Whether looking for food

[amb2512]

Whether looking for food, finding a nest, or defending the group,the maternal copy of Nesp55 may encourage the mice to take more risks on behalf of the group when doing such activities.

I have a doubt about this sentence ....... isn't underline portion a modifier......

[esledge]

Yes, it is a modifier. Do you have some question about its use?

[hamza6]

The maternal copy of Nesp55 may encourage the mice to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or defending the group.

A. The maternal copy of Nesp55 may encourage the mice to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or defending the group.
B. Whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or acting in the defense of the group, the mice may be encouraged by the maternal copy of Nesp55 to take more risks on behalf of the group.
C. The maternal copy of Nesp55 encourages mice to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or the defense of the group.
D. Whether looking for food, finding a nest, or defending the group, the maternal copy of Nesp55 may encourage the mice to take more risks on behalf of the group when doing such activities.
E. The mice may be encouraged by the maternal copy of Nesp55 to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or acting in the defense of the group.

I agree there are errors in each that lead to the correct answer, but my query is relating to the use of risks and then risk
...To take more risks.....whether that risk involves...
Please elaborate how this use is right.

[RonPurewal]

The maternal copy of Nesp55 may encourage the mice to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or defending the group.

A. The maternal copy of Nesp55 may encourage the mice to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or defending the group.
B. Whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or acting in the defense of the group, the mice may be encouraged by the maternal copy of Nesp55 to take more risks on behalf of the group.
C. The maternal copy of Nesp55 encourages mice to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or the defense of the group.
D. Whether looking for food, finding a nest, or defending the group, the maternal copy of Nesp55 may encourage the mice to take more risks on behalf of the group when doing such activities.
E. The mice may be encouraged by the maternal copy of Nesp55 to take more risks on behalf of the group, whether that risk involves looking for food, finding a nest, or acting in the defense of the group.

I agree there are errors in each that lead to the correct answer, but my query is relating to the use of risks and then risk
...To take more risks.....whether that risk involves...
Please elaborate how this use is right.

nice find. we'll have to place this one under review.

there's also a second problem: the correct answer says "THE mice", which doesn't make sense (there are no previously specified mice). it should just say "mice".

these are minor fixes, so we should have a new version up soon.

[devenh]

Even though answer A sounded better to me I chose answer C for this question because I was trying to obey the laws of structure. Since "the maternal copy of Nesp55" is singular I thought the singular verb "encourages" was needed. However, after getting this question wrong I did some more research and the reason answer A is correct even though it uses the verb "encourage" is because there is a helper verb making up part of the entire verb portion:

"The maternal copy of Nesp55 may encourage ..."

Some information I have gathered from the internet tells me that helper verbs include verbs such as: may, might, would, ought to, could, should, shall, be, have, can, and do.

My question is:
Is there any rule for how we are supposed to conjugate the verb after a helper verb? I'm not too worried about helper verbs such as have and be because these are used for different tenses which we study for the GMAT (progressive, perfect, passive). But, when I'm in the mind set of looking for subjects and verbs and checking if they agree I get tripped up by helper verbs such as may, might, can, shall that force me to change the way I would normally conjugate the verb.

Thanks for all of your help thus far!

[tim]

I’m not sure whether this is always true or just true most of the time, but I think it’s safe to say that after a helping verb you just place the infinitive form of the verb minus the "to". Hope this helps, and please post any counterexamples if you find them..