Although women’s wages are improving, Department of Labor statistics

Although women’s wages are improving, Department of Labor statistics show that the ratio of their earnings with that of men have been roughly static since 1960.

Blue and green are subject verb pairs

So Based on this A,B and C are out

Since needs Has/ Have or has been or have been.. apart from that with is incorrect here so D is out

E is best!

First look: Comparison, S/V agreement, P/N agreement, verb tense.

A. with that of men have been Wrong - "With" is not the correct idiom (ratio of x to y). The pronoun "that" <> "earnings", for the pronoun must agree in number with its referent.
B. to that of men are Wrong - the pronoun must agree in number with its referent. Subject and verb must agree in number. More so, the verb tense must match any time expressions in the sentence. In this case, the time expression "since 1960" signifies present perfect.
C. to those of men have been Wrong - the subject and verb must agree in number.
D. with those of men is Wrong - Incorrect idiom is employed. "is" is not the correct verb tense.
E. to those of men has been Correct - "Those" = "earnings."

IMO E

what about "those" in option E -to those of men has been-

those is a demonstrative plural pronoun ...

in the question - we are comparing ratio of earning of men to the ratio of earning of women . ratio is a singular noun . The demonstrative pronoun those stands for ratio .... in this case there is a mismatch between pronoun (plural) and the noun that it stands for(ratio) is singular .

howsoever as the tutor from economist has written that we are comparing earnings - then the comparison is illogical . Read the original sentence - "Although women’s wages are improving, Department of Labor statistics show that the ratio of their earnings with that of men have been roughly static since 1960. "

you can not compare ratio of the earnings of woman to earnings of men - although you can compare ratio of earnings of women to ratio of earnings of men.

unfortunately this question is from Gprep .....

Hi abhasjha,


Let’s first understand the structure and meaning of the sentence.

• Although women’s wages are improving,
• Department of Labor statistics show
o that the ratio of their earnings with that of men have been roughly static since 1960.


MEANING

• So, the sentence tells us that although women’s wages are improving.
• Department of Labor statistics show that: (The word ‘although’ at the beginning of the sentence tells us that the next part of the sentence is going to be in contrast to the first part.)
o The ratio of something has been roughly static since 1960.

You have correctly mentioned in your analysis that 'the ratio of the earnings of women cannot be compared to earnings of men'. Now, what we need to know here is that a ratio can be defined for two entities. It cannot be defined for one entity.

What are the two entities in the given sentence for which the ratio is defined? These two entities are ‘their earnings’ i.e. the earnings of women and ‘that of men’ i.e. the earnings of men. So, the comparison in this sentence is between the earnings of the women and the earnings of the men.


ERRORS

1. Since the noun ‘earnings’ is plural, the singular relative pronoun ‘that’ is incorrect in this sentence. So, we need to use ‘those’.

2. Another error in the given sentence is the use of plural verb ‘have been’ for the singular subject ‘the ratio’.

3. Also, it is unidiomatic to say ‘the ratio of X with Y’. The correct idiomatic usage is ‘the ratio of X to Y’.


All these errors are corrected in option E.

• Although women’s wages are improving,
• Department of Labor statistics show
o that the ratio of their earnings to those of men has been roughly static since 1960.

As you can see in the underlined portion, the earnings of women are compared to those of men.



P.S.: A ratio can be defined for one entity if the values of the same entity from different times are compared.



Hope this helps!
Manyu

Because 'since' is present, we need have been/has been. And since 'ratio' is singular, we need has been.

Only choice E fulfills this requirement

I Guess there is A pronoun Error

whome does Their Refer Too.

Hi Razween, if you notice, their is not a part of the underlined portion.

So, we should not worry about it.

Ratio is always singular.
So Option A,C are out because of the incorrect plural verb "HAVE"
Option B is out because of incorrect plural verb "ARE"
Option D and E remaining,
THE CORRECT IDIOM USED WITH RATIO IS :==>RATIO OF X TO Y
Option D is out because of incorrect idiom (ratio of x with y)
Option E is bang on . Correct

Ratio of women's earnings to men's earnings is static
Ratio= women's earnings/men's earnings
not ratio of women's earnings/ratio of men's earnings.

hope its clear

daagh sir,
I have a doubt here in non-underlined portion of the sentence-
"Although women’s wages are improving, Department of Labor statistics show that the ratio of their earnings with that of men have been roughly static since 1960."

Here why the "department of labor statistics SHOW".... shouldn't it be SHOWS???

Posted from my mobile device

Department of Labor statistics show = Statistics of Department of Labor show . Department of Labor in this case is modifier (to be precise adjective).

Statistics = data is plural, Statistics = science is singular

Stem/meaning analysis:
The meaning that this sentence is trying to convey is that some ratio has been static since 1960. So right off the bat we know that there's a good chance that plural verbs will not be correct since the primary subject of the sentence is about a SINGULAR ratio.

Furthermore the ratio itself is being described in the sentence through the use of either the preposition "to" or "with".

Subject-verb agreement considerations:
(A) with that of men have been (Wrong because a singular ratio's action can't be expressed through a plural verb "have")
(B) to that of men are (Similar to (A), wrong because "are" can't be associated with the singular ratio.)
(C) to those of men have been (Same idea as (A))
(D) with those of men is
(E) to those of men has been

Preposition considerations (to vs. with):
So the ratio discussed in this sentence is described as the proportion of women's earnings to men's earning. Let's ask ourselves a simple question, how would you express a ratio between two numbers, say 1 and 2? Well you would say the ratio 2 to 4 is equal to 1 to 2, but you WOULD NOT say that the ratio 2 with 4 is equal to 1 with 2, right?

So choosing between (D) and (E) comes down to choosing the idiomatic preposition "to" instead of "with. (E) is the correct answer.

In this specific question, what is the role of "that" based on the article here - https://gmatclub.com/forum/experts-topi ... 43686.html GMATNinja I wrongly assumed that "show that" was a subjunctive form and hence would require plural (choosing the ans choice C). Is there any difference between a subordinate and a subjunctive form? What is the best way to identify whether a verb is subjunctive?

"Show that" is introducing a subordinate clause, so it would fall under "Usage #3" from the article. As for how to tell if "that" is used to introduce a subjunctive, you need to use context. The easiest way to see that we don't have to worry about the subjunctive here is that none of the answer choices use it!

More generally, rather than memorize a list of verbs that sometimes call for the subjunctive mood, just use logic. Consider the following (flawed) sentence:

In a desperate plea to the board, Mike insisted that Tim is fired.

Even if you don't recognize that "insist" sometimes calls for the subjunctive mood, you can probably see that this sentence doesn't make sense. Mike wouldn't insist that "Tim is fired." He'd insist that Tim be fired, because he's insisting on a course of action. In the first case, there's nothing for anyone to do. Tim either has a job, or he doesn't. There's no need to appeal to the board. In the second case, Mike is calling on the board to end Tim's professional reign of terror.

So, yes, the second sentence uses the subjunctive, but, more importantly, it makes more sense.

The takeaway: if some answer choices use the subjunctive, and the ones that don't are illogical... well, then you need the subjunctive. Otherwise, don't worry about it.

I hope that helps!

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Pronouns + Tenses + Idioms

• The present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
• The simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.
• "ratio of A to B " is the correct, idiomatic construction.

A:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "ratio" with the plural verb "have been".
2/ Option A incorrectly refers to the plural noun "earnings" with the singular pronoun "that".
3/ Option A incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "ratio of A ("their earnings") with B ("that of men")"; remember, "ratio of A to B " is the correct, idiomatic construction.

B:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "ratio" with the plural verb "are".
2/ Option B incorrectly refers to the plural noun "earnings" with the singular pronoun "that".
3/ Option B incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "are" to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.

C: Trap.
1/ This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "ratio" with the plural verb "have been".

D:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "is" to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.
2/ Option D incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "ratio of A ("their earnings") with B ("those of men")"; remember, "ratio of A to B " is the correct, idiomatic construction.

E: Correct.
1/ This answer choice correctly refers to the singular noun "ratio" with the singular verb "has been".
2/ Option E correctly refers to the plural noun "earnings" with the plural pronoun "those".
3/ Option E correctly uses the present perfect tense verb "has been" to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present.
4/ Option E correctly uses the idiomatic construction "ratio of A ("their earnings") to B ("those of men")".

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

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