A cub is often weaker than a kitten and needs protection

Question

A cub is often weaker than a kitten and needs protection from the mother lioness;  a few completely self-performed hunts are a fine indication that  the child lion has grown enough to fend itself against the wild animals.

A. a few completely self-performed hunts are a fine indication that
B. a few completely self-performed hunts confirm that
C. a few hunts completely performed by self are indicative that
D. a few completely self-performed hunts is a fine indication that
E. completing a few self-performed hunts are a fine indication that

Source: ExpertsGlobal

sasidharrs · Answer

I think there should be 'is' instead of are, and I don't think confirm is correct word...so,D is my answer

Sent from my XT1575 using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

satsurfs · Answer

I think its A 
Let's wait for the OA

My reasoning 
-A few hunts are plural?
- Completely - adverb is modifying the Adjective Self-performed.

phuongnina · Answer

To me, A and B are contenders.

Finally go for A.

Wait for the OA

pra1785 · Answer

I will go with B as well.

Below is my reasoning:

A. a few completely self-performed hunts are  a fine indication  that 
B. a few completely self-performed hunts confirm that   correct  
C. a few hunts completely performed by self are indicative that  passive 
D. a few completely self-performed hunts is a fine indication that ( hunts should be accompanied with are, not is which is singular 
E. completing a few self-performed hunts are a fine indication that  alters meaning

gvvsnraju@1 · Answer

B cannot be right because "confirm" distorts the intended meaning of the given question

kunalsinghNS · Answer

According to me Option B is not a complete sentence !

hence, option A

Experts some feedback on this one !

tinayni552 · Answer

A cub is often weaker than a kitten and needs protection from the mother lioness; a few completely self-performed hunts are a fine indication that the child lion has grown enough to fend itself against the wild animals.

A. a few completely self-performed hunts are a fine indication that ==>   Correct, "are" matches with "a few completely...hunts"  
B. a few completely self-performed hunts confirm that ==>   the sentence may not contain any grammatical errors, but the meaning does not match with what was originally intended, the hunts are considered indications, they do not confirm that the child lion has grown enough to fend itself against the wild animals.  
C. a few hunts completely performed by self are indicative that==>   "are" does not match with "a few hunts...by self", here the the subject is not "a few hunts", but rather the subject clause "a few...self".   
D. a few completely self-performed hunts is a fine indication that ==>   "is" does not agree with "a few .... hunts".  
E. completing a few self-performed hunts are a fine indication that ==>   "are" does not agree with "completing..hunts", which is an subject clause.

sharathnair14 · Answer

This Post is two years old, but nevertheless! This is not why this choice is wrong. And Subject and Verb perfectly agree here. 
  Subject= A few hunts  ,   Verb= are indicative  
 "completely performed by self"  is a  modifier . However, C is wordy, and that is why the choice is wrong

globaldesi · Answer

although 'are' is used to define hunts and that is correct but is the usage of ' a few' correct?

generis · Answer

Yes. "A few" = "a small number of"

You may be asking about the usage of few without "of."
 Here  are sentences in which few is used.
You do not need to append the word "of."

Substitute "a small number of."
 . . . a small number of completely self-performed hunts are a fine indication . . .

AnandMan · Answer

GMATNinja  kindly enlighten us why A is correct and B is not.

pradeepgontla · Answer

Hey Guys i got this one correct please find my reasons for eliminating wrong options

1) Correct 
2) Confirm - This completely changes the meaning of the sentence although at the beginning I thought it as a contender but indication and confirmation are completely different so eliminated this based on this grounds. 
3) A few followed by prepositonal phrase so the subject here is hunts are is the correct usage but the option is little awkward and passive so eliminate this as well.
4) A few hunts is plural so this is a subject verb agreement error. 
5) In this option completing becomes subject, which is singular. Since completing doesn't agree with plural verb eliminate this option as well.

Hope this helps:-)

vineethshankar · Answer

How can "self-performed hunts" - plural, be "a fine indication" - singular?

Alphaneus · Answer

theres nothing wrong with option b . Option A is wordy and less concise . An Experts perspective would be great!

kntombat · Answer

I narrowed it down to A and B and chose B.
As and when possible could any expert point out why B is wrong and A is right?

AndrewN · Answer

Hello, everyone. For what it is worth, I will offer my thoughts on why choice (A) is preferred over (B). Let me start by saying that I do  not  subscribe to the notion that the original sentence contains the intended meaning. Only the non-underlined portion can be taken as gospel. Otherwise, you could expect to see a lot more  correct  first options to SC questions. This one is no different.

So how do we determine whether  are a fine indication  or  confirm  makes for a better answer? We have to rely on the context of the sentence and let  expressed  meaning guide our hand. Choice (A) indicates a degree of uncertainty. Although lone hunts are  a sign  that a cub  has grown enough to fend   itself , such hunts may not provide the  only  sign. Hence, several  completely self-performed hunts  offer a strong sign or  a fine indication  that a cub may no longer need protection from its mother.

Choice (B) is too strong in its use of  confirm . If you read the word as  prove , it begs the question,  How so?  How would a few such hunts  prove  anything? What if the hunts were unsuccessful? (The line does not tell us about the outcomes, just that the hunts were self-performed.) What constitutes  a few ? Two? Five? At what point would there be a crossover from a strong sign to proof of something? The mind races.

The takeaway is that overstated language can lead to unclear or incorrect conclusions. To be honest, this exact split reminds me more of something I might see in a CR or RC question, but here it is, all the same.

I hope that helps. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

VelvetThunder · Answer

Shouldn't it be "few hunts are fine  indications "? How is "a fine  indication " correct here?  GMATNinja   AndrewN   generis   ExpertsGlobal5

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  VelvetThunder . As I touched on in my post above, it is quite possible for multiple units of something—likes on a social media post, launches for an aeronautical site, sales figures for a business, or, here, hunts for an animal—to be taken as  a sign  of something. The focus is on the collective, rather than on the individual components. Similarly, I could say that mistakes in grammar with irregular verbs can be taken as a sign that a child is internalizing the rules or conventions. I may not be emphasizing that  each  mistake provides such a sign, but that many such mistakes, considered as a whole, offer such information. In other words, the pattern could be more important than the constituents.

- Andrew

VelvetThunder · Answer

Thanks AndrewN You are the best!

A cub is often weaker than a kitten and needs protection

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

A cub is often weaker than a kitten and needs protection

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