None of the attempts to specify the causes of crime explains why most

Hi Vithal,

Thank you for your question. While this sentence is long-winded, a quick read-through shows that this is a simple comparison between two groups: people who do not commit crimes, and those who do (hint: I just gave away the answer!).

To determine which answer is correct, let’s look at how each of the answers would change the meaning of the sentence:

A: have
“Have” only considers those who committed crimes in the past, not the present. Since we’re comparing those who “do not” commit crimes, which is present tense, the other side should be in present tense too.

B: has
“Has” is a singular verb that doesn’t agree with the plural word it’s referring to (those). It also suggests comparing past crimes and present.

C: shall
“Shall” means they are comparing present tense with future tense, which isn’t parallel.

D: do
“Do” is correct! It uses parallel structure (do not commit crimes…those who do) and both are in present tense.

E: could
“Could” changes the meaning from discussing people who DO commit crimes with people who MIGHT, which is different.

So if we look at parallel structure (do not / do) and consistent verb tense, D is the clear winner!

None of the attempts to specify the causes of crime explains why most of the people exposed to the alleged causes do not commit crimes and, conversely, why so many of those not so exposed do

Thanks daagh.

Even though the MGMAT says that NONE will go along with both singular and plural verbs,based on the nouns used in the OF-Phrase, I will stick to NONE with singular usage...

I guess, these guys have started to treat NONE phrases as a compound noun.. Here "None of the attempts to specify the causes of crime" is acting as a compound sentence; therefore, a singular verb is used.

Please correct me IF I am wrong.

Sorry dragaonball:

You have misunderstood the concept of both compound nouns and compound sentences. A compound noun is one in which there will more than one noun and those two or more nouns will be connected by the conjunction ‘and’. I repeat compound nouns will have to be connected by ‘and’. As a thumb rule compound nouns are always plural.

E.g.: Tom and Dick ‘
Tom, Dick and Harry.

A compound sentence is one that has either two independent clauses or more joined by a conjunction ‘and’.
Eg; I went to New York. My brother went to Tokyo – Two independent sentences are standing alone with their own subjects and verbs but punctuated by a period. This is not a compound sentence,


I went to New York and my brother went to Tokyo; this is a compound sentence because there are two independent sentences and both are conjugated by the connector ‘and’.

Along with this please also understand the structure of complex sentences and their essentials such as how to punctuate them, how to conjugate them etc, and you can eliminate many style errors such as fragments or run - ons in GMAT SC

In your question, since ‘none of plural’ does not have the conjunction ‘and’, there is no compound noun or sentence involved.

MGMAT SC says: Technically, none of + plural noun can take either a singular or a plural verb forms.

I think GMAT will never make you choose between A and D. I think Kaplan guys messed it up. Both A and D are correct. Whoever created this question forgot that that none is one of the SANAM pronouns and, moreover, none is still under scrutiny/debate among the big guns of Grammar.

I read a bunch of articles online on none of. This is the gist: Some people insist that since “none” is derived from “no one” it should always be singular: “none of us is having dessert.” However, in standard usage, the word is most often treated as a plural. “None of us are having dessert” will do just fine.

I highly doubt GMAT will test us on this, while all the Grammar experts are still arguing :p. Who are we to make a call?

More: Seems like GMAT doesn't think "none" is a SANAM pronoun. So if, in GMAT, you see "none" PREFER SINGULAR. I thing MGMAT should add this in their book.

See OG12 SC #4 vast-tides-of-migration-105900.html
Right answer is: Of all the vast tides of migration that have swept through history, perhaps none was more concentrated than the wave that brought 12 million immigrants onto American shores in little more than three decades.

This example proves my point. Anyways, whatever . If GMAT says Singular, I will take that as true - I don't care anymore :p

If someone has a strong objection or knows a spy working undercover in GMAT, please give post your alter-thoughts

Can somebody pls come up with a correct answer for everybody's sake?.

I wrote an email to our Technical Writer at work. She has a PhD in literature and working as a Technical Writer for past 5-6 years. See her response below.

My Question to her:
---
Hey Meghan,

Sorry to bother you Meghan. I have had a question for you.

I am sure you have heard of SANAM pronouns - Some, Any, None, All, More/Most. When these pronouns act as the subject of a verb in a sentence, the verb agrees in number with the pronoun, the subject, based on the Of-prepositional phrase (with noun) that modifies the pronoun.

For instance,
All of my friends love sushi. (verb love here agrees in number with the abstract noun friends, which combined with the preposition of modifies the pronoun all)
All of the US army is alert. (verb is here agrees in number with the collective noun army, which is singular)

But with none there is HUGE controversy among the elite grammarians.

Orthodox grammarians say none is etymologically derived from the phrase "no one", hence it must be used as singular regardless of the Of-prepositional phrase that modifies it.
- None of my friends likes to eat sushi.
- None of the sugar is on the floor.
Some, not all, modern grammarian say, being a SANAM pronoun, it should have a cardinality that agrees in number with the noun in the Of-prepositional phrase that modifies it.
- None of my friends like to eat sushi.
- None of the sugar is on the floor.

I have never read a single article that has clearly stated which between the two is correct. I was hoping if you have any comment(s) or bias

Thanks.
---

Her response:
---
The discussion of "none" is a long one; however, the most well-written response I found so far comes from this guy: https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-non2.htm

He states that "none" should follow the same rules as the rest of SANAM pronouns, since it can mean either "no one" (singlular) or "no persons" (plural). So you can treat it as either singular or plural based on the prepositional phrase. Based on his thorough research, I can't help but agree with him.
---

Based on the above discussion, A should be the right answer. But GMAT seems to prefer D usage - see my explanation here none-singular-or-plural-117407.html#p954852

Nobody can tell for sure, I personally think there is too much debate w.r.t. none, for GMAT to test it.

The correct option needs to parallel "do not", the only option that works is D, "do".

None of the attempts to specify the causes of crime explains why most of the people exposed to the alleged causes do not commit crimes and, conversely, why so many of those not so exposed have.
(A) have
(B) has
(C) shall
(D) do
(E) could

I don't have any problem understanding the right answer. However, "None of the attempts" is a pleural subject with singular verb "explains". Can anyone please explain, is this a real error or I am missing something here.

Thanks

'None of' is indefinite. It can either take plural or singular verb. This is a highly debated topic and GMAC stays far from such debatable rules. I have never seen an official question till date which just tests 'none of' concept. (As a matter of fact, I have never seen any of the SANAM pronouns tested on GMAT - OG 12/13, GMAT paper tests, GMATPrep and GMAT exam packs)

In addition to the rule that, 'none of' uses the object of the 'of' word in determining the number of the subject, the phrase that contains 'none of' when viewed in a 'collective term', will always be a singular subject, irrespective.

None of the attempts to specify the causes of crime explains why most of the people exposed to the alleged causes do not commit crimes and, conversely, why so many of those not so exposed have.
(A) have
(B) has
(C) shall
(D) do
(E) could

ANS :
i think we can eliminate wrong answer by ||ism concept.

A. None of the attempts to specify the causes of crime explains why most of the people exposed to the alleged causes do not commit crimes and, conversely, why so many of those not so exposed have.
Do is not parallel to have . so this option is incorrect.

B. None of the attempts to specify the causes of crime explains why most of the people exposed to the alleged causes do not commit crimes and, conversely, why so many of those not so exposed has.
Again Do is not parallel to has . so this option is wrong .

C . None of the attempts to specify the causes of crime explains why most of the people exposed to the alleged causes do not commit crimes and, conversely, why so many of those not so exposed Shall
Again Do is not parallel to Shall . so this option is wrong .

D . None of the attempts to specify the causes of crime explains why most of the people exposed to the alleged causes do not commit crimes and, conversely, why so many of those not so exposed do
Again Do is not parallel to do . this is answer .

E . None of the attempts to specify the causes of crime explains why most of the people exposed to the alleged causes do not commit crimes and, conversely, why so many of those not so exposed could
Again do is not parallel to could . this is wrong Answer .

VeritasKarishma GMATNinja
ChiranjeevSingh
Please explain whg option A is wrong & Why option d is correct

Posted from my mobile device

People A do not commit while people B do (commit) - parallel structure, both tenses need to be simple present since we are talking about a general fact.

People A do not commit while people B have (committed) - We should not change the tense to present perfect. For people B also it remains a general fact.

(A) Have
“…people exposed…do not commit crimes and…many of those…not…exposed have [commit crimes]” – doesn’t make sense

(B) Has
“…people exposed…do not commit crimes and, CONVERSELY,…many of those…not…exposed has [commit crimes]” – doesn’t make sense; also SV disagreement

(C) Shall
“…people exposed…do not commit crimes and…many of those…not…exposed shall [commit crimes]” – changes meaning; do not commit crimes (present tense) and shall commit crimes (future), illogical

(D) do
“…people exposed…do not commit crimes and…many of those…not…exposed do [commit crimes]” – bingo

(E) could
“…people exposed…do not commit crimes and…many of those…not…exposed could [commit crimes]” – changes meaning; could? So do they actually?

None of the attempts to specify the causes of crime explains

why most of the (people exposed to the alleged causes) do not (commit crimes)
and, conversely,
why so many of those (people exposed to the alleged causes) not so exposed do (commit crimes)

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 most of the people exposed to the alleged causes of crime do not commit crimes, and many of those not so exposed do commit crimes.

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Tense

• Information that is permanent in nature is best conveyed through the simple present tense.
• The simple future tense is used to refer to actions that will take place in the future.
• The present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.

A:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the present perfect tense verb "have (committed crimes)" to refer to information that is permanent in nature; remember, information that is permanent in nature is best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.

B:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural pronoun "those" with the singular verb "has".
2/ Option B incorrectly uses the present perfect tense verb "has (committed crimes)" to refer to information that is permanent in nature; remember, information that is permanent in nature is best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.

C:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple future tense verb "shall" to refer to information that is permanent in nature; remember, information that is permanent in nature is best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the simple future tense is used to refer to actions that will take place in the future.

D: Correct.
1/ Option E correctly refers to the plural pronoun "those" with "do", which can refer to both plural and singular nouns and pronouns.
2/ Option E uses the word "do (commit crimes)", conveying the intended meaning - that most of the people exposed to the alleged causes of crime do not commit crimes, and many of those not so exposed regularly do commit crimes.
3/ Option E correctly uses the simple present tense verb "do" to refer to information that is permanent in nature.

E:
1/ This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the verb "could"; the use of "could" incorrectly implies that most of the people exposed to the alleged causes of crime do not commit crimes, and many of those not so exposed might commit crimes; the intended meaning is that most of the people exposed to the alleged causes of crime do not commit crimes, and many of those not so exposed regularly do commit crimes.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team