Sentence Correction

However much governments around the world may agree that nuclear proliferation must be halted and that steps should be implemented to reduce the level of nuclear stockpiles, it is difficult for countries to come to agreement on the specific methods of implementing such practices.

A However much governments around the world may agree that
B Despite the agreement among governments around the world to the fact that
C Although governments around the world agree
D Even though governments around the world may agree
E Despite there being agreement among governments around the world that

OA after a while

A However much governments around the world may agree that
Correct
B Despite the agreement among governments around the world to the fact that
Changes the meaning by removing "may"
C Although governments around the world agree
"that" is required to make the statement parallel with and that steps should ...
D Even though governments around the world may agree
"that" is required to make the statement parallel with and that steps should ...
E Despite there being agreement among governments around the world that
Option A is much better. Moreover it is pretty awkward

The SC above mimics the following SC in the OG for Verbal and can be solved in a similar way:

However much United States voters may agree that there is waste in government and that the government as a whole spends beyond its means, it is difficult to find broad support for a movement toward a minimal state.

A) However much United States voters may agree that
B) Despite the agreement among United States voters to the fact
C) Although United States voters agree
D) Even though United States voters may agree
E) There is agreement among United States voters that

Focus on the meaning.

However MUCH United States voters MAY AGREE means that there MIGHT BE MUCH agreement.

B, C and E all change the intended meaning by implying that there IS -- for CERTAIN -- agreement. Eliminate B, C and E.

In D, may agree THERE is waste...and THAT the government as a whole spends is not parallel. Eliminate D.

The correct answer is A.

E also can be eliminated because it connects two complete sentences with a comma:

There is agreement among United States voters that there is waste in government and that the government as a whole spends beyond its means.
It is difficult to find broad support for a movement toward a minimal state.

If a comma can be replaced with a period, eliminate the answer choice.

HI Mitch
Explanation is not clear.U r discarding D.But correct ans is also D.Pl explain a bit.

Sandip Gumtya

sandipgumtya wrote:HI Mitch
Explanation is not clear.U r discarding D.But correct ans is also D.Pl explain a bit.

Sandip Gumtya

My post above had a typo that misidentified the correct answer.
The correct answer is actually A.
I've corrected the typo.

Hi GMATGuruNY,

I was confused with the use of "much". I thought it refers to the voters, who are countable so "many" should have been used and so I eliminated A. I still dont understand completely how it refers to the agreement and not voters. Please advise.

prachi18oct wrote:Hi GMATGuruNY,

I was confused with the use of "much". I thought it refers to the voters, who are countable so "many" should have been used and so I eliminated A. I still dont understand completely how it refers to the agreement and not voters. Please advise.

When much serves to refer to a NOUN, the noun must be NON-COUNTABLE.
SC46 in the OG12:
MUCH of the local artisans' creative ENERGY was expended on the creation of Buddha images.
Here, much is a PRONOUN serving to refer to energy (a non-countable noun).

It is also possible for much to function as an ADVERB.
SC139 in the OG12:
Its profits declined much less.
Here, much less is an adverb serving to modify declined, expressing the EXTENT to which profits DECLINED.
Since much does not serve to modify profits, whether profits is singular or plural is irrelevant.

OA: However MUCH United States voters MAY AGREE
Here, much is an ADVERB serving to modify may agree, expressing the EXTENT to which voters MAY AGREE.
Since much does not serve to modify voters, whether voters is singular or plural is irrelevant.