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GMAT Prep SC - huge fossil bones

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GMAT Prep SC - huge fossil bones

by khojason » Fri Aug 27, 2010 10:47 pm
While digging in the Egyptian desert, huge fossil bones have been found by paleontologists, which appears to have been the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived.

A. huge fossil bones have been found by paleontologists, which appears to have been
B. huge fossil bones have been found by paleontologists, which appear to be from
C. it appears that paleontologists have found huge fossil bones that are from
D. paleontologists have found huge fossil bones from what appears to be
E. paleontologists have found huge fossil bones, which are from what appear to be

[spoiler]Ans: D[/spoiler]






I know why Options A, B and C are wrong. But may I know why Option E is wrong?
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by ankurmit » Sat Aug 28, 2010 4:44 am
D is correct because " from what " refers to ' most massive dinosaur ' which is singular.

Hence it must be 'appears' not appear
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by niksworth » Sat Aug 28, 2010 4:52 am
Subject verb agreement error in E.

which are from what appear to be the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived. - appear should be in agreement with dinosaur. Since dinosaur is singular, appears is the right usage.

Also, E is unnecessarily wordy. (which are from what appear to be)

D is correct.
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by this_time_i_will » Sat Aug 28, 2010 11:53 am
In E, there is no main verb for the relative clause introduced by which.
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by atulmangal » Sat May 21, 2011 11:40 am
niksworth wrote:Subject verb agreement error in E.

which are from what appear to be the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived. - appear should be in agreement with dinosaur. Since dinosaur is singular, appears is the right usage.

Also, E is unnecessarily wordy. (which are from what appear to be)

D is correct.
Is this reasoning correct...???? sub-verb agreement with dinosaur...????

I thought Op D is correct because "from what" is modifying whole preceding clause and a clause take a singular verb "appears"...m i correct or the above reasoning is okay??
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by niksworth » Sat May 21, 2011 6:59 pm
atulmangal wrote:
niksworth wrote:Subject verb agreement error in E.

which are from what appear to be the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived. - appear should be in agreement with dinosaur. Since dinosaur is singular, appears is the right usage.

Also, E is unnecessarily wordy. (which are from what appear to be)

D is correct.
Is this reasoning correct...???? sub-verb agreement with dinosaur...????

I thought Op D is correct because "from what" is modifying whole preceding clause and a clause take a singular verb "appears"...m i correct or the above reasoning is okay??
When in doubt, I always take an analogous statement to clear things out.

E.g. - He is building a supercar from what appear(s) to be many unused machine parts.

According to your logic, appears should be correct here, which is clearly not the case. The reason is that the verb appear(s) is associated with what and what is referring to unused machine parts, which is plural. Therefore, we need a plural form of the verb.

The correct sentence would be - He is building a supercar from what appear to be many unused machine parts.

A similar case can be made for the original sentence in this thread.

Option D
Paleontologists have found huge fossil bones from what appears to be the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived.

appears is correct here because what is referring to a single dinosaur.

Had the sentence been something like - Paleontologists have found huge fossil bones from what appear to be the five biggest dinosaurs that ever lived. - appear would have been correct.

So this has nothing to do with the preceding clause, but with the referent of what in the sentence.
scio me nihil scire
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by atulmangal » Sat May 21, 2011 11:35 pm
niksworth wrote:
atulmangal wrote:
niksworth wrote:Subject verb agreement error in E.

which are from what appear to be the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived. - appear should be in agreement with dinosaur. Since dinosaur is singular, appears is the right usage.

Also, E is unnecessarily wordy. (which are from what appear to be)

D is correct.
Is this reasoning correct...???? sub-verb agreement with dinosaur...????

I thought Op D is correct because "from what" is modifying whole preceding clause and a clause take a singular verb "appears"...m i correct or the above reasoning is okay??
When in doubt, I always take an analogous statement to clear things out.

E.g. - He is building a supercar from what appear(s) to be many unused machine parts.

According to your logic, appears should be correct here, which is clearly not the case. The reason is that the verb appear(s) is associated with what and what is referring to unused machine parts, which is plural. Therefore, we need a plural form of the verb.

The correct sentence would be - He is building a supercar from what appear to be many unused machine parts.

A similar case can be made for the original sentence in this thread.

Option D
Paleontologists have found huge fossil bones from what appears to be the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived.

appears is correct here because what is referring to a single dinosaur.

Had the sentence been something like - Paleontologists have found huge fossil bones from what appear to be the five biggest dinosaurs that ever lived. - appear would have been correct.

So this has nothing to do with the preceding clause, but with the referent of what in the sentence.
Thanks brother,

Got your point!!! Thanks again
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