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Grockit - Good One.

by deep.amangmat » Sun Jul 03, 2011 3:08 pm
Rising commercial real estate rates, a gauge that brokers use to determine the strength of the housing market, is likely to deter many new homeowners from buying houses this spring.
A a gauge that brokers use to determine the strength of the housing market, is
B that brokers use as a gauge to determine the strength of the housing market, is
C a gauge used by brokers in determining the strength of the housing market, is
D that is used by brokers as a determining factor of the strength of the housing market, are
E a gauge that brokers use to determine the strength of the housing market, are
Source - Grockit
Hard Question
OA - After Some Discussion
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by Naome666 » Sun Jul 03, 2011 3:52 pm
B/c it has a modifier problem, so you know that B and D is out, commercial real estate rates is plural so the answer should be E.
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by jonathan123456 » Tue Jul 05, 2011 4:15 pm
since its rates, it should be "are". A,B and C are out. Between D and E, E is concise.
IMO E

Whats the OA?
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by garima99 » Tue Jul 05, 2011 8:55 pm
deep.amangmat wrote:Rising commercial real estate rates, a gauge that brokers use to determine the strength of the housing market, is likely to deter many new homeowners from buying houses this spring.
A a gauge that brokers use to determine the strength of the housing market, is
B that brokers use as a gauge to determine the strength of the housing market, is
C a gauge used by brokers in determining the strength of the housing market, is
D that is used by brokers as a determining factor of the strength of the housing market, are
E a gauge that brokers use to determine the strength of the housing market, are
Source - Grockit
Hard Question
OA - After Some Discussion
since rates are plural it has to be are,so A,B,C out.
D is changing the meaning
IMHO E
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by bubbliiiiiiii » Tue Jul 05, 2011 9:48 pm
+1 for E.

In D, I think COMMA+THAT construction is not acceptable in GMAT.
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Pranay
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by deep.amangmat » Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:05 pm
Sorry for getting back so late on this. I took a break from SC for a couple of days.

All of you are correct. The OA is E.

I also answered the question correctly. But I am little confused about the use of "a gauge" for the plural rising rates". I have two problems with this usage. Firstly, what is the gauge. Is the gauge - rising commercial real estate rates or just the commercial real estate rates.

Secondly, is it ok to use singular gauge with plural - real estate rates. I cannot think of any other way of expressing this, but this doubt cropped in my head.

Any opinions on these two doubts?

Aman
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by bubbliiiiiiii » Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:17 pm
Hey Aman,

Firstly, a gauge that brokers use to determine the strength of the housing market is a modifier which is modifying rates.

Now coming to your query,
what is the gauge. Is the gauge - rising commercial real estate rates or just the commercial real estate rates
I think here you are taking rates and gauge as appositives which is not the case. Instead, its the entire phrase between the comma that modifies the rates or rising commercial real estate rates or just the commercial real estate rates.
Secondly, is it ok to use singular gauge with plural - real estate rates.
Here, I think one should understand the meaning the sentence is trying to convey. The word gauge describes how the rates are used. Thus, its absolutely correct to use singular gauge here.

Moreover, I have not come across any statement in GMAT till now which tests the verb agreement concept in modifiers. Please let me know if you come across any such question.

Hope it makes sense.
Regards,

Pranay
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by milanproda » Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:25 pm
E makes the most sense, as D is awkward.

As for the GMAT-comma that question, maybe when the Q was copied there was a small mistake. I do it all the time on other forums.
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by deep.amangmat » Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:53 am
Thanks @Bubbliiiiiii for your response.
Instead, its the entire phrase between the comma that modifies the rates or rising commercial real estate rates or just the commercial real estate rates.
That is what my doubt was. Is the phrase modifying "rising commercial real estate rates" or just the "commercial real estate rates". I remember some official question which had similar construction as this question but it was incorrect since the modifier did not make sense with the complete noun phrase with the adjective (rising here). I think it was Ron who explained that. I went back into my notes, but could not find the reference. I know this information is not needed in this question, but just wanted to make sure I do not miss any such thing that has meaning repercussions...

Thanks once again for your help. Do let me know if you come up with anything that helps with this doubt doubt.
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by deep.amangmat » Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:54 am
Secondly, is it ok to use singular gauge with plural - real estate rates.
Here, I think one should understand the meaning the sentence is trying to convey. The word gauge describes how the rates are used. Thus, its absolutely correct to use singular gauge here.
[/quote]

Yes I completely understand what you are saying. In fact I was a little curious about this construction and I did a quick search. I came across the following sentences in leading newspapers.

I found these in wsj.com. So it appears that this usage is correct. As I said before, I could not point exactly why this will be incorrect:

Newly issued building permits, a gauge of future construction, rose 8.7% from a month earlier to an annual rate of 612000, the highest level...
The bid-to-cover ratios, a gauge for investor demand, were the same as or higher than those seen at the previous auctions for all lines
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by deep.amangmat » Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:55 am
Moreover, I have not come across any statement in GMAT till now which tests the verb agreement concept in modifiers. Please let me know if you come across any such question.
If I come across something I will definitely let you know. I know for sure that they do test out the SV agreement as it pertains to the relative pronoun modifiers. I.e. we would need to know what "that" or "which" are modifying to understand if the verb in these clauses is singular or plural. But whether this is tested in case of appositives or absolute modifiers is something that I dont know.

Thanks,

Aman
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by mirantdon » Thu Jul 07, 2011 4:26 am
+1 for E . The openingmodifier makes more sense and also a Subject Verb agreement
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by yogenderarora » Tue Aug 23, 2011 11:06 pm
as Per Manhattan SC bokk Page no 42 -

"Sometimes the Subject of a sentence is an - Ing phrase. This sort of subject is always Singular and requires a Singular verb noun"

So Answer should be "A" and not "E".

Experts...please advice.
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by e-GMAT » Wed Aug 24, 2011 6:13 am
Rising commercial real estate rates, a gauge that brokers use to determine the strength of the housing market, are likely to deter many new homeowners from buying houses this spring.

Hi Yogender,

You are correct that when verb-ing word acts as subject of the clause, the verb is always singular. For example:

Swimming is fun.
What is fun? Swimming. So swimming is the subject.

Singing has a therapeutic effect on people.
What has therapeutic effect on people? Singing. So singing is the subject.

Protecting the country from the rule of traitors is the goal of the commission.
What is the goal of the commission? Protecting the country...= Subject

In the above sentences, "verb-ing word" presents an action. swimming, singing, protecting

Now lets consider this sentence:

Pink dolls are very popular in China.
What are popular - pink dolls. So pink dolls = subject.
Note here that "pink" is an adjective describing the dolls.

Singing dolls are very popular in China.
What are popular - singing dolls. So singing dolls = subject.
Here again "singing" is an adjective describing dolls.

So as you can see, verb-ing word can play different roles. So the key is to determine if this word simply describes the associated noun or if it actually signifies an action that can act as the subject of the verb. (In grammatical terms - whether it acts as participle or gerund).

Now lets come to the sentence in question:

Rising commercial real estate rates, a gauge that brokers use to determine the strength of the housing market, are likely to deter many new homeowners from buying houses this spring.

Here "rising" is an adjective. It describes the real estate rates. So our actual subject is the noun - rates and hence the plural verb "are".

Thanks,

Payal
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by EducationAisle » Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:26 am
Yep..an example:

Swimming pools are good for exercising.

Swimming in the pools is a good way of exercising.
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