Many psychologists and sociologists now contend that the deliberate an

A,B,C have S-V agreement errors

D) I don't think Likelihood for is correct usage

E) likelihood that X is a correct idiom ( likellyhood of X is also correct ofcourse)

E)

'likelihood of something happening(present continuous)' seems logical.

A and C use that form. C is better. Also it looks like dangerous and brutal aggression is used as a compound noun in this sentence even if aggression itself is singular. None of the other choices match with 'now contend' aspect of the sentence. If it were in the future, perhaps E would have been the better choice.

E

It has to start with INCREASES ..... therefore A, B & C are out.

likelihood for imitative violence to erupt is incorrect.
l

The subject here is singular – ‘aggression’.
Therefore, we need a singular verb which is ‘increases’.

We can easily eliminate Options A, B, and C based on this.

Between Options D and E, we can rule out D for the use of ‘for’ with likelihood which is unidiomatic. As scheol79 pointed out, ‘of’ and ‘that’ are idiomatic uses. Eliminate.

We are now left with Option E, which is the right option.

Hope this helps!

EASY: VERB NUMBER, IDIOMS



(A) increase the likelihood of imitative violence that erupts ------- Incorrect verb number. Here the subject is "aggression", which is a singular.


(B) increase the likelihood that there will be an eruption of imitative violence ------- Incorrect verb number. Here the subject is "aggression", which is a singular.


(C) increase the likelihood of imitative violence erupting ------- Incorrect verb number. Here the subject is "aggression", which is a singular.


(D) increases the likelihood for imitative violence to erupt ------- "likelihood + for" is unidiomatic. "likelihood + that" or "likelihood + of" would be correct.


(E) increases the likelihood that imitative violence will erupt --------- CORRECT

Many psychologists and sociologists now contend that the deliberate and even brutal aggression integral to some forms of competitive athletics increase the likelihood of imitative violence that erupts among crowds of spectators dominated by young adult males.

(A) increase the likelihood of imitative violence that erupts
1. increase - wrong, subject is singular.

(B) increase the likelihood that there will be an eruption of imitative violence
1. increase - wrong, subject is singular.
2. likely hood that there will be an eruption of imitative.. girbberish.

(C) increase the likelihood of imitative violence erupting
1. increase - wrong, subject is singular.
2. what's up with erupting?

(D) increases the likelihood for imitative violence to erupt
1. likelihood for - wrong. There might be a case where the usage correct, but not here.
for states the purpose/desire.
are we increasing the likely hood 'for' imitative violence? it alters meaning in the way it doesn't make sense.


(E) increases the likelihood that imitative violence will erupt
Sounds good.

Dear CrackverbalGMAT,
Isnt "likelihood" and "will" redundant in OptionE?

Can somebody please explain how, deliberate and brutal aggression is singular.

Is it because, deliberate and brutal are adjectives, and thats why it is singular.

All inputs are appreciated.

thanks

Nope.
An OA from GMAC:
Astronomers have developed a scale for rating the likelihood that a comet will collide with Earth.
Here, likelihood is combined with will, and there is no redundancy.
The reason:
The term likelihood refers not to a future value but to a CURRENT statistic.
For example:
There IS a 0.0001% chance that a comet WILL collide with Earth.
In other words:
The LIKELIHOOD that a comet will collide with Earth IS 0.0001%.
Even though the blue portion refers to a FUTURE event, the term likelihood describes a value calculated in the PRESENT.
Since likelihood refers to a current value, this term is not redundant with the future-tense verb will.

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