one of only eight

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one of only eight

by xcusemeplz2009 » Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:04 am
In June of 1989, Princeton Township approved a
developer's plans to build 300 houses on a large
portion of the 210-acre site of the Battle of Princeton,
one of only eight Revolutionary War battlefields
that had remained undeveloped

(A) one of only eight Revolutionary War
battlefields that had remained undeveloped.
(B) one of eight of the only Revolutionary War
battlefields that have remained undeveloped
(C) one of the only eight undeveloped Revolutionary
War battlefields that remains
(D) only one of eight Revolutionary War
battlefields to remain undeveloped
(E) only one of the eight remaining undeveloped
Revolutionary War battlefields

need to know reasons for eliminating the options

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by real2008 » Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:32 am
Is it D?

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by georgeung » Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:33 am
Since I don't know the OA, I'm going to assume it's A. This is a rough one, but even I have my doubts on A.

A: Everything looks right with this, but the "had remained" part makes me question if it is right, but it seems to be since the simple past tense was used for 1989 so it makes sense to use perfect past for the Revolutionary War.

B: "Have" is plural when a singular verb is needed for the word "one".

C: The tense, remains, is incorrect.

D: Only changes the meaning.

E: Only changes the meaning.

I'm going to be honest, I had choice A and E to choose from, but I chose A over E because of the reasons above.

OA?
Last edited by georgeung on Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

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by niraj_a » Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:41 am
i would choose A here.

the "only" needs to come before the noun / phrase it restricts. D and E are out easily by that rule. "Remains" in C should be "remain" for it to be correct. B is just plain wordy and awkward.

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by xcusemeplz2009 » Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:53 am
thanks george and niraj

OA is A

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Re: one of only eight

by GMATGuruNY » Thu Aug 13, 2020 12:18 pm
xcusemeplz2009 wrote:
Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:04 am
In June of 1989, Princeton Township approved a
developer's plans to build 300 houses on a large
portion of the 210-acre site of the Battle of Princeton,
one of only eight Revolutionary War battlefields
that had remained undeveloped

(A) one of only eight Revolutionary War
battlefields that had remained undeveloped.
(B) one of eight of the only Revolutionary War
battlefields that have remained undeveloped
(C) one of the only eight undeveloped Revolutionary
War battlefields that remains
(D) only one of eight Revolutionary War
battlefields to remain undeveloped
(E) only one of the eight remaining undeveloped
Revolutionary War battlefields
A: the 210-acre site of the Battle of Princeton, one of only eight Revolutionary War battlefields that had remained undeveloped
Conveyed meaning:
The Revolutionary War was fought on a large number of battlefields.
By 1989, some of these battlefields had already been developed.
As a result, there were ONLY EIGHT Revolutionary War battlefields that had remained undeveloped.

Since the intended meaning of the original sentence is that ONLY EIGHT of the battlefields had remained undeveloped -- and this meaning is logical -- eliminate any answer choice that distorts this meaning.
In B, D, and E only is not placed directly before eight.
As a result, the intended meaning is not conveyed.
Eliminate B, D and E.

In C, remains (singular) does not agree with battlefields (plural).
Eliminate C.

The correct answer is A.
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