The herbicide Oryzalin

Expert replies

logitech: Legendary Member; Posts: 2134; Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2008 11:26 pmFollowed by: 25 members; Thanked: 237 times; GMAT Score:730

by logitech » Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:32 pm

The herbicide Oryzalin was still being produced in 1979, three years after the wives of workers producing the chemical in Rensselaer, New York, were found to have borne children with heart defects or miscarriages, and none of their pregnancies was normal.

(A) to have borne children with heart defects or miscarriages, and none of their pregnancies was
(B) to have had children born with heart defects or miscarriages, and none of the pregnancies was
(C) either to have had children with heart defects or miscarriages, without any of their pregnancies being
(D) either to have had miscarriages or to have borne children with heart defects; none of the pregnancies was
(E) either to have had miscarriages or children born with heart defects, without any of their pregnancies being

LGTCH
---------------------
"DON'T LET ANYONE STEAL YOUR DREAM!"

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:32 pm

Karen: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 101; Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 5:32 pmFollowed by: 16 members; Location: NY and Boston; Thanked: 56 times

by Karen » Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:36 pm

The answer must be D. A, B and C all say that they had "children with miscarriages," which makes no sense at all, and E isn't parallel ("either to have had... or children...").

D makes more sense on other grounds as well, but you can just focus in on those specific points and nail the answer. When you can immediately find good reasons to pick one over the others, there's no need to look for more reasons.

Karen van Hoek, PhD
Verbal Specialist

Test Prep New York
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logitech: Legendary Member; Posts: 2134; Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2008 11:26 pmFollowed by: 25 members; Thanked: 237 times; GMAT Score:730

by logitech » Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:56 pm

Karen,

Thanks. I totally agree with you but "none of the pregnancies was" threw me off.

Don't you think we need WERE instead of WAS.

NONE OF THE PLURAL NOUN + ( PLURAL/SINGULAR)

I know that NONE is from SANAM family and we need a plural verb.

Any thoughts ?

LGTCH
---------------------
"DON'T LET ANYONE STEAL YOUR DREAM!"

crossingfingers: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 23; Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2007 7:09 am; Thanked: 1 times

by crossingfingers » Wed Feb 11, 2009 9:26 pm

LG,

there have been a couple of discussions in the other forums...

from one of the posts in the MGMAT forum:

+++++++++++++++
Actually a widespread grammatical debate exists between none as the singular "not one" and none as the plural "not any." Until I personally read about or come across a question on an offical GMAT using none as plural, I will consider none singular. However, if you are a grammarian (or just have some time to kill), feel free to check out the following link - just one of many on the Net.
https://www.grammarmudge.cityslide.com/a ... 3/9903.htm
+++++++++++++++

hope it helps

raunekk: Legendary Member; Posts: 1159; Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:35 pm; Thanked: 56 times

by raunekk » Wed Feb 11, 2009 9:38 pm

i agree... it has to be D

apart from the " none" thing..
in A , B , C... children seem to have miscarriage..

in E, "their" doesnt seem to have a clear antecedent..

iamcste: Legendary Member; Posts: 940; Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:22 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 55 times

by iamcste » Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:05 am

logitech wrote:Karen,

Thanks. I totally agree with you but "none of the pregnancies was" threw me off.

Don't you think we need WERE instead of WAS.

NONE OF THE PLURAL NOUN + ( PLURAL/SINGULAR)

I know that NONE is from SANAM family and we need a plural verb.

Any thoughts ?

When you see None, stay singular. Forget MG SC for a moment

Disagree? Check all examples in OG related to None.

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