Sentence Correction

Out of the public's interest in the details of and conflicts in the other people's lives have grown a booming market for "reality" television shows that are bringing "regular people onto the television screen with increasing frequency.
(A) other people's lives have grown a booming market for "reality" television shows that are bringing
(B) other people's lives has grown a booming market for "reality" television shows that are bringing
(C) other person's life has grown a booming market for a "reality" television show that is bringing
(D) other person's life has grown a booming market for "reality" television shows that is bringing
(E) other people's lives has grown a booming market for "reality" television shows that bring

OA after few explanations.

D is my pick

Subject : public's interest ( singular )
Need singular noun HAS and not HAVE

samyak wrote:Out of the public's interest in the details of and conflicts in the other people's lives have grown a booming market for "reality" television shows that are bringing "regular people onto the television screen with increasing frequency.
(A) other people's lives have grown a booming market for "reality" television shows that are bringing
(B) other people's lives has grown a booming market for "reality" television shows that are bringing
(C) other person's life has grown a booming market for a "reality" television show that is bringing
(D) other person's life has grown a booming market for "reality" television shows that is bringing
(E) other people's lives has grown a booming market for "reality" television shows that bring

OA after few explanations.

I'm not sure why "that is bringing" is the right usage. It's the television shows & not the booming market that are bringing "regular people" onto the television screen.

Inverted structure, where subject is "a booming market", which is singular. Hence A can be eliminated.

(B) other people's lives has grown a booming market for "reality" television shows that are bringing :->CORRECT shows are bringing regular people in the market and not market.

(C) other person's life has grown a booming market for a "reality" television show that is bringing :->a market can't be of just 1 show hence despite solving s\v error, logically its incorrect.

(D) other person's life has grown a booming market for "reality" television shows that is bringing :->close, but "is bringing" seems to refer to market over here. Not sure if logically thats the intended meaning of the sentence.

(E) other people's lives has grown a booming market for "reality" television shows that bring :->situation is not a general fact and an ongoing action hence 'bring' is Incorrect over here.

Though D is quite close, I would go with B.
Whats the OA?

E) other people's lives has grown a booming market for "reality" television shows that bring

my choice is E

based on subject verb, I rule out A, C,D

B/w B and E

E seems to be a better construction

situation is indeed general.

in a way that we say 'these reality shows bring out this kind of stuff always....."

OA is D...Even I opted for B....Any other explanations?.. You can consult GMAT-800 by kaplan[06-07 edition]. Qno-27

samyak wrote:OA is D...Even I opted for B....Any other explanations?.. You can consult GMAT-800 by kaplan[06-07 edition]. Qno-27

Well, even I got stumped but after seeing the OA.. I agree that the answer has to be D. Here is the reason why

The subject of the sentence is "public interest", which is singular, so we need a singular verb "has". This rules out option A.

Now comes the main trick of this problem. The pronoun "that" in the original sentence refers to "a booming market", not "television shows". "for 'reality' television" is a preposition phrase for the noun "market" and that's why 'that' refers to "market".

Have a look at a similar sentence from OG.
Eg: Out of America's fascination with all things antique has grown a market for bygone styles of furniture and fixtures that is bringing back the chaise lounge, the overstuffed sofa, and the claw-footed bathtub.

Since "market" singular noun, we need singular verb following it. That rules out B and E. Now we are left with only C and D.

There is only one difference between C and D. C contains "a booming market for a "reality" television show", whereas D contains "a booming market for "reality" television shows". C implies that there is blooming market only one "reality" show, whereas the original sentence says the market has room for multiple "reality" shows. So C is changing the meaning.

The correct answer is D. Nice question by the way.

Hope that helps..

See my point is that the example that cited from OG has got both antique and market singular

but here the tv shows is plural

What i think is that problem says "booming market for reality tv shows that are bringing"

that refers to tv shows because shows is more closer to that than market

also its the shows that are bringing regular people

@Hardik: what you have applied is backtracking, which is relatively easy....right

IMO B

I feel that 'that' can refer to both 'reality shows' or 'market' depending on the meaning.
as reality shows bring people to the television rather not market, i feel B is correct.

what is the source of this question?

I think Kaplan in its quest to make this question of 800 level has introduced some ambiguity. This ambiguity makes the problem tough.

AFA 'that' reference is concerned, it may refer to interest or TV shows. I don't think it may refer to market. It is not the market that is bringing people on to the TV, but rather it is either interest or TV shows.

IMO "public's interest" drives "has grown" . But a careful read suggests me that I should use "that are bringing" because the subject for this action is tv shows & not "public's interest"...Hence I opted for B.

ayushiiitm wrote: that refers to tv shows because shows is more closer to that than market

missionGMAT007 wrote: I feel that 'that' can refer to both 'reality shows' or 'market' depending on the meaning.

this_time_i_will wrote: I think Kaplan in its quest to make this question of 800 level has introduced some ambiguity. This ambiguity makes the problem tough.

AFA 'that' reference is concerned, it may refer to interest or TV shows. I don't think it may refer to market. It is not the market that is bringing people on to the TV, but rather it is either interest or TV shows.

Guys there is absolutely no ambiguity with this question. "That" refers to only one noun and that is "market".

Let me explain the rule once again.

More examples:
Dr. Sayre's lecture recounted a little-known episode in the relations between nations that illustrates what is wrong with alliances and treaties that do not have popular support.

In good years, the patchwork of green fields that surrounds the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of whom are in the area just for the season.

A prepositional phrase functions as an adjective or an adverb. In this particular case, the prepositional phrases are functioning as adjectives. When you see that a preposition phrase functioning as an adjective is followed by the pronoun "that", you should always search for the noun that the prepositional phrase is modifying. That noun is the reference for the pronoun "that". The idea here is to spot the presence of the prepositional phrases between a noun and the pronoun "that".

I hope I've been able to provide a convincing explanation. If not, then please PM one if the experts to pitch in and provide his/her view.

Hope that helps..

Still i did not understand how 'market' can bring people to the television!

hardik.jadeja wrote:

ayushiiitm wrote: that refers to tv shows because shows is more closer to that than market

missionGMAT007 wrote: I feel that 'that' can refer to both 'reality shows' or 'market' depending on the meaning.

this_time_i_will wrote: I think Kaplan in its quest to make this question of 800 level has introduced some ambiguity. This ambiguity makes the problem tough.

AFA 'that' reference is concerned, it may refer to interest or TV shows. I don't think it may refer to market. It is not the market that is bringing people on to the TV, but rather it is either interest or TV shows.

Guys there is absolutely no ambiguity with this question. "That" refers to only one noun and that is "market".

Let me explain the rule once again.

More examples:
Dr. Sayre's lecture recounted a little-known episode in the relations between nations that illustrates what is wrong with alliances and treaties that do not have popular support.

In good years, the patchwork of green fields that surrounds the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of whom are in the area just for the season.

A prepositional phrase functions as an adjective or an adverb. In this particular case, the prepositional phrases are functioning as adjectives. When you see that a preposition phrase functioning as an adjective is followed by the pronoun "that", you should always search for the noun that the prepositional phrase is modifying. That noun is the reference for the pronoun "that". The idea here is to spot the presence of the prepositional phrases between a noun and the pronoun "that".

I hope I've been able to provide a convincing explanation. If not, then please PM one if the experts to pitch in and provide his/her view.

Hope that helps..

@hardik.jadeja


let us analyze both the examples that you have provided above, (you can find the entire question here)

Dr. Sayre's lecture recounted several little-known episodes in the relations between nations that illustrates what is wrong with alliances and treaties that do not have popular support.
(A) relations between nations that illustrates
(B) relation of one nation with another that illustrates
(C) relations between nations that illustrate
(D) relation of one nation with another and illustrate
(E) relations of nations that illustrates

note the difference - it is not episode, it is episodes
Here the correct answer is C because, it is 'episodes' that 'illustrate' not the 'lecutre'
Also note that it is 'illustrate' not illustrates (like you mentioned in the example) forthe obvious reasons.
Though we have a propositional phrase here, it is not related to the 'episodes' - hence 'that' refer to the episodes
on the other hand one can argue that 'that' refer to the 'lecuture'


2. In good years, the patchwork of green fields that surround the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of them in the area just for the season.
(A) surround the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of them
(B) surrounds the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of whom are
(C) surround the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of who are
(D) surround the San Joaquin Valley town bustle with farm workers, many of which
(E) surrounds the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many are

The closest contenters are A and B
Here 'that' can refer to both 'patchwork' and 'green fields'. please see the explanation below,

"patchwork of green fields that surround" vs. "patchwork of green fields that surrounds"
Both are possible. They have very slightly different meanings, but both meanings make sense. In the first case "that" is plural and refers to "fields." In the second case "that" is singular and refers to "patchwork." In the first case the sentence says that the patchwork is made up of green fields and that the green fields surround the town. In the second case it is the patchwork that surrounds the town. What's the difference? Both make sense to me.

I can make a preference to B only by considering "many of them" vs. "many of whom are"
Even then i consider this question as an ambiguous one.

My understanding is that relative pronoun 'that' agree with the immediately preceding noun, but we can see lot of anomalies to this among OG questions. hence we should consider the logic and the overall meaning in selecting the answer choice with relative pronoun 'that'.