GPREP SC- 16

[abhasjha]

Part of the proposed increase in state education spending is due to higher enrollment, since the number of students in public schools have grown steadily since the mid-1980's and, at nearly 47 million, are at a record high.

A. enrollment, since the number of students in public schools have grown steadily
since the mid-1980's and, at nearly 47 million, are at

B. Enrollment, with a number of students in public schools growing steadily
since the mid-1980's and, at nearly 47 million, reaching.

C. Enrollment: since students in public schools have grown steadily in number
since the mid-1980's and, at nearly 47 million, have reached.

D. Enrollment: the number of students in public schools has grown steadily since
the mid-1980's and, at nearly 47 million, has reached.

E. Enrollment: students in public schools have grown steadily in number since
the mid-1980's and , at nearly 47million, are at

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Hi abhasjha,

This SC is based on one issue: making sure that the sentence has the correct NOUN in place, then choosing the correct verb to match.

1) Nouns: The intent of this sentence is that THE NUMBER of students has grown over time (not that the students themselves have physically grown). Eliminate B (stating "A NUMBER" is incorrect; the total number has grown), C and E.

2) Subject-Verb: Between answers A and D, we have the verbs "have" and "has." The number of students......has.... is correct. Eliminate A.

Final Answer: D

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

[tathastuGMAT]

Hi abhasjha,

Part of the proposed increase in state education spending is due to higher enrollment, since the number of students in public schools have grown steadily since the mid-1980's and, at nearly 47 million, are at a record high.

A. enrollment, since the number of students in public schools have grown steadily since the mid-1980's and, at nearly 47 million, are at
Wrong: subject-verb agreement error. "The number" requires a singular verb, "A number" requires a plural verb.

B. Enrollment, with a number of students in public schools growing steadily since the mid-1980's and, at nearly 47 million, reaching.
Wrong: since is a conjunction that expresses reason. The reason of increase in education spendig has already been given "higher enrollment". The author is trying to add some more informations on the matter. "with" is a weak subordinator and does not convey the author's idea properly. Moreover growing is ambiguous, given that -ing modifiers if not placed after a comma modify the preceding noun, "growing" may modify "schools", leading to a logical error.

C. Enrollment: since students in public schools have grown steadily in number since the mid-1980's and, at nearly 47 million, have reached.
Wrong: It seems to convey that students have grown in height. Not the intended meaning.

D. Enrollment: the number of students in public schools has grown steadily since the mid-1980's and, at nearly 47 million, has reached.
Correct: everything has been fixed.

E. Enrollment: students in public schools have grown steadily in number since the mid-1980's and , at nearly 47million, are at
Wrong: Same error as C.

-TathastuGMAT

[tathastuGMAT]

Hope it helps