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power of A and B

by amnesty17 » Mon Jul 01, 2013 5:41 am
As the etched lines on computer memory chips have become thinner and the chips' circuits more complex, both the power of the chips and the electronic devices they drive have vastly increased.

(A) the chips' circuits more complex, both the power of the chips and the electronic devices they drive have
(B) the chips' circuits more complex, the power of both the chips and the electronic devices they drive has
(C) the chips' circuits are more complex, both the power of the chips and the electronic devices they drive has
(D) their circuits are more complex, the power of both the chips and the electronic devices they drive have
(E) their circuits more complex, both the power of the chips and the electronic devices they drive have

A- Both the power of X and Y (missing the power of before Y)
B- Power has - OK
C- same as A
D- same as A
E- same as A

[spoiler]OA: B[/spoiler]

My doubt is about subject - verb
1. Both A and B - Plural
2. X of both A and B - singlar

3. power both of A and of B - (singular or plural)
4. power of A and of B - (singular or plural). to find the subject we remove prepositions, then we get 'power and ' as subject . Is it singualr or plural

Could you please help me with sentence in 3 and 4, is the verb singular or plural
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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Jul 01, 2013 3:24 pm
amnesty17 wrote:As the etched lines on computer memory chips have become thinner and the chips' circuits more complex, both the power of the chips and the electronic devices they drive have vastly increased.

(A) the chips' circuits more complex, both the power of the chips and the electronic devices they drive have
(B) the chips' circuits more complex, the power of both the chips and the electronic devices they drive has
(C) the chips' circuits are more complex, both the power of the chips and the electronic devices they drive has
(D) their circuits are more complex, the power of both the chips and the electronic devices they drive have
(E) their circuits more complex, both the power of the chips and the electronic devices they drive have
[spoiler]OA: B[/spoiler]
A and E: both the POWER...and the DEVICES...HAVE vastly increased.
Not the intended meaning: the devices themselves have not increased; the POWER of the devices has increased.
Eliminate A and E.

In C, has (singular) does not agree with both the POWER and the DEVICES (plural).
Eliminate C.

In D, have (plural) does not agree with the power (singular).
Eliminate D.

The correct answer is B.
THE POWER of both A and B - (singular or plural)
THE POWER of A and B - (singular or plural). to find the subject we remove prepositions, then we get 'power and ' as subject . Is it singualr or plural
In each case, the subject is the power (singular).
The phrases in red are modifiers; they do not have "the power "-- forgive the pun -- to change the subject from singular to plural.
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by amnesty17 » Mon Jul 01, 2013 9:30 pm
HI GMATGuruNY,

1.How about Power of A and of B (is it plural)
2.Power both of A and of B - is it plural
3.Also, Popularity and availability of televisions- plural or singular
4.increased popularity and availability of televisions- plural or singular and why
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by freyesinsb » Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:56 am
In C, has (singular) does not agree with both the POWER and the DEVICES (plural).
Eliminate C.

How is has in B different?
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by GMATGuruNY » Wed Jul 03, 2013 4:08 am
freyesinsb wrote:
In C, has (singular) does not agree with both the POWER and the DEVICES (plural).
Eliminate C.

How is has in B different?
C: both THE POWER of the chips and THE ELECTRONIC DEVICES they drive HAS
Here, both and and refer to two SUBJECTS (the power and the electronic devices).
Since there are two subjects, a PLURAL verb is required:
The power and the devices HAVE.

B: THE POWER of both the chips and the electronic devices they drive HAS
Here, both and and refer to nouns in the prepositional MODIFIER.
This prepositional modifier serves to describe a SINGULAR subject: the power.
What KIND of power?
The power OF BOTH THE CHIPS AND THE ELECTRONIC DEVICES.
A singular subject requires a SINGULAR verb:
The power HAS.
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by amnesty17 » Wed Jul 03, 2013 4:46 am
Hi GMATGuruNY,

Could you help me with the doubts below

1.How about Power of A and of B (is it plural)
2.Power both of A and of B - is it plural
3.Also, Popularity and availability of televisions- plural or singular
4.increased popularity and availability of televisions- plural or singular and why
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