Commuters

[eaakbari]

A majority of railway commuters reads or listens to music while travelling

This statement is given correct by SC guide but I just feel it should be

A majority of railway commuters read or listen to music while travelling



Am i wrong?

[akhpad]

I will also say that verb should be plural in this case.

[electrico]

Here, A majority of railway commuters does not refer to the totality of the railway commuters.

If the sentence is like - The railway commuters - in this case, the subject is plural.

[akhpad]

Details are here

https://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/e ... f-quantity

[arpita@gurome]

Majority is one of those words that can be either singular or plural.
When majority refers to a collection of individuals , " railway commuters" in this case, it should be treated as plural and the verb should be plural, "read" or "listen".

When majority refers to a collective group then it should be treated as singular.
E.g. A 85% majority is opposed to a 6-day working week.

A word of caution: GMAT prefers to go with the singular in many of these cases.