Sentence Correction

In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine the qualities of that sound.

a) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine
b) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining
c) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine
d) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining
e) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining


Whats your choice? I was rather suprised by the original answer.

OA is A , Thoughts on why?

HarvardDreamin wrote:In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine the qualities of that sound.

a) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine
b) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining
c) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine
d) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining
e) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining
?

I picked A and am happy to be right. The word "differences" is pluraland warrants a singular verb (help). That said, Choices C& D are out. Within the remaining choices (A,B & E) that use the verb "help", only choice A is suitable due to its proper grammatical construction. Choice E uses "between" which is incorrect as it is only used for distinguishing two choices.

wizardofwashington wrote:

HarvardDreamin wrote:In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine the qualities of that sound.

a) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine
b) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining
c) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine
d) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining
e) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining
?

I picked A and am happy to be right. The word "differences" is pluraland warrants a singular verb (help). That said, Choices C& D are out. Within the remaining choices (A,B & E) that use the verb "help", only choice A is suitable due to its proper grammatical construction. Choice E uses "between" which is incorrect as it is only used for distinguishing two choices.

thx any other comments?

IMO: A
the moment you see between it has to be followed by and as the correct idiom is "difference between X and Y" so eliminate D and E
B: hearing is repeated again so eliminate. Also it has "determining" which is not parallel to hear - Eliminate
C: by - passive voice - whenever you see a passive voice, try to avoid unless it is really necessary.
A remains: correct choice and the only choice since you have eliminated the rest ... let's look at why A is correct:
A: in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine
1. we need the verb determine to be parallel with hear
2. differences in is correct idiom
3. help is a plural verb that matches the differences which is plural.
read the stmt as "subtle differences in X help Y"

anju wrote:IMO: A
the moment you see between it has to be followed by and as the correct idiom is "difference between X and Y" so eliminate D and E
B: hearing is repeated again so eliminate. Also it has "determining" which is not parallel to hear - Eliminate
C: by - passive voice - whenever you see a passive voice, try to avoid unless it is really necessary.
A remains: correct choice and the only choice since you have eliminated the rest ... let's look at why A is correct:
A: in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine
1. we need the verb determine to be parallel with hear
2. differences in is correct idiom
3. help is a plural verb that matches the differences which is plural.
read the stmt as "subtle differences in X help Y"

To add to the above comments by @anju,

"difference IN -> ""difference(s) in"" refers to discrepancies between different measurements of the same quantity.

for eg - differnces in temperature of layers of ocean

differences BETWEEN -> difference between" correctly refers to the actual difference, well, between the TWO different things.

difference Between bottle and steel