Executives and federal officials say that the use of crack and cocaine is growing rapidly among workers, significantly compounding THE EFFECTS of drug and alcohol abuse, WHICH already COST business more than $100 billion a year.
On the GMAT, which + PLURAL VERB serves to refer to the nearest preceding plural noun.
Here, which already cost (plural) serves to refer to the effects (the nearest preceding plural noun).
Conveyed meaning:
THE EFFECTS of drug and alcohol abuse already COST business more than $100 billion a year.
drug and alcohol abuse
Here, drug and alcohol serves as an adjective modifying abuse.
What KIND of abuse?
DRUG AND ALCOHOL abuse.
Put another way:
drug and alcohol abuse = THE ABUSE of drugs and alcohol.
Since drug and alcohol abuse is singular, it cannot serve as the referent for which + PLURAL VERB.
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Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Tue Feb 09, 2016 4:03 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.
As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.
For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
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sundeepahuja27
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@GMATGuruNY- This is exactly what i was referring to in my query. And your answer seems to be most apt.
So in a similar way, the below construction should be correct-
"the effect of drug and alcohol abuse, which already costs......."
Am i right?
So in a similar way, the below construction should be correct-
"the effect of drug and alcohol abuse, which already costs......."
Am i right?
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lunarpower
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I received a private message about this thread.
From the standpoint of carefully written, formal English-i.e., the type of English tested on the GMAT-"drug and alcohol abuse" is singular. It's just "abuse", with adjectives in front of it. (If this construction appears in the context of formal writing, it implies that "drug and alcohol abuse" is a single category of abuse.)
To dig into the uses discussed here-certainly things I've never considered explicitly before-is certainly interesting, but ultimately irrelevant to (and perhaps even counterproductive for) the GMAT exam. A GMAT problem will never, ever, ever allow agreement between a singular noun and a plural verb.
From the standpoint of carefully written, formal English-i.e., the type of English tested on the GMAT-"drug and alcohol abuse" is singular. It's just "abuse", with adjectives in front of it. (If this construction appears in the context of formal writing, it implies that "drug and alcohol abuse" is a single category of abuse.)
To dig into the uses discussed here-certainly things I've never considered explicitly before-is certainly interesting, but ultimately irrelevant to (and perhaps even counterproductive for) the GMAT exam. A GMAT problem will never, ever, ever allow agreement between a singular noun and a plural verb.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.
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Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi
--
Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
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Learn more about ron
