Topsoil plant

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Topsoil plant

by jain2016 » Fri Dec 18, 2015 8:38 am
The Plantation owners are a worried lot because the rains are just around the corner and neither the topsoil has arrived nor have the plants.

A)neither the topsoil has arrived nor have the plants

B) neither the topsoil has arrived nor the plants

C) neither the topsoil nor the plants has arrived

D) neither of the topsoil or plants has arrived

E) neither has the topsoil nor the plants have arrived

OAA

Hi Experts ,

Please explain.

Thanks,

SJ

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by jain2016 » Sat Dec 19, 2015 8:34 am
Hi Experts ,

Please put some light on this.

Thanks,

SJ

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by jain2016 » Mon Dec 21, 2015 9:47 pm
Hi Experts ,

Please reply on this.

Many thanks in advance.

SJ

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by gmat_boss » Thu Dec 24, 2015 5:32 pm
My suggestion to the poster is "please practice only official problems because in the exams problem in that patterns will be tested."

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by theCodeToGMAT » Sun Dec 27, 2015 11:44 pm
Kindly suggest the source of the problem.
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by jain2016 » Tue Dec 29, 2015 10:26 pm
Hi Code ,

The source is Aristotle SC .

Kindly explain.

Thanks,

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by theCodeToGMAT » Tue Dec 29, 2015 10:49 pm
Observations - the sentence has neither X nor Y construct so both X Y should be parallel

{A} - X & Y are not parallel; INCORRECT
{B} - We can only assume missing verb only if that verb is already present in the main sentence. "have" is not. INCORRECT
{C} - As per the rule, verb has to be used as per the nearest noun. So we need "have"; INCORRECT
{D} - X & Y are not parallel; INCORRECT
{E} - X & Y are not parallel; INCORRECT

I see problem with all the answer choices.
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by GMATGuruNY » Wed Dec 30, 2015 11:09 pm
jain2016 wrote:The Plantation owners are a worried lot because the rains are just around the corner and neither the topsoil has arrived nor have the plants.

A)neither the topsoil has arrived nor have the plants

B) neither the topsoil has arrived nor the plants

C) neither the topsoil nor the plants has arrived

D) neither of the topsoil or plants has arrived

E) neither has the topsoil nor the plants have arrived
neither X nor Y must serve to connect PARALLEL FORMS.

A: neither the topsoil...nor have
Here, the topsoil (noun) and have (verb) are not parallel forms.
E: neither has...nor the plants
Here, has (verb) and the plants (noun) are not parallel forms.
Eliminate A and E.

A clause includes both a SUBJECT and a VERB.
neither may not followed by a clause.
B: neither the topsoil has arrived
Here, neither is incorrectly followed by a clause.
Eliminate B.

A verb attributed to neither X nor Y must agree with Y.
C: neither the topsoil nor the plants has arrived
Here, has arrived (singular) does not agree with the plants (plural).
Eliminate C.

In D, neither...or is unidiomatic.
Eliminate D.

None of the answer choices is viable.
Ignore this SC.
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by theCodeToGMAT » Wed Dec 30, 2015 11:17 pm
Hi Mitch,

In "Neither X nor Y", both X & Y should strictly be only nouns? As you mentioned, they cannot be clauses.

Does the same implies for either X or Y and other such forms?
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by GMATGuruNY » Sat Jan 02, 2016 10:59 pm
theCodeToGMAT wrote:Hi Mitch,

In "Neither X nor Y", both X & Y should strictly be only nouns? As you mentioned, they cannot be clauses.
neither may be followed by a noun, a verb or a modifier:
Neither A SMILE nor A TEAR appeared on John's face.
John neither LAUGHED nor CRIED.
John was neither HAPPY nor SAD.

neither may NOT followed by a clause.
Does the same implies for either X or Y and other such forms?
In less formal settings, either may followed by a clause:
Either John will bring cookies, or Mary will bake a cake.
To my knowledge, no OA has employed this sort of construction, so I would be skeptical of an answer choice in which either is followed by a clause.
Generally -- just like neither -- either should be followed by a noun, a verb or a modifier.
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