perfectstranger wrote:an overwhelming proportion of women work , how can that be singular can someone explain?

rey.fernandez wrote:

61. In Hungary, as in much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many of which are in middle management and light industry.

A. as in much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many of which are in
B. as with much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women works, many in
C. as in much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many of them in
D. like much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women works, and many are
E. like much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many are in

Is the OA in fact E, or is that your answer? E combines two independent clauses with a comma -- in other words, it's a comma splice. The two clauses are essentially "a proportion of women work" and "many are". In order to combine independent clauses, you need either a conjunction or a connecting punctuation mark such as a semicolon. For that reason, eliminate E.

Eliminate B and D because they use the singular verb "works," when in this context we want "proportion" to take on a plural verb. (The sentence emphasizes the many individual parts of the proportion, so "proportion" should be seen as a plural subject.)

Eliminate A because it uses the relative pronoun "which" to refer to people. Better to use "that" or "who" to refer to people. Also, it's simply too wordy compared to C.

I'd say go with C.