Quote:
+1 for A.
the relative pronoun that refers to substances and thus the verb must be plural. thus C & D are eliminated.
the correct idiom is both X and Y. In B, this idiom is not used correctly. hence this answer choice is eliminated.
in E - the entities from the structure both X and Y are not parallel.
tell an individual gene - changes meaning.
I guess D is correct as it uses 'tells' according to the rule, ' One of the' + noun (plural) + singular verb. Please correct me if I am wrong.[/quote]
you are partly wrong, "that" is the demonstrative pronoun, its antecedent is substances
biologists found one of the substances
these substances tell smth
since that refers to substances, the plural verb tell is needed.
it would be correct if "that" was not present here.
one of the substances tells - ok
but this is not the case[/quote]
This question is troubling and if someone can explain to me clearer, I will much appreciate it.
The idea of "that" baffles me because
1) I understand that GMAT uses "that" to modify the preceding noun "substances". However, the meaning does not make sense to me because it is not all the substances that "tell(s)" the gene when to become active or not, but that "one" substance. That is the meaning of the sentence to me. If we are applying GMAT's rule strictly though, I guess we have no problems.
2) But, as in this link
https://gmatclub.com/forum/horses-have-a-unique-system-of-interlocking-ligaments-and-bones-192969.html, i can say sufficiently that the "that" can modify the "
XX of YY and ZZ" if it sufficiently makes sense for the meaning of the statement.
3) This means that there should not be any hard rule or there are exceptions to this rule, especially if it makes sense. So if, say the exceptions, liken that of "XX of YY,
which" when "which" modifies
XX, doesn't it also mean that our question here, with "that", should modify "one" and give our answer "tells"?
Please if someone can advise on this, that'll be great.