Part of the proposed increase in state education spending is due to hi

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that the number of students in public schools has grown steadily since the mid-1980s and has reached a record high of 47 million.

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Meaning + Grammatical Construction + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• Semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses; commas are used to link an independent clause with a dependent one; commas cannot be used to join two independent clauses.
• Colons are used to join two independent clauses when the second explains or illustrates the first.

A: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "number" with the plural verbs "have reached" and "are".

B: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "with a number of students in public schools growing steadily"; the construction of this phrase illogically implies that the students themselves have been growing steadily; the intended meaning is that the students have been growing steadily in number.

C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the construction "colon + conjunction ("since" in this case)" to join the independent clauses "Part of the proposed increase...enrollment" and "students in public schools have grown steadily in number...high"; remember, semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses. Further, Option C uses the needlessly wordy and indirect phrase "students in public schools have grown steadily in number", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the singular noun "number" with the singular verbs "has reached" and "have reached". Further, Option D uses the phrase "the number of students"; the construction of this phrase conveys the intended meaning - that the students have been growing steadily in number. Additionally, Option D correctly uses a colon to join the independent clauses "Part of the proposed increase...enrollment" and "the number of students in public schools has grown steadily...high"; remember, colons are used to join two independent clauses when the second explains or illustrates the first. Besides, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

E: This answer choice uses the needlessly wordy and indirect phrase "have grown steadily in number", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

To understand the use of punctuation on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~10 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

in the above question we have verb agreement and parallelism error

choice a is out since the number doesn't agree with plural verb have
choice d is parallel has grown vs has reached and also concise when compared with other choices

so my choice is D

Option D has a serious error, students should be plural with an s appended to the end, instead it is presented in a singular form, making the sentence more awkwardly sounding. I seriously don't think this is the kind of a common GMAT trap, if so, GMAT is stooping low. Anyhow, if this is just a human error by the person who posed the question, then it is fine and D should be the answer.

Otherwise, if that's how the option is, then E should be the answer.

There is no mistake in D as it is.
"The number of" is Singular. So it needs a singular "Student".
If it was "a number of" then "students" will be the correct usage.
Hence D is correct.

Note this rule -

We use a singular verb with the phrase "the number of".
e.g -- The number of club members has increased this year.

We use a plural verb with the phrase "a number of".
e.g -- A number of students were absent today.

As you see, "the number of students" is the correct form.

there is obvious mistake of "the number of student" ...
but there is another mistake..which is a typo in the ques itself.. please see the link at MGMAt forums for the same ques...the correct ans is D..

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/par ... t2450.html

PS: kudos please of you like my post...

regarding choice B.
whenever we see , doing, we have to give it a tense. in this case, growing takes tense of main clause "is" so, growing has present tense. this is not logic because present tense can not go with since.

I have a doubt in D: shouldn't there be "and" between two "has" to make the sentence parallel and correct ??

Hello amalganatra,

I will be glad to help resolve your doubt.

Following is the structure of this official sentence with Choice D:

Part of the proposed increase in state education spending is due to higher enrollment:
the number of student in public schools

has grown steadily since the mid-1980’s and,
at nearly 47 million, has reached a record high.

I hope now you can spot the connector and between the two verbs.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Hi,

Can someone explain what's the subject of "has reached" in option D? I couldn't connect the verb with any subject here. Many thanks

Hi beatgmat2016, the subject is the number of students.

VeritasKarishma what is problem with opt B ?

In (B), "a number of students" is wrong. It means "many students". Many students are not growing steadily. The number (of students) is growing steadily.

Note the difference between the use of
a number of X - many X
A number of people will come to the party.

the number of - tells us how many X there are
At the party, the number of people was 52.

Pre-thinking -
1. What has grown steadily? -> The number of students
2. What is at a record high? The same number identified above

Now to eliminate answers -
A : the number of students - Subject needs a singular verb. Also tense is incorrect
enrollment, since the number of students in public schools have grown steadily since the mid-1980’s and, at nearly 47 million, are at

B : Keep in mind what the subject is. This sentence wrongly considers the students as the subject and not the number of students.

"with a number of students in public schools growing steadily" > What this is implying is that the students are growing and not the number itself.

C : This option again considers students as the subject but changes the context of the statement. Follow the role of the subject as you read C -

enrollment: since students in public schools have grown steadily in number since the mid-1980’s and, at nearly 47 million, have reached

Students have reached a record high? Or the number of students have reached a record high?

D : enrollment: the number of students in public schools has grown steadily since the mid-1980’s and, at nearly 47 million, has reached
Subject - Number of students
Correct

E : enrollment: students [Subject] in public schools have grown steadily in number, since the mid-1980’s and, at nearly 47 million, are at

Students have grown in number - Correct
Students are at a record high? - Incorrect, wrong subject

This question is based on Subject-Verb Agreement and Construction.

In Option A, the plural verbs ‘have’ and ‘are’ do not agree with the subject “the number of students”. "The number" is always considered a singular subject. So, Option A can be eliminated.

“A number of students”, meaning ‘many students’, cannot grow or reach a record high. The meaning conveyed by Option B is illogical. So, B can be eliminated.

The same error in meaning is present in Option C. So, C can be eliminated.

In Option D, the verbs ‘has grown’ and ‘has reached’ agree with the subject “the number of students”. So, D is the best of all the options.

“Students” cannot be said to grow or be at a record high. So, Option E can also be eliminated.

Therefore, D is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

Why is B wrong here? Is the construction of 'with+noun+ing' always wrong? generis

Adding my few cents:

Why I choose D?


Meaning wise:
B says -- > Something is due to X, with Y happening ( not always wrong but depends on context)
D says -- > something is due to X: what is X (Y)
Because Y seems more like explanation of X ; not a separate idea.


2.) A number vs the number
What I want to say :
Enrollment is growing: and has reached a record high
Seems some number
In B I get a number of students (means many students) vs in D I get the number (
D indicates number that has reached a record high instead of B that indicates many students enrolling and many students a record high
Many students reaching a record high- actually doesn’t seem to make sense

I hope you would agree now for D over B.