complicated subject-verb agreement from Knrewton course

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miki25989: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 3; Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2011 12:32 am

by miki25989 » Sat Dec 31, 2011 2:18 am

Declining values of homes, the collateral against which homeowners borrow to finance additions and other home improvements, is going to decrease the revenues of many small contractors this years.
a. the collateral against which homeowners borrow to finance additions and other home improvements, is

b. the collateral which homeowners borrow against to finance additions and other home improvements, that are

c. the collateral which is borrowed against by homeowners to finance additions and other home improvements, it is

d. the collateral against which homeowners borrow, are used to finance additions and other home improvements, they are

e. the collateral against which homeowners borrow to finance additions and other home improvements, are

Knewton has given this example in one of its lesson. However, before I start explaining what is weir in this sentence. Could anyone tell me what is the subject in this sentence?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sat Dec 31, 2011 2:18 am

patanjali.purpose: Legendary Member; Posts: 784; Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2011 3:51 amFollowed by: 12 members; Thanked: 114 times

by patanjali.purpose » Sat Dec 31, 2011 2:45 am

miki25989 wrote:Declining values of homes, the collateral against which homeowners borrow to finance additions and other home improvements, is going to decrease the revenues of many small contractors this years.
a. the collateral against which homeowners borrow to finance additions and other home improvements, is

b. the collateral which homeowners borrow against to finance additions and other home improvements, that are

c. the collateral which is borrowed against by homeowners to finance additions and other home improvements, it is

d. the collateral against which homeowners borrow, are used to finance additions and other home improvements, they are

e. the collateral against which homeowners borrow to finance additions and other home improvements, are

Knewton has given this example in one of its lesson. However, before I start explaining what is weir in this sentence. Could anyone tell me what is the subject in this sentence?

Declining VALUES of homes...ARE [spoiler](IMO E)[/spoiler]

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miki25989: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 3; Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2011 12:32 am

by miki25989 » Sat Dec 31, 2011 2:51 am

Why is collateral not the main subject of this sentence? isn't it "declining value" the participle phrase of the sentence?

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Sat Dec 31, 2011 10:39 am

miki25989 wrote:Declining values of homes, the collateral against which homeowners borrow to finance additions and other home improvements, is going to decrease the revenues of many small contractors this year.
a. the collateral against which homeowners borrow to finance additions and other home improvements, is

b. the collateral which homeowners borrow against to finance additions and other home improvements, that are

c. the collateral which is borrowed against by homeowners to finance additions and other home improvements, it is

d. the collateral against which homeowners borrow, are used to finance additions and other home improvements, they are

e. the collateral against which homeowners borrow to finance additions and other home improvements, are

Knewton has given this example in one of its lesson. However, before I start explaining what is weir in this sentence. Could anyone tell me what is the subject in this sentence?

The subject is values.
Declining is an adjective describing the values. What kind of values? DECLINING values.
Of homes is an adjective describing the declining values. What kind of declining values? Declining values OF HOMES.
Thus, the verb here must be plural: Declining VALUES of homes...ARE going to decrease.
Eliminate A and C.

B is not a complete sentence. Here is the basic structure of B: Declining values of homes...that are going to decrease the revenues. Eliminate B.

In D, the comma between improvements and they connects two complete sentences. If a comma can be replaced with a period, eliminate the answer choice. Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E.

A phrase set off by commas typically serves as a NON-ESSENTIAL modifier: a modifier that can be removed without changing the basic meaning of the sentence. In the OA, if we remove the phrase set off by commas (the collateral...improvements), the rest of the sentence can stand on its own: Declining values of homes are going to decrease the revenues of many small contractors this year.

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miki25989: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 3; Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2011 12:32 am

by miki25989 » Sun Jan 01, 2012 3:36 am

Thank you very much,
Your explanation is very clear and logical as well as the example.
Happy New Year Mitch

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