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subject -verb mismatch question

by \'manpreet singh » Wed Aug 15, 2012 7:48 pm
The ongoing debate as to whether Pluto and its satellite, Charon, comprise a double dwarf planet system or a planet and its moon was settled following the discovery that the system's center of mass and a significant portion of its mass are outside of Pluto.

A. comprise a double dwarf planet system or a planet and its moon was settled following the discovery that the system's center of mass and a significant portion of its mass are

B. comprises a double dwarf planet system or a planet and its moon was settled following the discovery that the system's center of mass and a significant portion of its mass are

C. are a double dwarf planet system or a planet and its moon were settled following the discovery that the system's center of mass and a significant portion of its mass are

D. comprise a double dwarf planet system or a planet and its moon was settled following the discovery that the system's center of mass and a significant portion of its mass is

E. are a double dwarf planet system or a planet and its moon was settled and led to the discovery that the system's center of mass and a significant portion of its mass are
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by patanjali.purpose » Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:14 pm
'manpreet singh wrote:The ongoing debate as to whether Pluto and its satellite, Charon, comprise a double dwarf planet system or a planet and its moon was settled following the discovery that the system's center of mass and a significant portion of its mass are outside of Pluto.

A. comprise a double dwarf planet system or a planet and its moon was settled following the discovery that the system's center of mass and a significant portion of its mass are

B. comprises a double dwarf planet system or a planet and its moon was settled following the discovery that the system's center of mass and a significant portion of its mass are

C. are a double dwarf planet system or a planet and its moon were settled following the discovery that the system's center of mass and a significant portion of its mass are

D. comprise a double dwarf planet system or a planet and its moon was settled following the discovery that the system's center of mass and a significant portion of its mass is

E. are a double dwarf planet system or a planet and its moon was settled and led to the discovery that the system's center of mass and a significant portion of its mass are

The ongoing debate {as to whether Pluto and its satellite, Charon, comprise a double dwarf planet system or a planet and its moon } was settled following the discovery that the system's center of mass and a significant portion of its mass areoutside of Pluto.

THE ONGOING DEBATE....WAS (CORRECT);
PLUTO AND ITS SATELLITE ....COMPRISE (CORRECT)
THE ..MASS AND A..ITS MASS......ARE (CORRECT)

using them, we can drop D (IS at the end); drop B (COMPRISES); drop C (WERE);

E - changes the meaning (it replaced COMPRISE by ARE, meaning Pluto and its satellite ACTUALLY {ARE} a double dwarf planet system or a planet and its moon); Same problem we have in C also

another problem in E: use of LED TO (also changes meaning; original sentence says "debate was settled following the discovery" but E says 'debate led to the discovery)

IMO A
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by Patrick_GMATFix » Thu Aug 16, 2012 11:44 am
3 actions require us to match a verb and its subject.


1) the debate...was settled (A,B,D,E) vs the debate...were settled(C).

2) Pluto and its satellite comprise/are (A, C, D, E) vs Pluto and its satellite comprises (B)

3) the center of mass and a portion of mass are (A, B, C, E) vs the center of mass and a portion of mass is (D)

From these, we can eliminate C, B, and D.

The significant difference between A and E is one of meaning. Think about the intended story: There was a debate about Pluto. This debate was settled because a certain discovery was made.

Answer A correctly ties the ideas "The debate...was settled following the discovery" whereas Answer E does not "The debate...was settled and led to the discovery". Eliminate E

The answer is A
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by \'manpreet singh » Thu Aug 16, 2012 8:08 pm
Thanks patanjali and patrick for the explanation..:)
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