According to a recent study by Rutgers University, the number of women in state legislatures has grown in every election since 1968.
(A) the number of women in state legislatures has grown
(B) the number of women who are in state legislatures have grown
(C) there has been growth in the number of women in state legislatures
(D) a growing number of women have been in state legislatures
(E) women have been growing in number in state legislatures

"the number of" takes a singular verb. "The number of" act as the subject of the sentence.
hence "the number of" (Subject) would perfectly go with "has".
Option B: 'the number of women who are in state legislatures have grown' goes out because of the above mentioned reason.
Option C: 'there has been growth in the number of women in state legislatures' there has no antecedent. Hence the ambiguity of antecedent makes option C go out.
Option D: 'a growing number of women have been in state legislatures' goes out as we don't need present perfect progressive here. We simply need present perfect here.
Option E: 'women have been growing in number in state legislatures' goes out as it distorts the meaning of the sentence. "women have been growing" is different from "the number of ... has grown"

Nothing wrong with A.

In fact all the other choices, change the original meaning of the sentence. Also, the number of women... has grown, is correct.

A for me too.

is it true that "THE number of X" is singular whereas "A number of Y" is plural?

The number + noun: singular verb
One more vote for A coz it is clear and concise

Hi, I have a question regarding the tense of "has grown". Is "has been growing" a wrong way to say the same thing?

The number -------> Has grown ( Correct S-V issue )

Has been growing is Present Perfect Continuous tense which is not preferred here...

Please go through this link to revise the concept on Present Perfect Continuous

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pre ... nuous.html

Hope this helps.....
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According to the question the sentences "every election since 1968" and "recent study by university" implies that the activity has started in 1968 but still continuing (AFAIK). So we should use have been/has been right.

Why are we using "has" here? Started in past and continuing in present then we should use present perfect tense right.

Subject - Verb Agreement -

According to a recent study by Rutgers University, the number of women in state legislatures has grown in every election since 1968.

Errors in the other options highlighted in RED

(B) the number of women who are in state legislatures have grown
(C) there has been growth in the number of women in state legislatures
(D) a growing number of women have been in state legislatures
(E) women have been growing in number in state legislatures


Hope this helps !!
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(A) the number of women in state legislatures has grown
– correct. “the number” is singular, has is singular. As "since" is used, the verb tense should be present perfect tense (has/have)
(B) the number of women who are in state legislatures have grown
– “the number” is singular, have is plural. "Who are -> women are" has NO Subject- Verb error
(C) there has been growth in the number of women in state legislatures.
– passive voice, modifier should modify the noun, not there (no antecedent for there). Present perfect continuous tense is not required
(D) a growing number of women have been in state legislatures
– “a number” is singular, have is plural. Present perfect continuous tense is not required
(E) women have been growing in number in state legislatures
– changes meaning, number of women growing and women growing are not same. Present perfect continuous tense is not required

Thanks
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alwaysnewbie you mentioned that A number is singular. However based on my learning a number is plural. Can you confim my understanding below and provide a source for information. I will appreciate it.

The number- Singular
A number- Plural

Also could you provide somesource where you
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If something X has grown, then the correct Idiom is "X has grown"; "there has been growth in X" is unidiomatic.

Therefore, option C is incorrect.

In D, plural "have" is correct since the subject is "women" and not "number". Also we just need present perfect since there is "since" there. Avoid choices with unnecessary "ing" verbs on GMAT.

(A) Correct. “the number” is singular, has is singular. As "since" is used, the verb tense should be present perfect tense (has/have)
(B) “the number” is singular, have is plural. "Who are -> women are" has NO Subject- Verb error
(C) Passive voice, modifier should modify the noun, not there (no antecedent for there). Present perfect continuous tense is not required
(D)“a number” is singular, have is plural. Present perfect continuous tense is not required
(E) Changes meaning, number of women growing and women growing are not same. Present perfect continuous tense is not required. Hence (a).

Hi experts GMATNinja daagh generis

I have one question regarding option B
(B) the number of women who are in state legislatures have grown"

Guys above stated that plural "are" and "have grown" are incorrect as "The number" is singular.
Per my understanding plural verbs are ok there, because we have "who" and that pronoun makes "women" as a subject, requiring plural verbs
I think the reason why B is incorrect is the meaning, after introducing "who" we have that "women have grown in every election"

Please tell me a couple of words about my reasoning

Cheers
L

I think I see where you're coming from...

In choice (B), we definitely need a plural verb after the "who" because "women" is plural ("women who ARE," not "women who is").

You're right to say that it doesn't make sense to pair the verb "have/has grown" with women, since the thing that has grown is the NUMBER of women, not the women themselves (unless we're talking about a bunch of women in Wonderland eating special cookies/cakes/mushrooms!).

We could certainly have something like this:

• "The number of women who have grown after eating special cookies in Wonderland..." - because "women" is plural, the verb after "who" must also be plural.

But we still need a verb for the main subject ("number"), and that main verb has to be singular, i.e.:

• "The number of women who have grown after eating special cookies in Wonderland HAS increased significantly ever since directions to Wonderland became available on Google Maps." - the main subject ("number") needs a singular verb ("HAS increased").

The "who" clause in choice (B) is just a modifier that gives us more information about the women. If we strip out that modifier, we have, "... the number of women have grown." That doesn't work because the main subject ("number") needs a singular verb ("HAS grown").

I hope that helps!
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What is the problem with option C?
What is problem in using passive voice and present perfect continuous tense?

Hello, sidharthbanda1. Keep in mind, the goal of SC is to identify which of the five options expresses the vital meaning of the sentence in the clearest and most concise way. It is not as though the passive voice is always wrong, and, obviously, we can see the present perfect tense pop up in the correct answer here, so I cannot say that (C) is dismissible on those grounds. What stands out to me is the delay of vital information when compared to (A). In general, the GMAT™ prefers answers that start with a clear subject and verb to those that withhold that information and instead place unqualified information in front of the reader. Compare the beginning of the two answers here:

(A) the number of women
(C) there has been a growth in

Six words into (C), and I have no idea what this information may pertain to, but in (A), I can anticipate learning more about these women, and the end of that answer choice does not disappoint: has grown. In light of the overarching aim of SC outlined above, choice (C), although fine by the sound of it, is suboptimal next to (A).

I hope that helps. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

Hello GMATNinja

I have learnt that the number and a number have to have a verb that goes with the noun associated with that particular number.

The number of women are(because "the number" has women associated with it hence making it plural).

I found the replies not correct, for some reason. Hence, below is my explanation.

According to a recent study by Rutgers University, the number of women in state legislatures has grown in every election since 1968.


(A) the number of women in state legislatures has grown
the number of women = Subject (S)
verb has to be S = has grown (S)
correct

(B) the number of women who are in state legislatures have grown
the number of women = Subject (S)
verb has to be S = have grown (P)
wrong

(C) there has been growth in the number of women in state legislatures
has been growth, Verb= singular | present perfect continuous =ok, as it's still growing since 1963 to present
The subject is missing, as everything is in prepositional phrases.

(D) a growing number of women have been in state legislatures
growing (adj) defining the number of women (noun phrase). Hence, a plural verb is required.
The main verb is missing. There has been (auxiliary verb, plural, present continuous tense) there is no main verb to define the sentence.

(E) women have been growing in number in state legislatures
women (subject)= plural
have been growing (verb) = plural
What has been growing? Women.
Not the number of women. The subject that is the actor to the action (verb) is incorrect because the meaning is now changed.