SC 4

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SC 4

by karthikpandian19 » Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:14 pm
The amount of paintings that can be displayed at a museum, as large as it may be, is, sadly, limited.

The amount of paintings that can be displayed at a museum, as large as it may be, is
The amount of paintings that can be displayed at a museum, as large as it may be, are
The number of paintings that can be displayed at a museum, as large as it may be, are
The number of paintings that can be displayed at museum, as large as it may be, is
The number of paintings that can be displayed at a museum, as large as it may be, is

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by gauravgundal » Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:33 pm
IMO : E

Paintings = Countable noun
Number of paintings is correct.
So we are down to answer choice C,D and E
C- Subject -verb agreement.

Difference between D and E is just of a word "a museum"
Original sentence talks about single museum and E maintains originality.

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by sam2304 » Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:53 pm
IMO E.

The amount of paintings is wrong. Eliminate A, B.
The number is singular - Eliminate C.

Between D/E the article 'a' is necessary.
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by karthikpandian19 » Fri Dec 30, 2011 2:35 pm
OA is E

C is not selected for this reason....
While this answer choice corrects the original mistake, it creates another mistake by replacing the singular verb is with the plural verb are. This creates a Subject Verb Agreement mistake with the singular subject The number of paintings.Two Stop Signs help us identify this mistake:An X of Y subjectA long and complex subject / a long distance between the subject and the verbThe lesson to be learned here is not to jump at the first answer choice that corrects the original mistake. After eliminating the two answer choices that repeat the original mistake (that is, (A) and (B)), you need to compare the remaining answer choices carefully and eliminate all but one of them.Remember: we do not choose a correct answer choice - we eliminate four incorrect answer choices.