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A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important 28 Sep 2017, 07:27
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santro789
I thought the higher interest rate is the subject here. Can someone explain why 'higher interest rate' is not considered as subject ?
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Lets look at this sentence in this way

A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important one, that(subject) keeps(verb) the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did earlier in the decade.

so now we need to ask the question what does 'that' refer to?

'That' will only refer to its nearest noun, which in this case will be factors. Hence the subject is factors and not 'A higher interest rate'
Hope that helps.


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A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important 12 Dec 2019, 23:08
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A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important one, that keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did earlier in the decade.

(A) that keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did earlier in the decade.
"A higher interest rate is only one" [this is the main clause] "of the factors" [this is the prepositional phrase describing the 'one'] "that keep/s the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did earlier..." [this is a relative clause that SHOULD define the 'factors'] Thus, the verb should be plural, "keep".

Also, "like" is used to compare one noun to another. Like cannot be followed by noun+verb.

Ex.
She sings like a duck. (Correct)
She sings as a duck does/sings. [color=#80FF40](Correct: "as" when used in a comparison is followed by a noun+verb.)
She sings like a duck does. (Incorrect)
She sings as a duck. (Incorrect)


(B) that keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did earlier in the decade

Correct: The plural "keep" is the correct verb in the clause referring to "factors". "As+subject+verb" is the correct form for a comparison using "as".

(C) that keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did earlier in the decade
"Keeps"-->Same problem as in A.

(D) that keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like earlier in the decade
"Like+adjective" is incorrect. "Like" must compare two nouns.

(E) that keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did earlier in the decade
"Like it did" --> same problem as in A.
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Why it is necessary for keep to modify factors and not one of the factors?

Comparison is also clear as it has been used in the later part of the sentence. Following is the comparison.
Interest rate (one of the factors) keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, as interest rate did earlier in the decade.

Why can't singular verb be used for one of the factors?
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A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important 13 Dec 2019, 00:59
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Balkrishna

Why it is necessary for keep to modify factors and not one of the factors?
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Hi Balkrishna, this is an extremely common pattern tested on GMAT and hence, it might be a good idea to make yourself comfortable with it.

The way to interpret this sentence is:

- there are many factors that keep the housing market from spiraling out of control.

- a higher interest rate is one of those factors.

You might also want to read my related post on a variation of this kind of construct.
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A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important 14 Dec 2019, 04:18
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Balkrishna

Why it is necessary for keep to modify factors and not one of the factors?
Hi Balkrishna, this is an extremely common pattern tested on GMAT and hence, it might be a good idea to make yourself comfortable with it.

The way to interpret this sentence is:

- there are many factors that keep the housing market from spiraling out of control.

- a higher interest rate is one of those factors.

You might also want to read my related post on a variation of this kind of construct.
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Hi EducationAisle,

Thank you for your response.

I understood your point. If we consider factors, then following comparison emerges.
factors keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did earlier in the decade.


Is the above comparison logical? Here, comparison is between the action of keeping the housing market from spiraling out of control. Both the entity in if and then clause must be the same.

Am I making any error in understanding the comparison?
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A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important 14 Dec 2019, 07:04
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it refers to a higher interest rate.
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A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important 16 Dec 2019, 00:22
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It is mentioned only one of the factors and therefore, we should you "keeps" instead of "keep" and i guess "that" modifies interest rate. Please tell me where am I wrong ?
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A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important 16 Dec 2019, 00:46
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aarushisingla
It is mentioned only one of the factors and therefore, we should you "keeps" instead of "keep"
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Hi Aarushi, the way to read this is:

....only one of the factors that keep...

So, there are many factors; a higher interest rate is only one of those factors.

On the other hand, the following sentence would justify keeps:

A higher interest rate is the only one among the various economic factors that keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control.

Here it is very clear that there is only one factor that keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control: a higher interest rate.
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A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important 30 May 2020, 05:00
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Hello All,

I am a bit confused here...I chose option 3 thinking one is singular and therefore keeps is correct but the solution says since factors is plural it should be keep..is there any way to decide between options like these

A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important one, that keeps the
housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did earlier in the decade.

1.keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did

2.keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did ---> correct choice

3.keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did

4.keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like

5.keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did
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A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important 30 May 2020, 10:00
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DJ101
Hello All,

I am a bit confused here...I chose option 3 thinking one is singular and therefore keeps is correct but the solution says since factors is plural it should be keep..is there any way to decide between options like these

A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important one, that keeps the
housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did earlier in the decade.

1.keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did

2.keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did ---> correct choice

3.keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did

4.keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like

5.keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did
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Hello, DJ101. This question is discussed in a separate thread, here, and there are a few pages of dialogue on it, so I hope you can find a post that resonates with you there. I will say, to be brief, that proper agreement of these prepositional phrases is dictated by the article, a/the, that precedes the subject of the sentence. In this case, the subject is a higher interest rate, not the higher interest rate, so a plural verb agreement, one that agrees with the object of the preposition, factors, is appropriate:

A higher interest rate is only one of the factors that keep...

As for like versus as, I will leave that discussion to the thread whose link I provided above. I hope it helps.

Good luck with your studies.

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A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important 31 May 2020, 03:54
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DJ101
Hello All,

I am a bit confused here...I chose option 3 thinking one is singular and therefore keeps is correct but the solution says since factors is plural it should be keep..is there any way to decide between options like these

A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important one, that keeps the
housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did earlier in the decade.

1.keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did

2.keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did ---> correct choice

3.keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did

4.keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like

5.keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did
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Hi DJ101, the way to interpret such sentences is:

There are many factors that keep the housing market from spiraling out of control; a higher interest rate is one of those factors.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses "one of the" construct, its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important 05 Jul 2022, 15:06
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Why isn't "E" the correct option ? Not sure, about the correct usage of "Like" and "As" though. When to use which one?
Also, if option E was : "keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did", would it still be incorrect?
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A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important 06 Jul 2022, 04:40
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Induvr09
Why isn't "E" the correct option ? Not sure, about the correct usage of "Like" and "As" though. When to use which one?
Also, if option E was : "keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did", would it still be incorrect?
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Indeed, the usage of like is a big red flag in E.

Like can never be followed by a "clause"; basically the portion of the sentence using like cannot have a verb.

In E like is followed by a clause "it did" (did is a verb). This is a no-go.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses the topic of as vs like, its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important 22 Aug 2023, 20:58
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x2suresh
A higher interest rate is only one of the factors, albeit an important one, that keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did earlier in the decade.


A) keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did

B) keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did

C) keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did

D) keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like earlier

E) keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did earlier
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I felt one of the key things to look out for was not to select something because it 'sounds' correct.
LIKE here is wrong, as it cannot compare phrases. It needs to be AS. So eliminate: A, D and E
that here is the relative pronoun for FACTORS and thus needs the plural verb ie KEEP
It is not about "is only one of". For context.. Something is only one of the Many that keep
Refrain from choosing C even though it 'sounds' better.
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