According to scientists human expansion and the human appropriation

Ans: B


A) expansion and the human appropriation of Earth's finite resources is; expansion and the human appropriation is not parallel and use of verb is for compound noun is not correct

B) expansion and human appropriation of Earth's finite resources are; human expansion and human appropriation are parallel, use of verb are is correct

C) expansion and its appropriation of Earth's finite resources is; compound noun requires verb are

D) expansion, along with their appropriation of Earth's finite resources, is; their doesn't have antecedent

E) expansion, along with its appropriation of Earth's finite resources, are ; verb are is incorrect - human expansion along with its appropriation requires singular verb

MentorTutoring AjiteshArun VeritasKarishma

According to scientists, human expansion and the human appropriation of Earth's finite resources is the cause of what may be the most sweeping wave of species extinctions since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

How can are match with singular cause? Do we not need causes?


Along with X always makes a subject singular.
Also their refers to scientists.

Can you advise where did I falter?

Hello again, adkikani. There can be multiple factors that can contribute to the cause of something, and in this sentence, we have two such factors, conveniently joined by and: 1) human expansion; and 2) human appropriation. Choice (B) agrees the compound subject of A and B with the plural verb are. In choice (D), their refers incorrectly to human beings, or just humans. But of course, the sentence says human, so the pronoun their is inappropriate. If, as you contend, their refers instead to scientists, then we have a real problem in the expression of vital meaning. Are we to understand that because scientists are appropriating natural resources, mass extinctions are occurring? Those meddling scientists!

I hope that helps clarify your issues with this one. If not, feel free to press further.

- Andrew

Hello adkikani,

Although you did not ask for my intervention, here I am with my explanation.

Yes, the sentence mentions two factors human expansion and the human appropriation that are leading to probably the most sweeping wave of species extinctions. However, the usage of the word "cause" in the non-underlined portion of the sentence clarifies that these two factors are compound. They act together to lead to the effect the sentence mentions. Hence, the usage of the singular noun "the cause". The usage is correct.


Your analysis of Choice D is correct.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Is not it the sentence in inverted sentence structure?

The cause( of what may be the most sweeping wave of species extinctions since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago) is human expansion and the human appropriation of Earth's finite resources

Should C be an answer, please clarify?

E.g.: Making things even more difficult has been general market inactivity lately.

daagh GMATNinja
Would be great to have your thoughts on this.
I am still not clear with how a compound subject can be followed by "are" and then "the cause" instead of "the causes"?

Ex: Sugar and chocolate are the main components of the dish.
(or the above example is also incorrect and it should be "component" instead of "components")

Thanks!

1. A compound subject connected by and is 100% plural; That is a basic English rule.
What appears after the verb, whether 'is' or 'are', happens to be the object of the verb as you see in this case. Objects do not decide the nature of the verb of the same clause.

Hello sushilr,
Thank you for the query.


In the inverted Subject-Verb structure, the verb appears before the subject. Technically, the sentence starts with the verb rather than the subject. But that is certainly not the case with this sentence. The sentence simply wants to say that A and B are the cause for C. This is the correct structure.

Choice B correctly takes the plural verb are for the plural subject human expansion and human appropriation. Choice C repeats the SV number agreement error of Choice A.


Please note that in the other official sentence that you have mentioned in your post, the singular subject for the verb has been is Making things even more difficult. This sentence does not have an inverted SV structure.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

According to scientists, human expansion and the human appropriation of Earth's finite resources is the cause of what may be the most sweeping wave of species extinctions since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

A) expansion and the human appropriation of Earth's finite resources is

B) expansion and human appropriation of Earth's finite resources are

C) expansion and its appropriation of Earth's finite resources is

D) expansion, along with their appropriation of Earth's finite resources, is

E) expansion, along with its appropriation of Earth's finite resources, are 

In A, "human expansion and the human appropriation........" is the subject. Subject is plural. Verb "is" is singular. Singular-plural mismatch. Eliminate A

In C, "human expansion and it's appropriation........" is the subject. Subject is plural. Verb "is" is singular. Singular-plural mismatch. Eliminate C

In D, pronoun "their" does not have any antecedent...Eliminate

In E, Subject "human expansion" is singular and verb "are" is plural...Singular-plural mismatch...Eliminate E.

Hence, B is the correct answer

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:

According to scientists, human expansion and the human appropriation of Earth's finite resources is the cause of what may be the most sweeping wave of species extinctions since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

A) expansion and the human appropriation of Earth's finite resources is

B) expansion and human appropriation of Earth's finite resources are

C) expansion and its appropriation of Earth's finite resources is

D) expansion, along with their appropriation of Earth's finite resources, is

E) expansion, along with its appropriation of Earth's finite resources, are

After a quick glance over the options, we have 2 main differences we can focus on:

1. and the / and / and its / along with their / along with its (Construction & Pronouns)
2. is / are (Agreement)

Since #2 on our list is a clear either/or split, let’s start there! No matter which one we choose, we’ll eliminate 2-3 options rather quickly! How many different causes do scientists cite as causing species extinction? Two! Let’s make sure that the verb we choose reflects the plural antecedent:

A) expansion and the human appropriation of Earth's finite resources is

B) expansion and human appropriation of Earth's finite resources are

C) expansion and its appropriation of Earth's finite resources is

D) expansion, along with their appropriation of Earth's finite resources, is

E) expansion, along with its appropriation of Earth's finite resources, are

We can eliminate options A, C, & D because they all use the singular “is” to refer to 2 causes, which doesn’t match up. Now that we have our options narrowed down to only 2, let’s tackle #1 on our list:

B) expansion and human appropriation of Earth's finite resources are
This is our CORRECT choice! The meaning is concise and clear, the correct verb “are” matches the plural antecedent, and there are no vague pronouns.

E) expansion, along with its appropriation of Earth's finite resources, are
This is INCORRECT because the pronoun “its” is too vague. It’s not clear what “its” is referring to. Even if it were referring to “humans,” that’s a plural term and should therefore use a plural pronoun anyway!

There you have it - option B is our winner! By focusing on the either/or split first, we were able to eliminate several options, giving us more time to focus on more complex grammatical issues!

Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal

In E, it is 'human' in the non-underlined part, but in your explanation it is 'humans'. So, why 'its' is not correct for 'human'?
Thanks__

Hello Experts,
MartyTargetTestPrep, GMATNinja, GMATGuruNY, AjiteshArun, AndrewN
It seems that E makes sense if 'are' is replaced with 'is'. Am I missing anything?
Thanks__

Thanks for the question TheUltimateWinner!

In this case, the "its" is too vague - we aren't 100% sure what it is referring back to, so it's incorrect for that reason. If we knew 100% for sure that "its" was referring only to "human," then it would've absolutely been correct. However, since we can't say that with 100% certainty, it's wrong. The GMAT is a bit stickler for vague pronouns, and this is a good example of how picky they can be.

We hope that helps! Make sure to tag us if you have any more questions!

Yes, your are missing something. You need a referent for "its," and that version lacks one, because "human" is not a noun in that context. It's an adjective modifying "expansion," and "expansion" would not have "appropriation of Earth's finite resources."

Nice question to note the usage of THE before a noun, how putting a part of the sentence can decide whether IS or ARE is appropriate, and what ITS truly refers to. Of course, the THEIR issue is noteworthy, but I'm sure some of you immediately honed in on that!

What an explanation. Made my day.

Hi Experts (GMATNinja egmat CrackVerbal )
Isn't the option B ambiguous?
B) expansion and human appropriation of Earth's finite resources are...
Can't it be interpreted as 'human expansion of Earth's finite resources....and human appropriation of Earth's finite resources are....'? If yes, it would be highly illogical. Please correct me, I may have gone wrong in my understanding.
I chose D as I eliminated option B for this reason.
Thank you!!