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sophisticated copy machines

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by mj41 » Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:05 pm
A new generation of sophisticated copy machines, capable of unprecedented detail and accuracy, are prompting the development of more complex currency designs to prevent counterfeiting.
A. sophisticated copy machines, capable of unprecedented detail and accuracy, are
B. sophisticated copy machines, capable for unprecedented detail and accuracy, is
C. sophisticated copy machines, capable of unprecedented detail and accuracy, is
D. sophisticated copy machines, capable for unprecedented detail and accuracy, are
E. sophisticated copy machines that are capable of unprecedented detail and accuracy are

My confusion is that is new generation the subject or Copy machines OA C
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by thephoenix » Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:32 pm
sub of a prepositional phrase can never be the main subject
so here sophisticated m/c is not the sub rather the whole phrase is a sub and when a phrase is a sub it always take singular verb hence we need is

capable of is idimatic where as capable for is unidiomatic

combining only c is a valid option
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by harshavardhanc » Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:36 pm
mj41 wrote:A new generation of sophisticated copy machines, capable of unprecedented detail and accuracy, are prompting the development of more complex currency designs to prevent counterfeiting.
A. sophisticated copy machines, capable of unprecedented detail and accuracy, are
B. sophisticated copy machines, capable for unprecedented detail and accuracy, is
C. sophisticated copy machines, capable of unprecedented detail and accuracy, is
D. sophisticated copy machines, capable for unprecedented detail and accuracy, are
E. sophisticated copy machines that are capable of unprecedented detail and accuracy are

My confusion is that is new generation the subject or Copy machines
new generation. That's why you need is after the non-essential modifier : capable of unprecedented detail and accuracy.


so birds eye view : a generation is capable of .....
Regards,
Harsha
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by neoreaves » Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:17 pm
Remember 'Of' is a middleman. Whenever you want to find the subject-verb agreement remove the middleman 'Of'


"A new generation of sophisticated copy machine"

Taken out Of and you get

"A new generation" --> this is singular


Hope this helps :)
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by mj41 » Wed Mar 24, 2010 4:32 am
Thanks guys....I got it guys ... you are absolutely great... :-)
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by Target2009 » Mon Dec 20, 2010 9:22 pm
Even I thought the same way while working on the Problem.. But when I removed the Prepositional phrase and modifier from the answer choice, the sentence was like "A new generation is prompting ..." which sounds very awkward to me ( in terms of meaning). This made me to reconsider Machines as Subject.
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