Though the term "graphic design" may suggest laying out corporate

Hi there,

Though the term "graphic design" may suggest laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, they have come to signify widely ranging work, from package designs and company logotypes to signs, book jackets, computer graphics, and film titles.

Notice the word "may" before "suggest" that fall in the non-underlined portion of the sentence. With "may", "can", "will", we can only use "plural" verb. Hence, even if "term" is singular, because of presence of "may" the verb followed by it must be a plural verb. Hence, option E can be eliminated right away on this basis as use of singular "has" is incorrect after "may".

Here is the detailed solution of this question:



Marker though suggests the sentence presents a contrast. “Graphic design” may be thought of as designing corporate brochures and annual reports. However, it encompasses a wide range of work including package design, company logotypes, signs, book jackets, computer graphics and film titles.



• Pronoun error – plural “they” is a wrong referent for singular “term”.

POE:

Choice A: suggest laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, they have come to signify widely ranging: Incorrect for the reason stated above.

Choice B: suggest laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, it has come to signify a wide range of: Correct.

Choice C: suggest corporate brochure and annual report layout, it has signified a widely ranging: Incorrect.
a. Per the intended meaning, this term has come to signify or has evolved to signify all scopes of graphic design.
i. Intended meaning – Although term was meant to do X, it has now evolved to do A,B,C
b. Meaning per choice C – Although term was meant to describe X, it does A,B,C.
c. For example:
i. Per Choice A - Although Mark Z originally created facebook to communicate with his friends, it has evolved as the preferred medium for people worldwide to share their viewpoints.
ii. Per Choice D - Although Mark Z may have created facebook to communicate with his friends, it is the preferred medium for people worldwide to share their viewpoints.
d. Meaning has been changed by changing “has come to do X” to “does X”. This removes the intended meaning of “evolution”.

Choice D: have suggested corporate brochure and annual report layout, it has signified a wide range of: Incorrect. Similar meaning distortion error as in Choice C.

Choice E: has suggested laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, they have come to signify widely ranging: Incorrect. Use of singular "has" is incorrect after "may". Plural “they” is a wrong referent for singular “term”.

PS: This question is in OG Verbal Review 2 and answer choice E reads "have suggested..." unlike the answer choice E written by the original poster that reads "has suggested...".



1. Pronouns must agree in number with their antecedents.
2. The correct answer should communicate the intended meaning.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha