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Greatest English detective

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by suchoudh » Thu Sep 23, 2010 8:33 am
John thinks Miss Marple, heroine of Agatha Christie's murder mystery novels, to be the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomizes the symbol of British deduction.

A. to be the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomizes the symbol of British deduction

B. deserve the title of the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes, with his famous pipe, epitomize the symbol of British deduction

C. to be the definite English detective, but Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe is the symbol of British deduction

D. embodies the very essence and spirit of English detectives whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomize the symbol of British deduction

E. is the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomize British deduction


Please explain your answers, OA later.
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by niksworth » Thu Sep 23, 2010 8:53 am
IMO D.

I would like to know the source before detailing out the errors.
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by thephoenix » Thu Sep 23, 2010 8:57 am
IMo C
A) not llel
b),d) and e) s+v error
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by niksworth » Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:03 am
thephoenix wrote:IMo C
A) not llel
b),d) and e) s+v error
@thephoenix,

What is the SVA error which you found in D?
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by thephoenix » Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:04 am
niksworth wrote:
thephoenix wrote:IMo C
A) not llel
b),d) and e) s+v error
@thephoenix,

What is the SVA error which you found in D?
in D epitomize a plural verb is used for sherlok homes a singular subject
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by niksworth » Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:07 am
thephoenix wrote:
niksworth wrote:
thephoenix wrote:IMo C
A) not llel
b),d) and e) s+v error
@thephoenix,

What is the SVA error which you found in D?
in D epitomize a plural verb is used for sherlok homes a singular subject
Actually epitomize, a plural verb, is in agreement with Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe, a compound subject.
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by thephoenix » Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:13 am
niksworth wrote: Actually epitomize, a plural verb, is in agreement with Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe, a compound subject.
yeah true..but there is an exception to this rule if the noun phrases joined by the compound refer to one and the sme person or thing then the verb is singular.....

imo the above rule holds here.....

i might be wrong..
let us c whats the oa
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by anantbhatia » Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:23 am
By POE [spoiler](E)[/spoiler]

(A) think X to be.. is unidiomatic
(B) Miss Maple deserve... is wrong verb
(C) same as A
(D) wordy + redundant use of words
(E) my choice :)
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by niksworth » Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:26 am
thephoenix wrote: yeah true..but there is an exception to this rule if the noun phrases joined by the compound refer to one and the sme person or thing then the verb is singular.....

imo the above rule holds here.....

i might be wrong..
let us c whats the oa
Hmmm, I don't think that applies here.

These 2 things, Sherlock Holmes and his pipe, together epitomize the symbol of British deduction.

By the way, C uses definite incorrectly. The correct adjective is definitive. Also, the two parts lack parallelism.

Anyways, @suchoudh please provide the OA and the source.
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by reply2spg » Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:57 am
D is good here. Good question though, Source and OA please
suchoudh wrote:John thinks Miss Marple, heroine of Agatha Christie's murder mystery novels, to be the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomizes the symbol of British deduction.

A. to be the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomizes the symbol of British deduction - Need working verb and not 'to be'. 'Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe' plural nedd 'epitomize' and not 'epitomizes', eliminate

B. deserve the title of the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes, with his famous pipe, epitomize the symbol of British deduction - need 'deserves' and not 'deserve'. 'Sherlock Holmes' singular 'epitomize' plural, eliminate

C. to be the definite English detective, but Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe is the symbol of British deduction - Same as A. We need 'are' and not 'is', eliminate

D. embodies the very essence and spirit of English detectives whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomize the symbol of British deduction - Correct

E. is the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomize British deduction - Not parallel, eliminate


Please explain your answers, OA later.
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by reply2spg » Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:59 am
Can you please shed some light on this rule. I am learning some thing new. Examples will be helpful
thephoenix wrote:
niksworth wrote: Actually epitomize, a plural verb, is in agreement with Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe, a compound subject.
yeah true..but there is an exception to this rule if the noun phrases joined by the compound refer to one and the sme person or thing then the verb is singular.....

imo the above rule holds here.....

i might be wrong..
let us c whats the oa
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by suchoudh » Thu Sep 23, 2010 3:31 pm
OA is E. The question is taken from MasterGMAT. However, I think E is not parallel and that's the reason I am posting this here.
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by abhi84v » Thu Sep 23, 2010 7:47 pm
I think E is correct as the OA here.

Epitomizes means symbolises so epitomize the symbol is unnecessarily wordy similar to a decreased redution or higher increase etc.

What is the OE for rejecting D?
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Sep 24, 2010 7:21 am
suchoudh wrote:John thinks Miss Marple, heroine of Agatha Christie's murder mystery novels, to be the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomizes the symbol of British deduction.

A. to be the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomizes the symbol of British deduction

B. deserve the title of the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes, with his famous pipe, epitomize the symbol of British deduction

C. to be the definite English detective, but Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe is the symbol of British deduction

D. embodies the very essence and spirit of English detectives whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomize the symbol of British deduction

E. is the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomize British deduction


Please explain your answers, OA later.
Quickest approach:
In A, epitomizes should be plural to match the compound subject Sherlock Holmes and and his famous pipe. For this same reason, is should plural in answer choice C. Eliminate A and C.

In B, epitomize should be singular to match the singular subject Sherlock Holmes. (The phrase with his famous pipe is a modifier and is not part of the subject.) Eliminate B.

In D, Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe are two things; they cannot epitomize one symbol. Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E.
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by reply2spg » Fri Sep 24, 2010 7:35 am
Thanks, I don't know what is 'epitomize' is. Therefore, got trapped. As per the MS word 'epitomize' means 'specify'
GMATGuruNY wrote:
suchoudh wrote:John thinks Miss Marple, heroine of Agatha Christie's murder mystery novels, to be the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomizes the symbol of British deduction.

A. to be the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomizes the symbol of British deduction

B. deserve the title of the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes, with his famous pipe, epitomize the symbol of British deduction

C. to be the definite English detective, but Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe is the symbol of British deduction

D. embodies the very essence and spirit of English detectives whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomize the symbol of British deduction

E. is the definitive English detective whereas Jane thinks Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe epitomize British deduction


Please explain your answers, OA later.
Quickest approach:
In A, epitomizes should be plural to match the compound subject Sherlock Holmes and and his famous pipe. For this same reason, is should plural in answer choice C. Eliminate A and C.

In B, epitomize should be singular to match the singular subject Sherlock Holmes. (The phrase with his famous pipe is a modifier and is not part of the subject.) Eliminate B.

In D, Sherlock Holmes and his famous pipe are two things; they cannot epitomize one symbol. Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E.
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