Despite all attempts to curb the damages, the long-foreseen water and

Question

Despite all attempts to curb the damages, the long-foreseen  water and oil crisis are about to bring the country's economy to  its knees.

(A) water and oil crisis are about to bring the country's economy to
(B) water and oil crisis is about to bring the country's economy down
(C) water and oil crises are about to bring the country's economy to
(D) water crisis is about to bring the country's economy to
(E) water and oil crisis is about to bring the country's economy down to

Nidzo · Answer

(A) water and oil crisis are about to bring the country's economy to
 The singular 'Crisis' does not agree with the plural verb "are".

(B) water and oil crisis is about to bring the country's economy down
 'down its knees' is incorrect. You bring something to its knees.

(C) water and oil crises are about to bring the country's economy to
 Correct. The plural 'crises' and plural verb 'are' agree. This choice also ends with the correct, 'bring the country' economy to its knees'.

(D) water crisis is about to bring the country's economy to
 Although this sentence is correct, it excludes the oil crisis which changes the sentence's meaning.

(E) water and oil crisis is about to bring the country's economy down to
 Something is brought to its knees, not down to its knees. It is redundant to use 'down' in this instance.

Answer C

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Despite all attempts to curb the damages, the long-foreseen  water and oil crisis are about to bring the country's economy to  its knees.

(A) water and oil crisis are about to bring the country's economy to

Incorrect.

This answer choice is grammatically incorrect. The singular subject  crisis  does not agree with the plural verb  are .

What helps us identify this question as a Subject Verb Agreement question as well as identify this mistake is the following Stop Sign:

A pseudo-plural singular subject

Crisis is a confusing word. It end with -s, which makes us think of it as a plural subject, but it is, in fact, singular.

Therefore, there is also no reason to think that the water crisis and oil crisis are one crisis. Think of what the plural word for crisis is.

(B) water and oil crisis is about to bring the country's economy down

Incorrect.

The subject  water and oil crises , does not agree with the singular verb  is .

In addition, to say  bring the economy down to its knees  is redundant.

(C) water and oil crises are about to bring the country's economy to

This answer choice corrects the original Subject Verb Agreement mistake, by changing the singular subject  crisis  to the plural subject  crises , to match the plural verb  are .

Sometimes a mistake can be corrected by the substitution of a single letter ( crisis - crises ). Keep your eyes peeled for every small change!

(D) water crisis is about to bring the country's economy to

Incorrect.

While this answer choice corrects the original Subject Verb Agreement mistake, it changes the meaning of the original sentence by omitting the words  and oil .

(E) water and oil crisis is about to bring the country's economy down to

Incorrect.

This answer choice adds the word  down , which creates redundancy.

In addition, there is no reason to think that the  water crisis  and  oil crisis  are one crisis.

sanjitscorps18 · Answer

(A) water and oil crisis are about to bring the country's economy to
 --> looks like either it is a single crisis of water and oil or illogically consider that water would bring down the country's economy

(B) water and oil crisis is about to bring the country's economy down
 --> looks like either it is a single crisis of water and oil or illogically consider that water would bring down the country's economy

(C) water and oil crises are about to bring the country's economy to
 --> SV agreement. Subject is two different "crises" with plural verb "are"

(D) water crisis is about to bring the country's economy to
 --> "oil crisis no more" leads to meaning change

(E) water and oil crisis is about to bring the country's economy down to
 --> looks like either it is a single crisis of water and oil or illogically consider that water would bring down the country's economy

--> "economy to its knees"  is sufficient

Option C

Despite all attempts to curb the damages, the long-foreseen water and

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Despite all attempts to curb the damages, the long-foreseen water and

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My Rewards