Kaplan 800 SC question

[sanjana]

A group of students who have begun to clean up Fredrick Law Olmsted's Morninside park in New york City Believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but to be returned to its former condition

a)Believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but to
b)believe that the park needs not to be redesigned but to
c)Believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but could
d)Believe that the park needs to be not redesigned but to
e)Believe that the park needs not to be redesigned but that it

OA : A

I am not convinced as to why the answer is not B. A group of students believe sounds right to me rather than a group of students believes

Explaination given in Kaplan :
The subject is group,which is singular ,so the main verb has to be believes.

Can someone explain?

Thanks!

[sunnyjohn]

I think the answer should be A.

A group of students : What is the Subject here ?

Trick to find subject : should be before "of" in this kind of preposition clause.

so it is confirmed that "Group" is the subject, which is singular, so we need to use "believeS".

Another way to help u understand is:

All the students of group are thinking same, so its kind of unity...so they all are acting as single entity, hence singular.

[capnx]

I am not convinced as to why the answer is not B. A group of students believe sounds right to me rather than a group of students believes


Can someone explain?

Thanks!

if you want to beat the GMAT you have to go with what's grammatically correct instead of what sounds right. The exam is designed to fool you in many ways, including your ear.

Ask yourself, what's the subject and predicate of that sentence?
A group of students...believe(s) that...

so, is the subject "a group" or "students"?

group - it's a collective noun and it's singular and it's the subject here.

a group of students, a flock of geese, a school of fish... these are all singular

[mruzeful]

Then, someone please explain what is correct:

1.
a)A number of students are playing..
b)A number of students is playing..

2.
a)The number of students is high
b)The number of students are high

3.
a)A majority of guys are singing
b)A majority of guys is singing
-also I doubt whether using 'a' before majority is correct usage.

I yes, then what is the right usage for

4.
a)Majority of documents are missing
b)Majority of documents is missing

5.
a)Group of people are decent
b)Group of people is decent

[mruzeful]

According Manhattan rules..

The answers are :
1.
a)A number of students are playing

2.
a)The number of students is high

3.
b)A majority of guys is singing

4.
b)Majority of documents is missing

5.
b)Group of people is decent


Can someone shed some light on whether the above answers are correct ?

[KapTeacherEli]

Remember, when dealing with collective nouns such as "group," "collection," or "class," we let the collective noun-- a group, a collection--determine the verb. Therefore, "A group....believes" is correct.

"of students who have begun..." is a modifying phrase describing "a group," and not is not itself the subject of the sentence.

From there, we must have parallel structure. "Not A but B" always has to have similar grammatical form in both halves; therefore, "not to be....but to be..." is correct.

[mruzeful]

Eli, could you please suggest the correct answers for the five questions mentioned in my earlier post..

[KapTeacherEli]

Eli, could you please suggest the correct answers for the five questions mentioned in my earlier post..

Number and Group you got correct--the former takes a plural in most cases, but the latter pretty much always goes singular on the gmat.

Majority is a sticky wicket, however. Here's what the American Heritage Dictionary has to say:

https://dictionary.reference.com/browse/majority

Or, in other words, Majority by itself can be singular, but "Majority of X" usually takes a plural.