A groundbreaking neuro-psychological research was conducted on epileps

Question

A groundbreaking neuro-psychological research was conducted on epilepsy patients,  whom brains' neural activity is regularly monitored, and have discovered that  memories of past events are stored in the same neurons in the brain which were active during the original experience.

A. whom brains' neural activity is regularly monitored, and have discovered that

B. whom brains' neural activity is regularly monitored, and has discovered that

C. whose brains' neural activity is regularly monitored, and have discovered that

D. using data from the regular monitoring of their neural activity to establish that

E. using data from the regularly monitoring of their neural activity to establish

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

A groundbreaking neuro-psychological research was conducted on epilepsy patients,  whom brains' neural activity is regularly monitored, and have discovered that  memories of past events are stored in the same neurons in the brain which were active during the original experience.

A. whom brains' neural activity is regularly monitored, and have discovered that

This answer choice is grammatically incorrect.  Whom  is a relative pronoun describing humans who are the object of the relative clause. This relative clause has no object. It consists of a subject ( the brains' neural activity ) and a verb ( is monitored ) only. The relationship between the epilepsy patients and this relative clause is one of possession, since it is their brains' activity which is being monitored. The relative pronoun used to describe a relationship of possession is whose.

What helps us identify this question as a Relative Clause question as well as identify the mistake is the following Stop Sign:

who, which, that, whose, whom

This answer choice includes another grammatical error. The plural verb  have  does not agree with the singular subject  research .

What helps us identify this question as a Subject Verb Agreement question as well as identify this mistake is the following Stop Sign:

A long complex subject / a long distance between the subject and the verb

B. whom brains' neural activity is regularly monitored, and has discovered that

Although this answer choice corrects one of the original mistakes, it repeats the other and is still grammatically incorrect. Whom is a relative pronoun describing humans who are the object of the relative clause. This relative clause has no object. It consists of a subject (the brains' neural activity) and a verb (is monitored) only. The relationship between the epilepsy patients and this relative clause is one of possession, since it is their brains' activity which is being monitored. The relative pronoun used to describe a relationship of possession is whose.

What helps us identify this question as a Relative Clause question as well as identify the mistake is the following Stop Sign:

who, which, that, whose, whom

What helps us identify this question as a Relative Clause question as well as identify the mistake is the following Stop Sign:

who, which, that, whose, whom

C. whose brains' neural activity is regularly monitored, and have discovered that

Although this answer choice corrects one of the original mistakes, it repeats the other and is still grammatically incorrect. The plural verb  have  does not agree with the singular subject  research .

What helps us identify this question as a Subject Verb Agreement question as well as identify the mistake is the following Stop Sign:

A long complex subject / a long distance between the subject and the verb

D. using data from the regular monitoring of their neural activity to establish that

This answer choice is the only grammatically correct answer choice.

E. using data from the regularly monitoring of their neural activity to establish

Although monitoring can indeed serve as a verb (e.g., X is monitoring Y), in this case it can be clearly identified as a noun thanks to the article which precedes it - the. Since an adverb (regularly) cannot modify a noun, the phrase the regularly monitoring is grammatially incorrect.

winterschool · Answer

A groundbreaking neuro-psychological research was conducted on epilepsy patients, whom brains' neural activity is regularly monitored, and have discovered that memories of past events are stored in the same neurons in the brain which were active during the original experience.

A. whom brains' neural activity is regularly monitored, and  have  discovered that  Incorrect

A groundbreaking neuro-psychological research singular, so have should be has

B. whom brains' neural activity  is  regularly monitored, and has discovered that Inorrect 
 
C. whose brains' neural activity is regularly monitored, and  have  discovered that  Incorrect

same as A

D. using data from the regular monitoring of their neural activity to establish that  Correct

E. using data from the regularly monitoring of their neural activity to establish  Incorrect

that missing

Edited - Answer D

gasoline · Answer

Hello winterschool

Greetings!
The correct answer is 'D'.
The research was conducted using the data.
A groundbreaking neuro-psychological research was conducted, using the data...
The modifier is indeed modifying the complete clause.

There are various faults in option 'B'.
Below is an example:
The research  was  conducted..neural activity  is  regularly monitored.

Thanks.

winterschool · Answer

Thanks  gasoline , i missed is; it should be in past form

minalgambhir · Answer

ERROR ANALYSIS -

1) use of 'whom' is not correct - whom is always used as object in the sentence
2) Use of present tense is not correct - the research was conducted in the past

ANSWER CHOICE ANALYSIS -

A) use of 'whom' is not correct - whom is always used as object in the sentence, Use of present tense is not correct - the research was conducted in the past
B) Same as A
C) Use of present tense is not correct - the research was conducted in the past
D) CORRECT
E) 'regularly' is not the correct adjective, 'regular' is correct

A groundbreaking neuro-psychological research was conducted on epileps

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

A groundbreaking neuro-psychological research was conducted on epileps

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards