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SC - confused.......prepositional modifier

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SC - confused.......prepositional modifier

by voodoo_child » Mon May 30, 2011 7:46 am
A group of students who have begun to clean up Frederick Law Olmstead's Morning Park in New York City believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but to be returned to its former condition .


a)believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but to
b)believe that the park needs to not be redesigned but to
c)believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but could
d)believe that the park needs not to be redesigned but to
e)believe that the park needs not to be redesigned but that it

I am confused between "believes" and "have". Any help is appreciated.

I found similar example on the internet - I am not sure which one is correct though. It didn't say anything.
Here's the image : https://postimage.org/image/20ubvd9ok/

The rivers in Alaska, which includes the Yukon, Tanana, and Copper, are frozen during the winter.
The rivers in Alaska, which include the Yukon, Tanana, and Copper, are frozen during the winter.



Thanks
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by cans » Mon May 30, 2011 8:43 am
IMO D
A group of students who have begun to clean up Frederick Law Olmstead's Morning Park in New York City .........be returned to its former condition .
In the sentence, A group of students is the subject which is plural (to confirm see the usage of have which is plural) and thus plural form of verb should be used and hence believe.
now believe that the park needs (here needs is used because park is singular and thus singular form of verb). For parallelism - not to be redesigned but to be returned.......
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by aspirant2011 » Mon May 30, 2011 8:52 am
voodoo_child wrote:A group of students who have begun to clean up Frederick Law Olmstead's Morning Park in New York City believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but to be returned to its former condition .


a)believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but to
b)believe that the park needs to not be redesigned but to
c)believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but could
d)believe that the park needs not to be redesigned but to
e)believe that the park needs not to be redesigned but that it

I am confused between "believes" and "have". Any help is appreciated.

I found similar example on the internet - I am not sure which one is correct though. It didn't say anything.
Here's the image : https://postimage.org/image/20ubvd9ok/

The rivers in Alaska, which includes the Yukon, Tanana, and Copper, are frozen during the winter.
The rivers in Alaska, which include the Yukon, Tanana, and Copper, are frozen during the winter.



Thanks
A group is singular entity therefore, the usage of believes is correct....

who have modifies students therefore the usage of have begun is correct

I would go with option A.............
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by atulmangal » Mon May 30, 2011 8:55 am
voodoo_child wrote:A group of students who have begun to clean up Frederick Law Olmstead's Morning Park in New York City believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but to be returned to its former condition .


a)believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but to
b)believe that the park needs to not be redesigned but to
c)believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but could
d)believe that the park needs not to be redesigned but to
e)believe that the park needs not to be redesigned but that it

I am confused between "believes" and "have". Any help is appreciated.

Thanks
The main subject is "group" and the main verb is believes...

The group believes...correct sing/sing

A group of students who have....bla bla bla

Here the pronoun, WHO is introducing a relative clause and referring to plural students...so we need a plural verb have
The rivers in Alaska, which includes the Yukon, Tanana, and Copper, are frozen during the winter.
The rivers in Alaska, which include the Yukon, Tanana, and Copper, are frozen during the winter.


sorry made a mistake so editing
second sentence is correct. here pronoun WHICH is referring to the noun RIVERS and hence takes plural verb INCLUDE....again the VERB ARE is the verb of RIVERS...hence plural
Last edited by atulmangal on Mon May 30, 2011 10:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by sameerballani » Mon May 30, 2011 9:21 am
imo A

what's the OA and source?
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by Jim@Grockit » Mon May 30, 2011 10:30 pm
If "have begun" were modifying "group", I would expect the GMAT to say A group of students which has begun rather than "who."
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by nafiul9090 » Tue May 31, 2011 5:28 am
i pick D

whats the OA??
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by GMATGuruNY » Tue May 31, 2011 6:27 am
voodoo_child wrote:A group of students who have begun to clean up Frederick Law Olmstead's Morning Park in New York City believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but to be returned to its former condition.


a)believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but to
b)believe that the park needs to not be redesigned but to
c)believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but could
d)believe that the park needs not to be redesigned but to
e)believe that the park needs not to be redesigned but that it
The phrase of students is an adjective describing the group.
This phrase answers the following question: What kind of group? A group of students.

The clause who have begun to clean up Frederick Law Olmstead's Morning Park is an adjective describing the students.
This clause answers the following question: What kind of students? Students who have begun to clean up Frederick Law Olmstead's Morning Park.

Regardless of these adjectives, the subject group remains singular:

A group...believes that the park needs not to be redesigned.

Eliminate B, D, and E.

In C, needs not to be redesigned but could be returned lacks parallelism and changes the meaning. The intended meaning is not that the park could be returned to its former condition but that it needs to be returned to its former condition. Eliminate C.

The correct answer is A.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Tue May 31, 2011 8:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by cans » Tue May 31, 2011 8:56 am
@ voodoo_child: OA please.....
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by atulmangal » Tue May 31, 2011 9:03 am
Hi Mitch,

Thanks for your above post...can u please with these two sentences mentioned in the first post:
The rivers in Alaska, which includes the Yukon, Tanana, and Copper, are frozen during the winter.
The rivers in Alaska, which include the Yukon, Tanana, and Copper, are frozen during the winter.

Here's the image : https://postimage.org/image/20ubvd9ok/
My doubt is, as per my knowledge, COMMA + WHICH can refer either the preceding noun phrase or preceding noun...right??? according to the link, WHICH here is referring to RIVERS, if this is correct, then look at this below problem from GMAT prep:

By merging its two publishing divisions, the company will increase their share of the country's $21 billion book market from 6 percent to 10 percent, a market ranging from obscure textbooks to mass-market paperbacks.
A. their share of the country's $21 billion book market from 6 percent to 10 percent, a market ranging
B. from 6 percent to 10 percent its share of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges
C. to 10 percent from 6 percent in their share of the $21 billion book market in the country, a market ranging
D. in its share, from 6 percent to 10 percent, of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges
E. to 10 percent from 6 percent its share of the country's $21 billion book market, which ranges

Correct Op is E, Op B is said to be wrong because here WHICH is incorrectly referring to country..is this the correct reason to eliminate Op B or there some other reason????

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by GMATGuruNY » Tue May 31, 2011 9:48 am
atulmangal wrote:Hi Mitch,

A) The rivers in Alaska, which includes the Yukon, Tanana, and Copper, are frozen during the winter.
B) The rivers in Alaska, which include the Yukon, Tanana, and Copper, are frozen during the winter.
There is no ambiguity in the sentences above.
In A, the singular verb includes makes it clear that which refers to the singular noun Alaska.
In B, the plural verb include makes it clear that which refers to the plural noun rivers.
Since the Yukon, Tanana and Copper are all rivers, B conveys the intended meaning.
By merging its two publishing divisions, the company will increase their share of the country's $21 billion book market from 6 percent to 10 percent, a market ranging from obscure textbooks to mass-market paperbacks.
A. their share of the country's $21 billion book market from 6 percent to 10 percent, a market ranging
B. from 6 percent to 10 percent its share of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges
C. to 10 percent from 6 percent in their share of the $21 billion book market in the country, a market ranging
D. in its share, from 6 percent to 10 percent, of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges
E. to 10 percent from 6 percent its share of the country's $21 billion book market, which ranges
Correct Op is E, Op B is said to be wrong because here WHICH is incorrectly referring to country..is this the correct reason to eliminate Op B or there some other reason????

Thanks
In B, it's not clear crystal clear whether which refers to country or to market: the singular verb ranges could be attributed to either noun. Since E avoids the ambiguity, E is better.
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by sameerballani » Tue May 31, 2011 9:52 am
atulmangal wrote:Hi Mitch,

Thanks for your above post...can u please with these two sentences mentioned in the first post:
The rivers in Alaska, which includes the Yukon, Tanana, and Copper, are frozen during the winter.
The rivers in Alaska, which include the Yukon, Tanana, and Copper, are frozen during the winter.

Here's the image : https://postimage.org/image/20ubvd9ok/
My doubt is, as per my knowledge, COMMA + WHICH can refer either the preceding noun phrase or preceding noun...right??? according to the link, WHICH here is referring to RIVERS, if this is correct, then look at this below problem from GMAT prep:

By merging its two publishing divisions, the company will increase their share of the country's $21 billion book market from 6 percent to 10 percent, a market ranging from obscure textbooks to mass-market paperbacks.
A. their share of the country's $21 billion book market from 6 percent to 10 percent, a market ranging
B. from 6 percent to 10 percent its share of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges
C. to 10 percent from 6 percent in their share of the $21 billion book market in the country, a market ranging
D. in its share, from 6 percent to 10 percent, of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges
E. to 10 percent from 6 percent its share of the country's $21 billion book market, which ranges

Correct Op is E, Op B is said to be wrong because here WHICH is incorrectly referring to country..is this the correct reason to eliminate Op B or there some other reason????

Thanks
Hi Atul,
Your question seems to be appropriate.
On comparing
B) from 6 percent to 10 percent its share of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges
E) to 10 percent from 6 percent its share of the country's $21 billion book market, which ranges

Option E says Book Market of the country, whereas option B says Book Market in the country.
I feel the former is better, may be because we are talking about share.
I mean the sentence like - Book market in the country is flourishing - could be right
But for share/%/etc, i feel we need the sentence like - Tata owns 50% of book market OF the country.

Everything said above is just what i noticed.

I hope it helps :)

Thanks
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by sameerballani » Tue May 31, 2011 9:54 am
Hi Mitch,

What are your comments on above thought?

Thanks
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by GMATGuruNY » Tue May 31, 2011 10:07 am
sameerballani wrote:Hi Mitch,

What are your comments on above thought?

Thanks
I hear what you're saying, but you should look for less subtle, more concrete reasons to eliminate answers.
B has a pronoun that at best is ambiguous and at worst refers to the wrong thing; E avoids the ambiguity.
Thus, we should eliminate B and choose E.
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by atulmangal » Tue May 31, 2011 11:18 am
Hi Mitch,

Thanks for replying, but i have another question. In case of pronoun ambiguity, like so many experts said that it arises only when TWO OR MORE LOGICAL ANTECEDENTS ARE PRESENT. Means if a pronoun can refer to two antecedents (in terms of Number/gender) but logically in context of the meaning only one can fit in then in that case that pronoun should not be considered ambiguous.

Now, applying this same thing in GMAT prep question, u suggest that WHICH can refer to either MARKET or COUNTRY....sir, is it logical to say
country ranges from obscure textbooks to mass-market paperbacks.???

Being as a non-native speaker, i thought that above sentence is not logical and hence only MARKET should be considered as the only possible antecedent of WHICH...I might be wrong so please please guide me here...

I agree with you that OP E is much better, still my view is correct or not???
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