Sentence Correction

Twenty-two feet long and 10 feet in diameter, the AM-1 is one of the many new satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces to detailed scrutiny from space.

A. satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces
B. satellites, which is a part of a 15-year effort to subject how Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces interact
C. satellites, part of 15 years effort of subjecting how Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces are interacting
D. satellites that are part of an effort for 15 years that has subjected the interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces
E. satellites that are part of a 15-year effort to subject the interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, and land surfaces

Twenty-two feet long and 10 feet in diameter, the AM-1 is one of the many new satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces to detailed scrutiny from space.

A. satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces
B. satellites, which is a part of a 15-year effort to subject how Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces interact
C. satellites, part of 15 years effort of subjecting how Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces are interacting
D. satellites that are part of an effort for 15 years that has subjected the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces
E. satellites that are part of a 15-year effort to subject the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, ocean, and land surfaces

Here, the intended meaning is as follows:
Of THE MANY NEW SATELLITES THAT ARE part of a particular effort, the AM-1 IS ONE.
Since the many new satellites ARE part of a particular effort, only the red portions in D and E make the intended meaning clear:
The AM-1 is one of THE MANY NEW SATELLITES THAT ARE PART of a particular effort.
Eliminate A, B and C.

D: an effort...that has subjected the interactions
This meaning is nonsensical.
It is not possible that AN EFFORT has subjected the interactions.
Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E.

Hi GMATGuruNY - in GMAT, if there is a construction such as X of Y that IS/ARE... then what THAT should refer to here - X or Y ?

And how to determine the same -- is it to be on the basis of MEANING or CONTEXT ?

vijayashree wrote:Twenty-two feet long and 10 feet in diameter, the AM-1 is one of the many new satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces to detailed scrutiny from space.

A. satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces
B. satellites, which is a part of a 15-year effort to subject how Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces interact
C. satellites, part of 15 years effort of subjecting how Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces are interacting
D. satellites that are part of an effort for 15 years that has subjected the interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces
E. satellites that are part of a 15-year effort to subject the interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, and land surfaces

Twenty-two feet long and 10 feet in diameter, the AM-1 is one of the many new satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces to detailed scrutiny from space.

A. satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces

'is' follows that-incorrect.

B. satellites, which is a part of a 15-year effort to subject how Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces interact

'which is' is incorrect.

C. satellites, part of 15 years effort of subjecting how Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces are interacting

The many new satellites 'are' part of 15 years effort. Meaning clarity issue: the sentence tells us that "satellites are part of 15 years". Literal meaning of the sentence is weird.

In the correct answer E, this mistake is corrected by 'that'. 'that' in E is correctly introduces an idea: "satellites that are part of a 15-year effort".

D. satellites that are part of an effort for 15 years that has subjected the interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces

Meaning: It's not the 'years' that has 'subjected the interactions', but it's the effort that has 'subjected the interactions'.

'that has subjected' refers to years, and in that too its incorrect. 'Years' are plural and 'have' instead of 'has' should be used.

E. satellites that are part of a 15-year effort to subject the interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, and land surfaces

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Hi GMATGuruNY - in GMAT, if there is a construction such as X of Y that IS/ARE... then what THAT should refer to here - X or Y ?

And how to determine the same -- is it to be on the basis of MEANING or CONTEXT ?

I think 'that' should refer to the noun closest to it...Confirmation from the experts will be helpful.

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Hi GMATGuruNY - in GMAT, if there is a construction such as X of Y that IS/ARE... then what THAT should refer to here - X or Y ?

And how to determine the same -- is it to be on the basis of MEANING or CONTEXT ?

In most cases:
that + SINGULAR VERB will serve to refer to the nearest preceding singular noun.
that + PLURAL VERB will serve to refer to the nearest preceding plural noun.
But there are exceptions.

SC105 in the OG13:
Marconi conceived of the radio as a A TOOL for private conversation THAT COULD SUBSTITUTE FOR THE TELEPHONE.
Here, that serves to refer not to private conversation (the nearest preceding noun) but to A TOOL.
Conveyed meaning:
Marconi conceived of the radio as a A TOOL THAT COULD SUBSTITUTE FOR THE TELEPHONE.
The intended referent for that is made clear from CONTEXT.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Hi GMATGuruNY - in GMAT, if there is a construction such as X of Y that IS/ARE... then what THAT should refer to here - X or Y ?

And how to determine the same -- is it to be on the basis of MEANING or CONTEXT ?

In most cases:
that + SINGULAR VERB will serve to refer to the nearest preceding singular noun.
that + PLURAL VERB will serve to refer to the nearest preceding plural noun.
But there are exceptions.

SC105 in the OG13:
Marconi conceived of the radio as a A TOOL for private conversation THAT COULD SUBSTITUTE FOR THE TELEPHONE.
Here, that serves to refer not to private conversation (the nearest preceding noun) but to A TOOL.
Conveyed meaning:
Marconi conceived of the radio as a A TOOL THAT COULD SUBSTITUTE FOR THE TELEPHONE.
The intended referent for that is made clear from CONTEXT.

@ GMATGuruNY - So,in GMAT, this sort of EXCEPTION also holds good in case of [X of Y that IS/ARE...] construction. Correct ?

And in this SC, we've an EXCEPTION as you mentioned above. Here,that doesn't refer to the nearest preceding singular noun, but rather refers to the nearest preceding PLURAL noun because of the context/meaning (and hence, the VERB changes accordingly from SINGULAR in the original sentence to the PLURAL in the OA). Right ?

Correct me please if wrong!

One of the many....should be singular ...isn't it ?..then why is are correct.PLease explain this concept.

src_saurav wrote:One of the many....should be singular ...isn't it ?..then why is are correct.PLease explain this concept.

Note the three set-up below:-
1) One of the noun + that/who + plural
Ex:- One of the actors who are married is coming to town.
Ex:- He is one of my friends who are teachers.

2) One of the noun + singular
Ex:- One of the actors is coming to town.
Ex:- One of my friends is a teacher.

Notice: what the presence & the absence of 'that/who' does in the both the above examples.
3) "The" only one of the noun + "singular" (irrespective of the who/that, the sentence should always be singular.

RBBmba@2014 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Hi GMATGuruNY - in GMAT, if there is a construction such as X of Y that IS/ARE... then what THAT should refer to here - X or Y ?

And how to determine the same -- is it to be on the basis of MEANING or CONTEXT ?

In most cases:
that + SINGULAR VERB will serve to refer to the nearest preceding singular noun.
that + PLURAL VERB will serve to refer to the nearest preceding plural noun.
But there are exceptions.

SC105 in the OG13:
Marconi conceived of the radio as a A TOOL for private conversation THAT COULD SUBSTITUTE FOR THE TELEPHONE.
Here, that serves to refer not to private conversation (the nearest preceding noun) but to A TOOL.
Conveyed meaning:
Marconi conceived of the radio as a A TOOL THAT COULD SUBSTITUTE FOR THE TELEPHONE.
The intended referent for that is made clear from CONTEXT.

@ GMATGuruNY - So,in GMAT, this sort of EXCEPTION also holds good in case of [X of Y that IS/ARE...] construction. Correct ?

And in this SC, we've an EXCEPTION as you mentioned above. Here,that doesn't refer to the nearest preceding singular noun, but rather refers to the nearest preceding PLURAL noun because of the context/meaning (and hence, the VERB changes accordingly from SINGULAR in the original sentence to the PLURAL in the OA). Right ?

Correct me please if wrong!

@ GMATGuruNY - could you please share your feedback on the above concerns ?

Look forward to your reply.

Much thanks in advance!

RBBmba@2014 wrote:

In most cases:
that + SINGULAR VERB will serve to refer to the nearest preceding singular noun.
that + PLURAL VERB will serve to refer to the nearest preceding plural noun.
But there are exceptions.

SC105 in the OG13:
Marconi conceived of the radio as a A TOOL for private conversation THAT COULD SUBSTITUTE FOR THE TELEPHONE.
Here, that serves to refer not to private conversation (the nearest preceding noun) but to A TOOL.
Conveyed meaning:
Marconi conceived of the radio as a A TOOL THAT COULD SUBSTITUTE FOR THE TELEPHONE.
The intended referent for that is made clear from CONTEXT.

@ GMATGuruNY - So,in GMAT, this sort of EXCEPTION also holds good in case of [X of Y that IS/ARE...] construction. Correct ?

And in this SC, we've an EXCEPTION as you mentioned above. Here,that doesn't refer to the nearest preceding singular noun, but rather refers to the nearest preceding PLURAL noun because of the context/meaning (and hence, the VERB changes accordingly from SINGULAR in the original sentence to the PLURAL in the OA). Right ?

Correct me please if wrong!

Your understanding seems correct.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Hi GMATGuruNY - in GMAT, if there is a construction such as X of Y that IS/ARE... then what THAT should refer to here - X or Y ?

And how to determine the same -- is it to be on the basis of MEANING or CONTEXT ?

In most cases:
that + SINGULAR VERB will serve to refer to the nearest preceding singular noun.
that + PLURAL VERB will serve to refer to the nearest preceding plural noun.
But there are exceptions.

SC105 in the OG13:
Marconi conceived of the radio as a A TOOL for private conversation THAT COULD SUBSTITUTE FOR THE TELEPHONE.
Here, that serves to refer not to private conversation (the nearest preceding noun) but to A TOOL.
Conveyed meaning:
Marconi conceived of the radio as a A TOOL THAT COULD SUBSTITUTE FOR THE TELEPHONE.
The intended referent for that is made clear from CONTEXT.

sir, do you remeber any exception of this rule from the official questions that we can take note of?