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The data being collected in the current geological survey are providing a strong warning for engineers as they consider the new dam project, but their greatest importance might lie in how they influence the upcoming decision by those same engineers on whether to retrofit 75 bridges in the survey zone.

The data being collected in the current geological survey are providing a strong warning for engineers as they consider the new dam project, but their greatest importance

The data being collected in the current geological survey provide a strong warning for engineers as they consider the new dam project, but its greatest importance

The data collected in the current geological survey is providing a strong warning for engineers as they consider the new dam project, but their greatest importance

The data collected in the current geological survey provides a strong warning for engineers in consideration of the new dam project, but its greatest importance

The data collected in the current geological survey provide a strong warning for engineers in consideration for the new dam project, but the greatest importance

OA after discussion.

aditya8062 · Answer

it has to be A ------> data is plural

coolmrityu · Answer

Yes OA is A.

But i have 2 doubts relating it.
1. How come THE DATA is plural?
2. In the sentence "THEIR greatest importance might lie in how THEY", the pronouns (Their and they) refer to THE DATA or ENGINEERS.

Pls. clarify.

aditya8062 · Answer

How come THE DATA is plural?

well data is plural coz "datum" is singular

In the sentence "THEIR greatest importance might lie in how THEY", the pronouns (Their and they) refer to THE DATA or ENGINEERS.

refers to "data"

ice_rush · Answer

it depends on the context of the sentence. data can be singular or plural, although it is considered singular by the vast majority of english speakers.

megamutter · Answer

From the excplanation above I don't really get wether "data" is plural or singular. But even without this knowledge you can approach this question:

It should be clear that no matter if data is singular or plural, it should be consistently handled through out the sentence. So you can eliminate answer choice B ("the data... PROVIDE... , but ITS") and C ("The data... IS..., but THEIR). So this doesn't work.

"the greatest importance" in answer choice E is subject by itself and dissorts the meaning, so it can be eliminated.

So we have to decide between A and D. Because "for engineers in consideration of" in D is akward and incorrect construction, pick A.

When I fírst solved this I went with B, mainly because I think the "they" in A is unclear to which antecendent it refers, If someone has an explenation, please go ahead. Also a clear excplanation when "data" is plural or singular would be greatly aprechiated.[/u][/quote]

Gowri@CrackVerbal · Answer

coolmrityu wrote:Yes OA is A.

But i have 2 doubts relating it.
1. How come THE DATA is plural?
2. In the sentence "THEIR greatest importance might lie in how THEY", the pronouns (Their and they) refer to THE DATA or ENGINEERS.

Pls. clarify.

You can get a clue to the fact that 'data' is plural from the non-underlined part of the sentence, which says: "how they influence the upcoming decision". Since the plural form 'they' is used here to refer to 'data', you should pick an option that maintains this consistency.

Coming to your second question: how do you know if this 'they' refers to 'data' or 'engineers'?
A pronoun is a substitute for a noun. Since you suspect that this 'they' is a substitute for 'engineers', try replacing it with this noun:
"how the engineers influence the upcoming decision by those same engineers on whether to do X"
Do you see how this makes little sense? (do you need to 'influence' your own decisions?

)

This is the thing with pronoun ambiguity - sometimes even OAs on the GMAT have ambiguous pronouns - so don't use pronoun ambiguity as an acid test to identify the right answer choice. Use it as a last resort!
Hope this helps.

Gowri N Kishore
Verbal Specialist & Mentor
CrackVerbal

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