John was one of the few people to get his hands on an

Something's a bit off here. Answer choice A) doesn't even match the original.

Assuming that "due to" should indeed be in the original sentence, "because of" is usually preferable. Dictionaries like American Heritage used to condemn "due to," but they seem to have relaxed a good bit on the matter. But I bet the people at GMAC still won't accept it.

Anyway, the question is: What exactly is "to get his/their hands on...." modifying? Well, let's ask it this way. John was one of the few people. What few people? The few people to get their hands on an advance ticket. The sentence is still a bit problematic, though, because we should have advance tickets instead of an advance ticket to match people, which is plural.

Here's another example:

Pauline is one of those girls who go/goes to the mall several times a week.

We now see that Pauline is one of those girls. What kind of girls? Girls who go to the mall several times a week. Personally, I think she just needs to get a life. :mrgreen:

So, I hope it's now more clear what the right answer should be.

Incidentally, what happened to all those other people who couldn't get their hands on tickets for U2??? Did they just end up seeing Debbie Gibson instead?

Sorry,its now fixed.Thanks for your response,though I'd really prefer if someone from Veritas could clear my doubt.

neptune28 wrote:Something's a bit off here. Answer choice A) doesn't even match the original.

Assuming that "due to" should indeed be in the original sentence, "because of" is usually preferable. Dictionaries like American Heritage used to condemn "due to," but they seem to have relaxed a good bit on the matter. But I bet the people at GMAC still won't accept it.

Anyway, the question is: What exactly is "to get his/their hands on...." modifying? Well, let's ask it this way. John was one of the few people. What few people? The few people to get their hands on an advance ticket. The sentence is still a bit problematic, though, because we should have advance tickets instead of an advance ticket to match people, which is plural.

Here's another example:

Pauline is one of those girls who go/goes to the mall several times a week.

We now see that Pauline is one of those girls. What kind of girls? Girls who go to the mall several times a week. Personally, I think she just needs to get a life. :mrgreen:

So, I hope it's now more clear what the right answer should be.

Incidentally, what happened to all those other people who couldn't get their hands on tickets for U2??? Did they just end up seeing Debbie Gibson instead?