IMO D

Actually I should not have asked this question here.
After posting it I looked closely at the question and now it looks easy one.

is it B?

It is D

IMO D

logic: as much as ANYTHING makes it SINGULAR (IMO)

my answer is D too....

Sentence can be read as ...

In most common procedure......., <hide> , the most nutritious part of plant, shatters and falls.

most nutritious qualifies stems and plants....
shatters and falls parallel and goes with tense of sentence...

How can this be "D"?

the most nutritious parts of the plant, shatters and falls

My perspective:
In this sentence "most" indicates plural noun (nutritious parts), so Shatter and fall should be the correct form of verbs used.

i agree with mahalo , GMAT guru's please throw some light

sandykang wrote:i agree with mahalo , GMAT guru's please throw some light

look it closely

Shatters is used for material remove the modifier and read the sentence again.

hemantsood wrote:

sandykang wrote:i agree with mahalo , GMAT guru's please throw some light

look it closely

Shatters is used for material remove the modifier and read the sentence again.

What do u think the modifier modifies here? If it is just material, then i agree with you. But i don't think so.

As per D sentence should be

In the most common procedure for harvesting forage crops such as alfalfa, as much as 20 percent of the leaf and small-stem material, the most nutritious parts of the plant, shatters and falls to the ground.

parts means our subject would be leaves and small0-stem material (plural) and hence verb should be shatter and fall (plural)
personally i don't like any choice here

Please clarify my doubt:

Rule: With fractions, percentages and indefinite quantifiers, the verb agrees with the preceding noun or clause. With singular or non-count nouns or clauses, use a singular verb. Plural preceding noun shall take plural verbs.

Here in D,

20 % of X and Y (Plural noun), modifying clause, shatters and falls (singular verb). It seems to be WRONG.

Please clarify.

416. In the most common procedure for harvesting forage crops such as alfalfa, as much as 20 percent of the leaf and small-stem material, which is the most nutritious of all the parts of the plant, shattered and fell to the ground.
(A) which is the most nutritious of all the parts of the plant, shattered and fell
(B) the most nutritious of all parts of the plant, shatter and fall
(C) the parts of the plant which were most nutritious, will shatter and fall
(D) the most nutritious parts of the plant, shatters and falls
(E) parts of the plant which are the most nutritious, have shattered and fallen

IMO : D but what's the original answer? Can someone clarify?

A) Since which refers to the antecedent. Here it refers to the material , '',...,'' phrase makes an explanation about ''leaf and small-stem material''
B) Incorrect since alfaalfa is singular and verbs here must be singular ''shatters and falls''
C)Meaningless future usage
D)Precise and Correct since the verbs used here are singular . It verifies S-V agreement.
E) No need to use Present Perfect since the harvesting always continue every year or time period.

Here we have the following thing..

as much as 20% of the leaf and small-stem material..

Keep the following in mind

much is always used for non-countable nouns(ie. singular nouns)
many for plural/countable ones

So we need a singular verb here..which is supplied by D. shatters and falls
Hence the answer

Here we have the following thing..

as much as 20% of the leaf and small-stem material..

Keep the following in mind

much is always used for non-countable nouns(ie. singular nouns)
many for plural/countable ones

So we need a singular verb here..which is supplied by D. shatters and falls
Hence the answer

pratikgandhi wrote:Please clarify my doubt:

Rule: With fractions, percentages and indefinite quantifiers, the verb agrees with the preceding noun or clause. With singular or non-count nouns or clauses, use a singular verb. Plural preceding noun shall take plural verbs.

Here in D,

20 % of X and Y (Plural noun), modifying clause, shatters and falls (singular verb). It seems to be WRONG.

Please clarify.