Minnesota is the only one of the

[tim]

i'd put this in the category of collective noun, which is something you'll want to study a little more about so you can see how it is correct in this case..

[rohitfolder]

Please Explain(this rule)
the only one of..
and
only one of..

Basic doubt:
"A higher interest rate is only one of the factor, albeit an important one, that keeps the housing market from spiralling out of control, like it did earlier in the decade." plural verb 'keep' is correct

"punjab is the only one of the 33 contiguous state that still has a sizeable wheat production" so here also have should be correct

PLease help me if any one can

[vikram4689]

"only one of the factorS"... this structure should have been present in your 1st sentence because when you say "<the> only one of the ___" then entity in the blank should be a plural entity otherwise "one of the" won't make sense at all.

Anyways, here is the rule:
only one of <plural> without that/who .... singular verb
only one of <plural> with that/who .... plural verb

the only one of <plural> without that/who .... singular verb
the only one of <plural> with that/who .... singular verb

[jlucero]

Please Explain(this rule)
the only one of..
and
only one of..

Basic doubt:
"A higher interest rate is only one of the factor, albeit an important one, that keeps the housing market from spiralling out of control, like it did earlier in the decade." plural verb 'keep' is correct

"punjab is the only one of the 33 contiguous state that still has a sizeable wheat production" so here also have should be correct

PLease help me if any one can

There's actually two separate issues in this construction:

1) Meaning:
A: Minnesota is the only one of the 50 states...
B: Minnesota is only one of 50 states...

A is talking about Minnesota being unique
B is saying Minnesota is like the other 50 states

2) S/V Agreement
A: Minnesota is the only one of the 50 states that IS X.
B: Minnesota is only one of 50 states that ARE Y.

A: Since we are talking about just Minnesota, we say that Minnesota is the only one that IS something.
B: Since we are talking about a characteristic of all 50 states in this example, we say that the 50 states ARE something.

[thanghnvn]

What is the diffrence between D and E.. Why is E right?

Is D incorrect because an article follows where?

(d) and (e) are both grammatically correct, but (d) is out because it contains a significant change in meaning.

if two or more sentences are grammatically correct, then you must pick the one whose meaning adheres most closely to the original meaning.
although the original is grammatically incorrect, its intended meaning is clear:
* minnesota is the only state where there is a sizable wolf population;
AND
* minnesota is the only state where the wolf is still the worst enemy of the sheep.

(e) preserves this meaning, while (d) does not.
the semicolon in (d) separates its meaning into two unrelated sentences; i.e., the part of (d) that follows the semicolon suggests that the wolf is still the archenemy of the sheep in general. this is almost exactly the opposite of the intended meaning, which is that minnesota is the only state where that's still true!

Thank you Ron. but I have one point to discuss

on sc, we normally face at least 2 choices which are grammatical. One of them is wrong because it has meaning problem. I see 3 cases?

- the meaning is not logic
like table, I like you. it should be : like you I like the table
- the meaning is further from the meaning of the original choice
- the meaning is distorted, USING COMMON SENSE TO REALIZE THIS DISTORTED MEANING.

the last case of 3 above cases is hardest.
I want to show the example of last case
if the above question is writen as ( we replace A with D) ,

Minnesota is the only one of the contiguous forty-eight states //where the population of wolves is still sizable;// this predator remains the archenemy of cattle and sheep.

D) where the population of wolves is still sizable;
(A) that still has a sizable wolf population, and where
(B) that still has a sizable wolf population, where
(C) that still has a sizable population of wolves, and where

(E) where there is still a sizable population of wolves and where

if the problem is writen above, the oa is still E. but in this case, the reason for choosing E is that , using common sense, E should be correct. D is both grammatical and logic but is distorted meaning in the context of original sentence and 5 choices.

is my thinking correct?

[RonPurewal]

if the above question is writen as ( we replace A with D) ,

the order of the answer choices shouldn't matter. i.e., it shouldn't matter which choice is option (a).
in general, there is only going to be one answer that is both correctly written and sensible.