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OG 13th edition #6 - SC

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OG 13th edition #6 - SC

by lucas211 » Thu Jun 23, 2016 2:59 am
Hello BTG

Would appreciate a little help on this question, especially why we have to use the "ranks" in singular?
In my opinion it should modify the closest subject - which in this case is "complications" which is plural.

Thanks in advance.

Lucas
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by ceilidh.erickson » Thu Jun 23, 2016 5:59 am
Diabetes, together with its serious complications, ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer
(a) ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only
(b) rank as the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(c) has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(d) are the nation's third leading causes of death, surpassed only
(e) have been ranked as the nation's third leading causes of death, only surpassed
The subject of the sentence is DIABETES. "together with is serious complications" is a modifying phrase (modifying phrases are often offset by commas). Don't make the mistake of thinking that the subject must be the nearest noun. "Complications" was an object of the preposition "with."

Since "diabetes" is a singular name of a disease (and in case we were wondering whether it was singular or plural, the GMAT was nice enough to give us the singular pronoun "it"), we need a singular verb. B, D, and E all have plural verbs, so eliminate those. In C, "has the rank of" is not idiomatically correct. The answer is A.
Ceilidh Erickson
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by ceilidh.erickson » Thu Jun 23, 2016 6:04 am
If you're having trouble figuring out what the core of the sentence (SUBJECT + VERB) is, these articles should help:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ce-part-1/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -part-2-2/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -part-iii/
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... ce-part-4/
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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by lucas211 » Fri Jun 24, 2016 1:10 am
Thank you a lot Ceilidh
Your help is much appreciated and great as always!

Lucas
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