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A recent national study of the public schools shows that [#permalink] New post 13 Jul 2011, 12:00
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A recent national study of the public schools shows that there are now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many than there were four years ago.
(A) there are now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many than there were
(B) there is now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many than there were
(C) there is now one microcomputer for every thirty-two pupils, four times as many as there were
(D) every thirty-two pupils now have one micro-computer, four times as many than there were
(E) every thirty-two pupils now has one microcom¬puter, four times as many as


Which subject(s) do agree with is and were
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Re: Subject - Verb Agreemnet [#permalink] New post 13 Jul 2011, 12:20
"Is" definitely modifies "one computer". But I think sentence is bit ambiguous: "what does four times as many as.." modify? Is it referring to the improvement of the situation in which more computers are shared among fewer people, or worsening the situation in which people are four times to share one computer, implying less computers among more people. In any case, "were" sounds better in the sentence in comparison to the closest alternative "was". Could this be because it is an hypothetical situation?
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Re: Subject - Verb Agreemnet [#permalink] New post 13 Jul 2011, 15:16
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sgupta0827 wrote:
"Is" definitely modifies "one computer". But I think sentence is bit ambiguous: "what does four times as many as.." modify? Is it referring to the improvement of the situation in which more computers are shared among fewer people, or worsening the situation in which people are four times to share one computer, implying less computers among more people. In any case, "were" sounds better in the sentence in comparison to the closest alternative "was". Could this be because it is an hypothetical situation?


Yes, one microcomputer "is"...

The way to read the "four times as many as there were" part is to read the first part as:

"one micro computer for every 32 pupils"

translate to: 1 out of 32

"four times as many as there were"

translate to: 1/32 = 4 times (some number)

In other words, the sentence is implying the ratio was 1 / (32*4) = 1 / (128) four years ago.

No need to do the math, of course--but that's basically what the sentence is implying.
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Re: Subject - Verb Agreemnet [#permalink] New post 14 Jul 2011, 06:15
The flipped sentence will read as ‘one micro computer is there for every thirty-two pupils’ – so ‘one’ is the subject and the verb should be ‘is

Step 2. –‘as many as’ is the right idiom - . - C is the right answer
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Re: Subject - Verb Agreemnet   [#permalink] 14 Jul 2011, 06:15
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