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How is "IS" n "charactize"correct?

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by [email protected] » Thu Mar 20, 2014 11:41 pm
Hi mukherjee.tanuj3,

This SC is built on a few rules that test your knowledge of "singular vs. plural"

1) Verbs - The sentence refers to "...numerous obstacles, not the least of which...."; the phrase "not the least of which" refers to ONE obstacle, so we need the verb "is" Eliminate B and D.

2) Nouns - Again, the phrase "not the least of which" refers to ONE obstacle, so we need the noun "challenge" Eliminate E.

3) Verb #2 - The phrase "...the decreased atmospheric pressure AND correspondingly low oxygen availability that...." requires the verb "characterize." Eliminate C.

Final Answer: A

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by bubbliiiiiiii » Fri Mar 21, 2014 2:04 am
A quick scan of answer choices, based on singular/plural rule, eliminates B, D and E.

Between A and C, a quick scan at the end, again based on verb agreement, eliminates C.

Hope it helps. :)
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Pranay
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by aditya8062 » Fri Mar 21, 2014 5:51 am
[email protected] wrote:Hi mukherjee.tanuj3,

This SC is built on a few rules that test your knowledge of "singular vs. plural"

1) Verbs - The sentence refers to "...numerous obstacles, not the least of which...."; the phrase "not the least of which" refers to ONE obstacle, so we need the verb "is" Eliminate B and D.

2) Nouns - Again, the phrase "not the least of which" refers to ONE obstacle, so we need the noun "challenge" Eliminate E.

3) Verb #2 - The phrase "...the decreased atmospheric pressure AND correspondingly low oxygen availability that...." requires the verb "characterize." Eliminate C.

Final Answer: A

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
The above explanation does not seem correct .the reason we are using singular verb "is" is because the subject "challenge" is singular .my point is had it been "challenges" then we should have been using plural "are" .
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by [email protected] » Fri Mar 21, 2014 4:29 pm
Hi aditya8062,

You have the "relationship" between noun and verb reversed.

The phrase "not the least of which" refers to a singular obstacle (it means 'of the various obstacles, this ONE obstacle is not the least'), so we need the word "is."

Now that we know we're dealing with a singular obstacle (and we have the verb "is"), we need the word "challenge" to define that singular obstacle.

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