Question on SC from the OG

[ani781]

Referring to the Manhattan SC guide book , it states in Chapter 3, in the "Indefinite Pronouns" .. that the SANAM pronouns may agree to both singular/plural depending on the usage... e.g.
Singular: Some of the money, was stolen.
Plural : Some of the documents, were stolen.

However, in the OG12th edition, SC Question#22 I came across a question. The issue is not with the underlined part... I am confused about the non underlined section and the usage of the Indefinite Pronoun "None"... here it goes:

None of the attempts to specify the causes of crime explains why most people exposed to the alleged causes do not commit crimes and, conversely, why so many of those not so exposed have.
While the answer is D)do ... , my Question is why NONE of the attempts.... EXPLAINS ... should it not be NONE of the attempts.. EXPLAIN ?


I am curious to know if there is any fault in my understanding, help is much appreciated.

[aircraft]

IMO there is no real grammatical rule that fits here. In this case "none" means not one like in not a single [attempt explains...]. I know, nobody in this forum wants to see this, but in this case I really have to say it's kind of a "gut instinct".

Also at the bottom of the page of the MGMAT SC it says:
Technically, none of + plural noun can take either a singular or a plural verb form.

Thus, both would be possible.

[aaggar7]

Hi Ani781,

I think this is great catch.Experts please help us to understand the concept for SANAM rule