased steadily, while there was a decline in the number of other students entering the field
(D) have steadily increased, while the number of other students entering the field has fallen
(E) have steadily increased, while that of other students who enter the field fell

“Cut the Crap” and you have:

Since 1986 enrollments of African Americans, American Indians, and Hispanic Americans in fulltime engineering programs in the United States has steadily increased, while the number of other students who enter the field has fallen.

“Enrollments” is plural so it should be followed by ‘have’ and not ‘has’ - something which most of us already know. This again leaves you with just two options.

Another way the GMAT confuses you is by the use ‘of’.

Look at the following sentence:

The arrival of new players (is/are) vital to their success.

By introducing another plural term ‘players’ with ‘of’, the question tries to confuse the test taker. Just cut the part introduced by ‘of’ and you have:

The arrival of new players is vital to their success

Remember that when you see a SC question always check for Subject-Verb and pronoun-antecedent agreements. GMAT tries to confuse you in a variety of ways so it is advisable to break up the question as we just did.

To summarize, here are few pointers you need to keep in mind:

• GMAT confuses a test taker by introducing phrases that separate the subject and the verb
• Sometimes ‘Of’ is used to introduce a phrase between the subject and the verb
• Be suspicious of the pronouns ‘it’ or ‘they’,  always check for pronoun agreement when you encounter them
• Collective nouns such as team, army are singular.
• Compound subjects like ‘Earth and the nine planets’  are plural
• The number of is singular while A number of is plural
• When Either/Or or Neither/nor is used the verb should agree whatever follows ‘or/nor’
• No one is singular

Take a look at these examples from OG11:

Example 3:

Palaeontologists believe that fragments of a primate jawbone unearthed in Burma and estimated at 40 to 44 million years old provide evidence of a crucial step along the evolutionary path that led to human beings.
(A) at 40 to 44 million years old provide evidence of
(B) as being 40 to 44 million years old provides evidence of
(C) that it is 40 to 44 million years old provides evidence of what was
(D) to be 40 to 44 million years old provide evidence of
(E) as 40 to 44 million years old provides evidence of what was

Answer: D

Agreement: The subject here is ‘fragments’ and not ‘primate jawbone’, which is introduced by ‘of’.

So it should be followed by a plural verb ‘provide’.  We are left with options A and D.

Idiom: ‘estimated to be’ is the correct idiom. Hence D is the answer.

Example 4:

The direction in which the Earth and the other solid planets - Mercury, Venus, and Mars - spins were determined from collisions with giant celestial bodies in the early history of the Solar System.

a. spins were determined from
b. spins were determined because of
c. spins was determined through
d. spin was determined by
e. spin was determined as a result of

Answer: D

This is a good one. It has two subjects that don’t agree with their verbs and to top it all an idiomatic expression is also tested. Also, the expression ‘Mercury, Venus and Mars’ is added to increase the distance between the subject and the verb.

Agreement:

The direction in which the Earth and the other solid planets - Mercury, Venus, and Mars - spins were determined from collisions with giant celestial bodies in the early history of the Solar System.

Subject1: ‘The direction’ - singular subject.  Should be followed by a singular verb ‘was determined’.

Subject2: ‘the Earth and the other solid planets ‘- a plural subject.  Should be followed by a plural verb ‘spin’.

This leaves us with options D and E.

Idiom:

‘determined by’ is the correct idiom when you are expressing a cause.

Remember ‘determined from’ is also correct but not in this context.

Determined by’ is used to express a cause-effect relationship.
Look at these two sentences:

1. *The temperature of the Earth is determined by the energy coming from the sun in the form of visible radiation. *Here there is a cause-effect relationship. ‘The temperature of the Earth’ is the effect and ‘the energy coming from the sun’ is the cause. Hence, ‘determined by; is the correct idiom.
2. *The temperature of the object can be determined from the reading on the thermometer.* Here ‘The temperature of the object’ can be  found out from the ‘reading of the thermometer’ but the thermometer is not having any effect on the temperature. ‘Determined from‘ is the correct idiom.

Example 5:

Declining values for farm equipment and land, the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, is going to force many lenders to tighten or deny credit this spring.

(A)  the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, is

(B) which farmers use as collateral to borrow against to get through the harvest season, is

(C)  the collateral which is borrowed against by farmers to get through the harvest season, is

(D) which farmers use as collateral to borrow against to get through the harvest season, are

(E)  the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, are

Answer: E

Agreement:

Declining values for farm equipment and land, the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, is going to force many lenders to tighten or deny credit this spring.

The subject here is ‘Values’ and should followed by the plural verb ‘are’ and not ‘is’.

Option D is awkward as it uses two infinitives together “to borrow against to get through”.

Option E is concise and grammatically correct.

If you have any doubts, please feel free to ask.

Read more articles by Sindoor.

• How to Prepare for GMAT Verbal Section
• OG 11 vs OG 12
• GMAT Quant Article- Time and Work

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