Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before : Sentence Correction (EA only)

G

mikemcgarry

Magoosh GMAT Instructor

Joined: 28 Dec 2011

Posts: 4448

Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before [#permalink]

03 Dec 2012, 12:20

1

Kudos

25

Bookmarks

Expert Reply

00:00

A

B

C

D

E

Difficulty:

25% (medium)

Question Stats:

66% (00:59) correct

34% (01:08) wrong

based on 1538 sessions

Hide Show timer Statistics

Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. Grant were so singularly unsuccessful against Robert E Lee are debated about in no less than five hundred historically oriented journals.
(A) are debated about in no less than
(B) are debated in no less than
(C) is debated about in no fewer than
(D) is debated in no fewer than
(E) is debated in no less than

See a full discussion of the grammar involved at:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/substantiv ... -the-gmat/

Show Answer

Official Answer

Official Answer and Stats are available only to registered users. Register/Login.

_________________

Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test Prep

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)

Signature Read More

request expert reply

G

mikemcgarry

Magoosh GMAT Instructor

Joined: 28 Dec 2011

Posts: 4448

Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before [#permalink]

07 Jan 2013, 18:34

5

Kudos

9

Bookmarks

Expert Reply

Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. Grant were so singularly unsuccessful against Robert E Lee are debated about in no less than five hundred historically oriented journals.
(A) are debated about in no less than
(B) are debated in no less than
(C) is debated about in no fewer than
(D) is debated in no fewer than
(E) is debated in no less than

For a complete discussion of substantive clauses (a.k.a nominal clauses, a.k.a noun clauses) ---including the very tricky issue of noun-clauses and subject-verb agreement --- as well as a full explanation of this particular question, see this blog:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/substantiv ... -the-gmat/

Mike :-)

_________________

Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test Prep

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)

Signature Read More

tia2112

Intern

Joined: 16 Aug 2013

Posts: 38

Concentration: Finance, Real Estate

Schools: Haas '18 (S) Wharton '18 Kenan-Flagler '18 CBS '18 (D) HBS '18 Booth '18 Kellogg '18 Stanford '18 Sloan '18 Stern '18 Yale '18 Ross '18 (II) CBS

GPA: 3.73

WE:Analyst (Consulting)

Why the various Generals of the Army [#permalink]

17 May 2015, 09:05

3

Kudos

4

Bookmarks

Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. Grant were so singularly unsuccessful against Robert E Lee are debated about in no less than five hundred historically oriented journals.

a)are debated about in no less than
b)are debated in no less than
c)is debated about in no fewer than
d)is debated in no fewer than
e)is debated in no less than

L

carcass

Board of Directors

Joined: 01 Sep 2010

Posts: 4378

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac [#permalink]

Updated on: 05 Dec 2012, 09:57

Clearly fewer refers to journals that are countable

C is ackward and not fluent

D it is

Ciao Mike
_________________

COLLECTION OF QUESTIONS AND RESOURCES
Quant: 1. ALL GMATPrep questions Quant/Verbal 2. Bunuel Signature Collection - The Next Generation 3. Bunuel Signature Collection ALL-IN-ONE WITH SOLUTIONS 4. Veritas Prep Blog PDF Version 5. MGMAT Study Hall Thursdays with Ron Quant Videos
Verbal:1. Verbal question bank and directories by Carcass 2. MGMAT Study Hall Thursdays with Ron Verbal Videos 3. Critical Reasoning_Oldy but goldy question banks 4. Sentence Correction_Oldy but goldy question banks 5. Reading-comprehension_Oldy but goldy question banks

Signature Read More

Originally posted by carcass on 03 Dec 2012, 12:59.
Last edited by carcass on 05 Dec 2012, 09:57, edited 1 time in total.

mbacrazeddude666

Manager

Joined: 05 May 2011

Posts: 64

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac [#permalink]

03 Dec 2012, 14:25

1

Kudos

mikemcgarry wrote:

Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. Grant were so singularly unsuccessful against Robert E Lee are debated about in no less than five hundred historically oriented journals.
(A) are debated about in no less than
(B) are debated in no less than
(C) is debated about in no fewer than
(D) is debated in no fewer than
(E) is debated in no less than

See a full discussion of the grammar involved at:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/substantiv ... -the-gmat/

Why X were so singularly successful against Y IS blah blah. Therefore "are" is incorrect and hence A & B are out.

C - "Is debated about" is unidiomatic, wordy and just plain awkward

E - "is debated in no less than" is incorrect since we are using numbers (five hundred) so "fewer" is preferred.

D is the only remaining choice that fixes all the errors.

nanishora

Intern

Joined: 20 Aug 2012

Posts: 41

Schools: Jones '15

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac [#permalink]

03 Dec 2012, 14:27

1

Bookmarks

Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. Grant were so singularly unsuccessful against Robert E Lee are debated about in no less than five hundred historically oriented journals.
(A) are debated about in no less than should be singular is instead of are
(B) are debated in no less than should be singular is instead of are
(C) is debated about in no fewer than debated about is unidiomatic. should be debated
(D) is debated in no fewer than Correct!!!
(E) is debated in no less thanless should not be used with countable quantity

IMO, answer is D.

S

aim730

Manager

Joined: 20 Apr 2010

Posts: 169

WE 1: 4.6 years Exp IT prof

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac [#permalink]

04 Dec 2012, 08:53

1

Kudos

Subject Verb error :
is/are -- "is" is correct as the subject is Singular. This cancels option A and B
less/ fewer -- "fewer" is to be used in case of countable quantity. This cancels option E
We are now left with C and D.

Debated about could be unidiomatic or awkward construction. Hence the incorrect choice.
The choice D conveys the correct meaning.
Hence D is correct

vickymancer07

Intern

Joined: 18 Dec 2012

Posts: 21

Location: Singapore

Concentration: Strategy, Entrepreneurship

GMAT 1: 620 Q48 V27

WE:Supply Chain Management (Energy and Utilities)

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army before Grant [#permalink]

07 Jan 2013, 20:41

1

Kudos

I go with (C) , though I still wonder the need for "about"

G

mikemcgarry

Magoosh GMAT Instructor

Joined: 28 Dec 2011

Posts: 4448

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army before Grant [#permalink]

07 Jan 2013, 23:15

Expert Reply

vickymancer07 wrote:

I go with (C) , though I still wonder the need for "about"

What is your logic for picking (C) over (D)?
_________________

Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test Prep

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)

Signature Read More

vickymancer07

Intern

Joined: 18 Dec 2012

Posts: 21

Location: Singapore

Concentration: Strategy, Entrepreneurship

GMAT 1: 620 Q48 V27

WE:Supply Chain Management (Energy and Utilities)

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army before Grant [#permalink]

08 Jan 2013, 00:11

Hi Mike,

With my initial round of POE , it was either (C) or (D) but I was not sure whether to go for "Debate"or "Debate about".

From your blog I just read that "debate about"is awkward and not idiomatic , so then its (D)

Cheers!

L

carcass

Board of Directors

Joined: 01 Sep 2010

Posts: 4378

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army before Grant [#permalink]

08 Jan 2013, 07:33

1

Kudos

I like this sentence with multiple modifiers.

Basically the key words is generals so plural and this can lead us to think "are" but is misleading.

hre we are talking about a question so the right verb is \("is"\)

Then we have to take in account generals so fewer (countable) and C is ackward

D is the best

_________________

COLLECTION OF QUESTIONS AND RESOURCES
Quant: 1. ALL GMATPrep questions Quant/Verbal 2. Bunuel Signature Collection - The Next Generation 3. Bunuel Signature Collection ALL-IN-ONE WITH SOLUTIONS 4. Veritas Prep Blog PDF Version 5. MGMAT Study Hall Thursdays with Ron Quant Videos
Verbal:1. Verbal question bank and directories by Carcass 2. MGMAT Study Hall Thursdays with Ron Verbal Videos 3. Critical Reasoning_Oldy but goldy question banks 4. Sentence Correction_Oldy but goldy question banks 5. Reading-comprehension_Oldy but goldy question banks

Signature Read More

umeshpatil

Manager

Joined: 31 May 2012

Posts: 103

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army before Grant [#permalink]

08 Jan 2013, 21:08

1

Kudos

mikemcgarry wrote:

Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. Grant were so singularly unsuccessful against Robert E Lee are debated about in no less than five hundred historically oriented journals.
(A) are debated about in no less than
(B) are debated in no less than
(C) is debated about in no fewer than
(D) is debated in no fewer than
(E) is debated in no less than

"Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. Grant were so singularly unsuccessful against Robert E Lee" is a single fact and should proceed with singular verb is. Eliminating A,B

As five hundred is countable number, So, we can't use less than. Eliminate E.

Between C & D, Usage debated in is correct as we are only referring the time. So, Option D looks correct.

Bluelagoon

Manager

Joined: 21 Jan 2010

Posts: 193

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before [#permalink]

27 Aug 2013, 10:34

2

Kudos

mikemcgarry wrote:

Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. Grant were so singularly unsuccessful against Robert E Lee are debated about in no less than five hundred historically oriented journals.
(A) are debated about in no less than
(B) are debated in no less than
(C) is debated about in no fewer than
(D) is debated in no fewer than
(E) is debated in no less than

For a complete discussion of substantive clauses (a.k.a nominal clauses, a.k.a noun clauses) ---including the very tricky issue of noun-clauses and subject-verb agreement --- as well as a full explanation of this particular question, see this blog:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/substantiv ... -the-gmat/

Mike :-)

subject is singular + historical journals can be counted. In C about and in both are prepositions. That's incorrect, we want a noun phrase after a preposition. This eliminates C. D wins.

gmatter0913

Manager

Joined: 12 Mar 2010

Posts: 219

Concentration: Marketing, Entrepreneurship

GMAT 1: 680 Q49 V34

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before [#permalink]

27 Aug 2013, 22:05

Picked C over D. I knew "debate about" is the idiom.

With this I got a silly question - Do I say "I knew "debate about" was/is the idiom". Because the truth of the idiom still holds in present. :?:

happyinlove505

Manager

Joined: 25 Mar 2013

Posts: 52

WE:Project Management (Telecommunications)

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before [#permalink]

27 Aug 2013, 22:54

1

Kudos

Chose C and it's wrong

eliminated A and B because of "are"
eliminated E because of "less"

had to choose between C and D, but did not know which one is right.

sadovskiya

Intern

Joined: 12 Feb 2013

Status:I'm trying to GMAT?

Posts: 19

Location: United States

Concentration: Finance, General Management

GMAT Date: 06-22-2013

WE:Engineering (Consulting)

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac [#permalink]

28 Nov 2013, 09:53

aim730 wrote:

Subject Verb error :
is/are -- "is" is correct as the subject is Singular. This cancels option A and B
less/ fewer -- "fewer" is to be used in case of countable quantity. This cancels option E
We are now left with C and D.

Debated about could be unidiomatic or awkward construction. Hence the incorrect choice.
The choice D conveys the correct meaning.
Hence D is correct

I had the right answer by eliminating the less/ fewer option, but what is the subject of this sentence? Can't spot it.

G

mikemcgarry

Magoosh GMAT Instructor

Joined: 28 Dec 2011

Posts: 4448

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac [#permalink]

29 Nov 2013, 12:31

1

Kudos

Expert Reply

sadovskiya wrote:

I had the right answer by eliminating the less/ fewer option, but what is the subject of this sentence? Can't spot it.

Dear sadovskiya,
I'm happy to respond. :-)

The subject is hard to spot because the main subject of the sentence is not an individual noun, but an entire clause. This is called a "substantive clause" --- sometimes also called a "noun clause" or a "relative nominal clause". This is a kind of clause that can act in the role of a noun and hence be the subject of the sentence.

See this blog for a full explanation:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/substantiv ... -the-gmat/

Mike :-)

_________________

Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test Prep

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)

Signature Read More

Ajax1

Manager

Joined: 28 Nov 2013

Posts: 68

Concentration: General Management

GMAT 1: 760 Q49 V46

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before [#permalink]

29 Nov 2013, 22:09

'Is' brings me down to C, D, and E. 'Fewer' brings me down to C and D. Never heard of 'debated about', so D it is!

honchos

Senior Manager

Joined: 17 Apr 2013

Status:Verbal Forum Moderator

Posts: 361

Location: India

GMAT 1: 710 Q50 V36

GMAT 2: 750 Q51 V41

GMAT 3: 790 Q51 V49

GPA: 3.3

Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. [#permalink]

15 Sep 2014, 16:40

2

Bookmarks

Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. Grant were so singularly unsuccessful against Robert E Lee are debated about in no less than five hundred historically oriented journals.

are debated about in no less than
are debated in no less than
is debated about in no fewer than
is debated in no fewer than
is debated in no less than

honchos

Senior Manager

Joined: 17 Apr 2013

Status:Verbal Forum Moderator

Posts: 361

Location: India

GMAT 1: 710 Q50 V36

GMAT 2: 750 Q51 V41

GMAT 3: 790 Q51 V49

GPA: 3.3

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. [#permalink]

15 Sep 2014, 16:41

Noun Clause is The Subject here!

gmatclubot

Re: Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before Ulysses S. [#permalink]

15 Sep 2014, 16:41

GMAT Sentence Correction (EA only) Questions

Why the various Generals of the Army of the Potomac before

GMAT Question Banks