A new study has found that elderly residents who are isolated in long

Question

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A new study has found that  elderly residents who are isolated in long-term care facilities for protection from various infectious diseases makes them stressed and lonely, with negative effects on their  cognition, memory, and immunity.

A) elderly residents who are isolated in long-term care facilities for protection from various infectious diseases makes them stressed and lonely, with negative effects on their

B) elderly residents who are isolated in long-term care facilities to protect them from various infectious diseases makes them stressed and lonely, and also has negative effects on their

C) long-term care facilities to protect elderly citizens from various infectious diseases by isolating them makes them stressed and lonely, having negative effects on their

D) isolating elderly residents in long-term care facilities for protection from various infectious diseases make them stressed and lonely and have negative effects on their

E) isolating elderly residents in long-term care facilities to protect them from various infectious diseases makes them stressed and lonely, with negative effects on their

generis · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)

THE PROMPT

• Meaning?
The sentence implies that the act of isolating elderly citizens can make them stressed and lonely.

THE OPTIONS  
 
• meaning is absurd
→ Strip the who-clause (the relative clause that modifies "elderly residents). No, it's not set off by commas, but the clause is self-contained. 
In this option,  the elderly residents  are the subject of the sentence.
We have this:
→ A new study has found that elderly residents . . . makes them stressed and lonely . . . 
→ That meaning is absurd. The elderly residents do not make themselves lonely.

• subject/verb agreement
The plural subject  residents  does not agree with the singular verb  makes .
ELIMINATE A

• absurd meaning
→ Again, the residents themselves are not making themselves stressed and lonely. Their being isolated makes them lonely.

• subject/verb agreement
The plural subject  residents  does not agree with the singular verbs  makes  and  has .

• "and also"? Leave it. The phrase is rarely correct on the GMAT, but it can be used for emphasis and you have two slam dunk errors in this option.
ELIMINATE B
 
• wrong meaning
→ This time, the subject is  facilities , but the facilities themselves do not make the elderly citizens stressed and lonely.
Isolation makes the elderly citizens stressed and lonely.
This meaning given by this option is not as nonsensical as that in options A and B; it is conceivable that long-term care facilities might make elderly citizens feel stressed and lonely. Still, the more logical cause of the stress is the isolation.

• Subject/verb agreement
→ The plural subject  facilities  does not agree with the singular verb  makes. 
ELIMINATE C

• subject/verb agreement
→ the singular subject  isolating  does not agree with the plural verb  make 
→ gerunds and gerund phrases are always singular. A gerund is a verbing noun.
The subject is really the whole gerund phrase,  isolating elderly residents in long-term care facilities for protection from various diseases 
ELIMINATE D
 
• I do not see any errors
• the option is logical: isolating elderly residents makes them stressed and lonely.
• the singular subject  isolating  agrees with the singular subject  makes 
• to protect them is better than for protection from because to protect them is more intentional, more forceful.
I did not highlight this difference because it is not a decision point. I'm just tossing in tidbits about subtleties that might make a difference in a tiebreaker. 
KEEP

The answer is E.

COMMENTS

I am glad to see everyone.

Posts are excellent.
Two are particularly good.
 warrior  1991 and  Green2k1  , I am bumping you both to Best Community Reply. (I cannot seem to control the order of bumping. Whomever I bump first does not always land on top. There is no rank in these bumps.)

Nice work, everyone.

Green2k1 · Answer

Sentence Structure
A new study has found that 
--- elderly residents 
-----------who are isolated in long-term care facilities for protection from various infectious diseases 
------makes them stressed and lonely, 
-----------------------------with negative effects on their  cognition, memory, and immunity.

Error Analysis
1. Subject Verb Agreement Error (elderly residents makes)
2. Meaning Error (elderly residents make them(elderly resident) stressed and lonely)
3. inferred Meaning - Isolation makes elderly residents stressed and lonely

POE

A) elderly residents who are isolated in long-term care facilities for protection from various infectious diseases makes them stressed and lonely, with negative effects on their
 -Error as highlighted above
 
B)  elderly residents  who are isolated in long-term care facilities to protect them from various infectious diseases  makes   them  stressed and lonely, and  also has  negative effects on their
 - Meaning error ( to protect them ?? and also use of "them" - same as A) 
- Subject Verb Agreement Error (elderly residents makes ......... and also has .......)
 
C)  long-term care facilities  to protect elderly citizens from various infectious diseases by isolating them  makes  them stressed and lonely, having negative effects on their
 - Meaning error - conveying - Long term care facilities makes elderly stressed and lonely and not the isolation
- SV error  
- Modifier error - having negative effects (verb ing) - it appears that verb-ing providing the result of the preceding clause but doer (subject) of the sentence "long term care" is not associated with the modifier

D)  isolating  elderly residents in long-term care facilities for protection from various infectious diseases  make  them stressed and lonely and  have  negative effects on their
 - SV error - Isolating (gerund) make .... and have ....

E) isolating elderly residents in long-term care facilities to protect them from various infectious diseases makes them stressed and lonely, with negative effects on their
 - Corrects all SV errors and conveying the clear meaning
- CORRECTS

warrior1991 · Answer

It is the isolation that makes them stressed and lonely etc....
In above sentence 'isolation' is used as part of modifier to point out to those elderly parents who are isolated in care facilities.
The sentence seems to say that elderly residents themselves make them stressed and lonely.
Moreover 'elderly residents' and 'makes' have a S-V Agreement error.
Incorrect choice for many reasons.

This has same error as mentioned in option A. Incorrect.

'Long Term care' Facilities is Plural
Verb 'Makes' should also be Plural and should be 'Make'.
Even after correcting this, we have a meaning issue. It is the isolation that makes them stressed and not facilities.
Incorrect. 
 
 Isolating is singular. So the verb should be singular. We have to use 'makes'.
S-V Agreement error. Incorrect.  
 
 Meaning Intact.
S-V Agreement reached.Correct.

IMO E.

AliTariqPrepVista · Answer

SV disagreement in all except E.
E:
 Isolating  is the gerund noun.
 elderly residents  is the Direct Object of  Isolating  (gerund).
Therefore verb  makes  (singular Verb) agrees with  isolating  (Subject)

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (E) . It took me 53 seconds.

(A) SVA mistake in "elderly residents ...  makes them ..." 
Also, them should be themselves to be plausible. Even then, the meaning is still nonsensical.

(B) See above.

(C) SVA mistake in "long-term care facilities ...  makes  them ..."

(D) SVA mistake in "isolating elderly residents ...  make  them stressed "

(E) If we are bold, we can simply choose (E) to save 5-10 seconds. 
I may be just that audacious in a test center. But, today, I did read it nonchalantly and noted SVA in "isolating elderly residents ... makes". That should be sufficient to pick (E) with high confidence.

Adambhau · Answer

A new study has found that  elderly residents who are isolated in long-term care facilities for protection from various infectious diseases makes them stressed and lonely, with negative effects on their  cognition, memory, and immunity.

A)  elderly residents  who are isolated in long-term care facilities for protection from various infectious diseases  makes  them stressed and lonely, with negative effects on their

B)  elderly residents  who are isolated in long-term care facilities to protect them from various infectious diseases  makes  them stressed and lonely, and also has negative effects on their

C)  long-term care facilities  to protect elderly citizens from various infectious diseases by isolating them  makes  them stressed and lonely, having negative effects on their

D)  isolating elderly residents  in long-term care facilities for protection from various infectious diseases  make  them stressed and lonely and have negative effects on their

E)  isolating elderly residents  in long-term care facilities to protect them from various infectious diseases  makes  them stressed and lonely, with negative effects on their

A, B, C, D have Subject-Verb disagreement

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

A new study has found that elderly residents who are isolated in long-term care facilities for protection from various infectious diseases makes them stressed and lonely, with negative effects on their cognition, memory, and immunity.

A) elderly residents who are isolated in long-term care facilities for protection from various infectious diseases makes them stressed and lonely, with negative effects on their -> " elderly residents .....makes them". It has SVA error. Incorrect.

B) elderly residents who are isolated in long-term care facilities to protect them from various infectious diseases makes them stressed and lonely, and also has negative effects on their -> Same as A. Incorrect.

C) long-term care facilities to protect elderly citizens from various infectious diseases by isolating them makes them stressed and lonely, having negative effects on their -> "long-term care facilities.....makes them". It has SVA error. Incorrect.

D) isolating elderly residents in long-term care facilities for protection from various infectious diseases make them stressed and lonely and have negative effects on their -> "isolating.....make them". It has SVA error. Incorrect.

E) isolating elderly residents in long-term care facilities to protect them from various infectious diseases makes them stressed and lonely, with negative effects on their -> This is better.

So, I think E.

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here .

idarchitecto · Answer

I think option E sounds the most accurate, because it clearly reflects the essence of the study and is grammatically correct. I noticed this when comparing the wording: other answers have unnecessary repetitions or inconsistencies, but here everything is concise and clear.

wihey6 · Answer

I think the clearest option is the one where the subject and verb agree, and the structure is not overloaded with extra words. I would choose option E: it sounds natural, logically connects isolation with the consequences, and does not create ambiguity.

A new study has found that elderly residents who are isolated in long

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

A new study has found that elderly residents who are isolated in long

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