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Human DNA

by komal » Mon Jan 25, 2010 2:22 am
１． According to scientists at the University of California, the pattern of changes that have occurred in human DNA over the millennia indicate the possibility that everyone alive today might be descended from a single female ancestor who lived in Africa sometime between 140,000 and 280,000 years ago.

(A) indicate the possibility that everyone alive today might be descended from a single female ancestor who

(B) indicate that everyone alive today might possibly be a descendant of a single female ancestor who had

(C) may indicate that everyone alive today has descended from a single female ancestor who had

(D) indicates that everyone alive today may be a descendant of a single female ancestor who

(E) indicates that everyone alive today might be a descendant from a single female ancestor who

It would be help if you could provide answers with explanations.

OA : E
Last edited by komal on Sat Jan 30, 2010 11:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by prinit » Mon Jan 25, 2010 9:58 am
My pick is A.

indicate is correctly pointing to the pattern of changes
descended from - correct Idiom usage
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by prinit » Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:02 am
My Bad...it should be D.

the pattern is singular...but i picked up changes...so the correct usage would be indicates

Also, got confused between descended from and descended of - the correct Idiom usage is descended of [/u]
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by sumanr84 » Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:22 am
My take is E.
descendant from is the correct Idiom.
Usage of might is proper here I guess..
May or Might?
"These words occupy different places on a continuum of possibility. May expresses likelihood {we may go to the party}, while might expresses a stronger sense of doubt {we might be able to go if our appointment is cancelled} or a contrary-to-fact hypothetical {we might have been able to go if George hadn't gotten held up} (Garner, The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style).

Refer : https://www.beatthegmat.com/might-vs-may-t9960.html
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by thephoenix » Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:46 am
it has to be E for three reasons
1) we need singular verb(indicates) to parallel singular sub(the pattern)
2) tense has to be past so might is correct
3) descendent from is correct idom
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by VikingWarrior » Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:14 am
�'． According to scientists at the University of California, the pattern of changes that have occurred in human DNA over the millennia indicate the possibility that everyone alive today might be descended from a single female ancestor who lived in Africa sometime between 140,000 and 280,000 years ago.

(A) indicate the possibility that everyone alive today might be descended from a single female ancestor who

(B) indicate that everyone alive today might possibly be a descendant of a single female ancestor who had

(C) may indicate that everyone alive today has descended from a single female ancestor who had

(D) indicates that everyone alive today may be a descendant of a single female ancestor who

(E) indicates that everyone alive today might be a descendant from a single female ancestor who


It would be help if you could provide answers with explanations.
subject is "the pattern" so correct verb is indicates thus ruling out A,B and C

Between D and E the only reasonable difference is descendant from vs descendant of.
As far as I know it is "descended from" and "descendant of" thus my answer is D
E would be correct if it were might have descended from...
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by Ludacrispat26 » Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:57 am
It's D:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/according-to- ... 85387.html
Don't stop believin'...
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by mgmt_gmat » Mon Jan 25, 2010 7:33 pm
IMO (D)...

Pattern of changes. Pattern is singular.... hence, indicates. Indicates that. That is necessary here.

Sentence should not be in passive mode. descended from and descended of is correct idiom.
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by tnguyen » Tue Jan 26, 2010 2:17 am
To take it further, let's say (d) and (e) both said "descendant of"...
would the better answer then be (d) because of MAY or (e) because of MIGHT?
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by gmat_perfect » Fri May 07, 2010 7:30 am
Some thoughts:
1. The pattern of changes INDICATES THAT...
=> This eliminate A and B.
2. The original sentence uses "INDICATE". It means there is not ambiguity in indicate. So we should not use "may indicate".
=> This eliminate C.
3. Since the sentence says, "alive today", we should not use might.
=> This eliminate E.
Answer is D.
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by Phirozz » Fri May 07, 2010 8:54 am
E is the correct answer.

might is past tense and it is correctly used here
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by ansumania » Sat May 08, 2010 5:54 am
hey got confused in between......

is "descendant of" or "descendant from" is the correct idiom?

I found evidences supporting both.....

Please clarify
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by sakali » Mon May 10, 2010 2:32 pm
ansumania wrote:hey got confused in between......

is "descendant of" or "descendant from" is the correct idiom?

I found evidences supporting both.....

Please clarify
The correct idiom usage:
Descend FROM
The great bankers never descend from their tower to deal with people like you and me

and

Descendant OF
Rebecca Smith, a descendant of the Austen family, said she was very pleased with the exhibition
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by prosaicblabber » Mon May 10, 2010 6:05 pm
Its (d)
i) Descendant from isn't correct idiom
ii) There's no need for a past tense here "might" . We are talking about
people alive today so "may" doesn't feel wrong here.
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by ansumania » Mon May 10, 2010 11:42 pm
sakali wrote:
ansumania wrote:hey got confused in between......

is "descendant of" or "descendant from" is the correct idiom?

I found evidences supporting both.....

Please clarify
The correct idiom usage:
Descend FROM
The great bankers never descend from their tower to deal with people like you and me

and

Descendant OF
Rebecca Smith, a descendant of the Austen family, said she was very pleased with the exhibition
hi,

here is a link which shows a sentence which uses the phrase "descendant from" .
https://hubpages.com/hub/Nearly-all-US-P ... l-Families
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