An international group of more than 2,000 scientists

[rschunti]

An international group of more than 2,000 scientists project an average global warming that will be between 1.8 and 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2000.
A. project an average global warming that will be between 1.8 and
B. project an average global warming to be from 1.8 to
C. project global warming that will average between 1.8 and
D. projects global warming to average from 1.8 to
E. projects an average global warming of between 1.8 and

I was able to narrow down to two choices "D" and "E" based on subject("An international group") and verb ("projects") agreement. But Not able to coorectly identify errors and pinpoint the correct answer? Pls can you identyfy which one is correct and what errors wrong answer has?

[sheetal]

Is "of between" in (E) a valid construct ? Is this a prepositional phrase?

[RonPurewal]

Is "of between" in (E) a valid construct ? Is this a prepositional phrase?

well, d has two problems, at least:
- 'projects X to do Y' is unidiomatic. (you can just say 'projects NOUN', as is done in choice e, or you can say something like 'projects that X will do Y').
- an average is a single data point, so there's no such thing as 'averag[ing] from 1.8 to 6.3'. on the other hand, it's quite possible for a single data point to fall between two given values.

i've seen 'of between' in this sense before - think of the phrase 'between 1.8 and 6.3' as standing for a single number, and parse the sentence accordingly (it reads as if it said 'average g.w. of 5 degrees', for instance) - so, if the original poster has copied the problem correctly, we now know that the gmat accepts that construction.

[philip]

Can 'warming' be used as a countable noun? The Oxford dictionary says it's uncountable, while the Longman dictionary says it is 'singular', in which case the usage of 'a warming' can be possible, but sadly, the Longman does give any examples like this.

BTW, is my wording 'in which case' above acceptable in gmat? ;)

I am taking the test tomorrow, so I would really appreciate it if anyone could give a firm answer please. Thanks a lot!

[RonPurewal]

Can 'warming' be used as a countable noun? The Oxford dictionary says it's uncountable, while the Longman dictionary says it is 'singular', in which case the usage of 'a warming' can be possible, but sadly, the Longman does give any examples like this.

BTW, is my wording 'in which case' above acceptable in gmat? ;)

I am taking the test tomorrow, so I would really appreciate it if anyone could give a firm answer please. Thanks a lot!

i've never seen 'in which case' in an official problem, so i'd be suspicious of it. i can't think of an acceptable substitute in ten seconds or less, though, so ... maybe.

you can have 'an average global warming of x degrees', in the same way that you can have the following:
i really resented the removal of program x from my hard drive, a removal that caused many of my other programs to malfunction.

in both cases - removal and warming - the singular is absolutely required: you can't say 'removals' or 'warmings'. nevertheless, there are certain contexts in which articles may placed in front of them; these two are examples. you may be well advised just to memorize those examples.

[gmatprep14]

Hi Ron

Here is an Gmatprep problem using "in which case"

Until Berta and Ernst Scharrer established the concept of neurosecretion in 1928, scientists believed that either cells secreted hormones, which made them endocrine cells and thus part of the endocrine system, or conducted electrical impulses, in which case they were nerve cells and thus part of the nervous system.

(A) either cells secreted hormones, which made them
(B) either cells secreted hormones, making them
(C) either cells secreted hormones and were
(D) cells either secreted hormones, in which case they were
(E) cells either secreted hormones, which made them

Also dicussed earlier in this thread
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=7076&view=next

I know that a modifier beginning with "in which" is usually a noun modifier .
However this is not the case with "in which case" .

What do you make of it ? I guess a variation of usage of "in which"

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron

Here is an Gmatprep problem using "in which case"

Until Berta and Ernst Scharrer established the concept of neurosecretion in 1928, scientists believed that either cells secreted hormones, which made them endocrine cells and thus part of the endocrine system, or conducted electrical impulses, in which case they were nerve cells and thus part of the nervous system.

(A) either cells secreted hormones, which made them
(B) either cells secreted hormones, making them
(C) either cells secreted hormones and were
(D) cells either secreted hormones, in which case they were
(E) cells either secreted hormones, which made them

Also dicussed earlier in this thread
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=7076&view=next

I know that a modifier beginning with "in which" is usually a noun modifier .
However this is not the case with "in which case" .

What do you make of it ? I guess a variation of usage of "in which"

nice find.

this is a fundamentally separate construction. in general, "was the case" / "is the case" / etc. can stand for the whole idea of a clause, so i'd imagine that "in which case" probably has this sort of flexibility as well.

in the particular problem you've quoted, "in which case" is actually a really obvious choice, since it's parallel to another instance of "in which case" (in the non-underlined part).

in any case, it's clear that "in which case" does NOT function in the same way as "in which" (which would have to stand for "hormones" if it were placed in the same location). rather, it stands for the more general idea of the preceding words.

interesting.

[zhaoyu0319]

Why does "a group of 2000 scientists" take singular verb form "projects"? I remember what comes after "of prepositional phrase" determines the verb form. If that is correct, in this problem we will use "project" instead of "projects".

Can someone explain?

TIA,
Al

[rohit801]

Al,
In "a group of 2000 scientists"....what is the subject?
"of 2000...." is the Prepositional phrase and (2000 scientists) is the object of the preposition.
The subject is "A Group", which is singular.

Now, Be careful when you get into Relative Clauses, coz then the object of the preposition serves as the subject to the relative clause. What does this mean?

This is one of the things that bother/bothers me?

What is the subject of the relative clause 'that...me?'
Answer:Things..since it is the object of the prep..
So, verb should be bother. Don't get fooled by noticing that ONE is singular, so it should take a Singular verb. Well, yes it does as in - This IS ONE of the ......One is not the subject of the relative clause intorduced by 'that....'

Hope this helps...

[zhaoyu0319]

Thanks, rohit801, but I'm still confused. See the below correct sentence from GMATPrep.

In Hungary, as in much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many of them in middle management and light industry.

So why do we use "work" instead of "works"? What's the difference between "an proportion of" and "a group of"?

Thank you.

[rohit801]

This seems to be a quantifier issue [most, many etc]. EX:

1. Most of the people (is/are?)
2. Most of the water (is/are?)

Rule: quantifier + of + NOUN + verb. The NOUN determines whether the verb is singular/plural.

In 1), most refers to "people", which is a plural noun. So, verb should be ARE.
In 2) Most refers to Water (non countable quantity), hence, verb should be singular: IS.

So, overwhelming proportion of women=majority of women=most of the women.....should WORK.

That's my take. I guess, i'll stop here and let the experts chime in

[adiagr]

Thanks, rohit801, but I'm still confused. See the below correct sentence from GMATPrep.

In Hungary, as in much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many of them in middle management and light industry.

So why do we use "work" instead of "works"? What's the difference between "an proportion of" and "a group of"?

Thank you.

Hi,

One thing I am sure that in the question being discussed here, it is the work of the entire group that is being talked about. The entire group thus projects.

Now take another example:

The jury were divided in their opinions.

Here individual jury members are being talked about and therefore plural usage is correct.


Coming to your question,

an overwhelming proportion of women work,

Here empahsis is on individual participants and therefore plural usage is right here. Manhattan Gurus may throw more light.

But I would once again state that the given question (Group of scientist) is infact a very good example where a collective noun does work as a unit and therefore singular usage will be preferred.

[RonPurewal]

Why does "a group of 2000 scientists" take singular verb form "projects"? I remember what comes after "of prepositional phrase" determines the verb form. If that is correct, in this problem we will use "project" instead of "projects".

Can someone explain?

TIA,
Al

nope.

if you see the form "NOUN + prepositional phrase + VERB", then the singular/plural form of the verb is determined by the NOUN. the prepositional phrase is just an intervening modifier, which has zero effect on the grammar of the noun+verb.

the only exception occurs when the NOUN indicates some sort of proportion or fraction. (see below.)

--

on the other hand, if you see "noun + prepositional phrase + THAT + verb", then the issue is more complicated. but that doesn't happen here -- this is just "group + (of scientists) + VERB". so the subject of the verb is "group".

[RonPurewal]

Thanks, rohit801, but I'm still confused. See the below correct sentence from GMATPrep.

In Hungary, as in much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many of them in middle management and light industry.

So why do we use "work" instead of "works"? What's the difference between "an proportion of" and "a group of"?

Thank you.

this is the exception about which i wrote in the previous post.

if you see "X percent of NOUN", or "X proportion of NOUN", or "X fraction of NOUN", followed by a verb, than the singular/plural quality of the verb is determined by whatever the NOUN is.
this should totally make sense if you think about the context (i.e., don't just memorize -- actually think about the meaning of what you are saying) in the following sentences, both of which are correct:
1) half of the songs on this album have already been released on previous albums.
2) half of this album has already been played on several radio stations.

[RonPurewal]

The jury were divided in their opinions.

Here individual jury members are being talked about and therefore plural usage is correct.

this is correct, but, fortunately, no official problem has ever actually done this.
therefore, this sort of usage (a collective noun be used in the plural, because the sentence is emphasizing the individual, differentiated actions of the components of the group) is not something about which you should worry right now.

incidentally, the collective noun "the police" is actually plural: the police are coming to search the building for evidence (not "the police is coming"). there may be other such collective nouns, but this is the only one i can think of at the moment, in american english at least.