aspirant2011 wrote:In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine the qualities of that sound.

(A) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine
(B) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining
(C) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine
(D) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining
(E) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining

OA: is subtle differences between an idiom???? if yes then why is D or E not the answer????

First thing to note here is sub verb agreement.

sub:- differences (pl)
verb:- help (pl)

Drop C and D

Op A uses "determine" alone...it seems incorrect, either it should be "to determine" an infinitive or "determining" a gerund, hence drop Op A

B/w B and D, Op D is wrong because when u use "between" it should be Between X and Y, two items should be there, here only one item is present hence Op B is the correct answer.

Also, differences between X and Y is the correct idiom.

aspirant2011 wrote:In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine the qualities of that sound.

(A) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine -- to determine should be used.hence POE.
(B) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining -- correct usage of verb+ing form. Hold it.
(C) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine -- helps usage is wrong as differences is plural. POE.
(D) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining -- between x and y is the idiom. helps usage is wrong. POE.
(E) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining -- between idiom usage is wrong here.POE.

OA: is subtle differences between an idiom???? if yes then why is D or E not the answer????

clear B here.

Please discuss this one.

Thanks
Mankey

You must have quoted the OA incorrectly.

The correct answer to this question is A.

C and D are eliminated because of "helps"(we need "help" since differences is plural)

E can be eliminated because differences between indicate differences between two entities.

B is wrong because "differences in the two ears"????? so because the two ears are different, that helps??? WHAT?

You have A left, hence, that's your answer.

Note, A isn't wrong because the sentence omits "to" and "differences in" means one instance/action is the reason.

In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine the qualities of that sound.

(A) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine
(B) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining
(C) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine
(D) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining
(E) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining

Meaning: The sentence talks about the mechanism of human hearing. The listener determines the quality of the sound because of the subtle difference in how the two ears hear a given sound.

Choice analysis: A) Plural subject "differences" agrees in number with plural verb "help". Modifier "in how..." correctly modifies the noun "differences" and explain the hearing mechanism. All the verbs, "hear", "help" and "determine" are in simple present tense. The phrase "help the listener determine" is not wrong. We see this usage more often than not. Example: My violin teacher helped me decide the date of recital.
Thus, this choice seems to have no error.

B) (I agree with cyrwr1) This choice states that the differences in the two ears is the reason to determine the sound quality and not the difference in how these two ears hear a particular sound. This choice is grammatically correct but certainly distorts the meaning. Differences in two ears rather than differences in the way the two ears hear sounds illogical.

C) Plural subject "differences" does not agree in number with singular verb "helps". Also, the use of passive voice is unnecessary that makes the choice wordy.

D) Plural subject "differences" does not agree in number with singular verb "helps". Also, the correct idiom is difference "between x and y". But here the idiom used is differences "between x". There is no second element to establish the difference with. This is an incorrect idiom.

E) This choice is the passive voice form of choice D. This makes the choice wordy. Also, just like choice D, the correct idiom is difference "between x and y". But here the idiom used is differences "between x". There is no second element to establish the difference with. This is an incorrect idiom.
So, I am for choice A.

IMO:A

IMO A too.....
In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine the qualities of that sound.

(A) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine
(B) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining : Gives a notion that difference lies between ears not the sound heard.

OA pls!

I totally agree with Shradhha. Option A seems to be correct. B says that differences in the ears determine....... Also 'to' is hidden in the sentence and the correct idiom is (to determine) and not (in determining)...

I'm going with A based on ear.