As a result of the ground-breaking work of Barbara McClintock, many

Question

As a result of the ground-breaking work of Barbara McClintock, many scientists now believe that all of the information encoded in  50,000 to 100,000 of the different genes found in a human cell are contained in merely  three percent of the cell’s DNA.

(A) 50,000 to 100,000 of the different genes found in a human cell are contained in merely

(B) 50,000 to 100,000 of the human cell’s different genes are contained in a mere

(C) the 50,000 to 100,000 different genes found in human cells are contained in merely

(D) 50,000 to 100,000 of human cell’s different genes is contained in merely

(E) the 50,000 to 100,000 different genes found in a human cell is contained in a mere

GMAT Paper Test (Test Code 25), 1995

Practice Question  
Question No.: SC 7
Page: 7

https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/09/science/biologists-seek-the-words-in-dna-s-unbroken-text.html

Most astonishing to researchers has been the awareness that only a tiny fraction of DNA seems to be devoted to telling the cell how to survive and reproduce. Scientists believe that all the information inscribing  the 50,000 to 100,000 different genes found in a human cell is contained in a mere  3 percent of the cell's DNA.

ChrisLele · Accepted Answer

As a result of the ground-breaking work of Barbara McClintock, many scientists now believe that all of the information encoded in 50,000 to 100,000 of the different genes found in a human cell are contained in merely three percent of the cell’s DNA.

(A) 50,000 to 100,000 of the different genes found in a human cell are contained in merely
(B) 50,000 to 100,000 of the human cell’s different genes are contained in a mere
(C) the 50,000 to 100,000 different genes found in human cells are contained in merely
(D) 50,000 to 100,000 of human cell’s different genes is contained in merely
(E) the 50,000 to 100,000 different genes found in a human cell is contained in a mere

There is a subtle 3:2 split between ‘are’ and ‘is.’ (A), (B), and (C) have ‘are’ near the word human cell, and (D) and (E) have ‘is.’

If we look for the subject of this verb, we can trace it all the way back to ‘all of the information.’ ‘All’ is one of those indefinite pronouns in which the number of the subject is determined by the subject that comes after the preposition ‘all.’

Here that subject is ‘information’ which is singular. Therefore, we can eliminate the ‘are’ answer choices (A), (B) and (C).

Next, notice ‘the’ next to the numbers (which according to this thread most have ☺). The use of ‘the’ slightly changes the meaning.

The phrase ’50,000 to 100,000 of the different genes’ implies that this range is not the total number of genes in a human cell. From the meaning of the sentence, it needs to be clear that 50,000 to 100,000 are the total number of genes found in the human cell. Therefore, we need ‘the,’ and the answer is (E).

beckee529 · Answer

mere is an adjective that modifies a noun: here we have mere three percent
merely is an adverb so a verb should follow: ex. merely asking

goalsnr · Answer

E
"Information"is singular and hence "is" is required ->A,B,C are out.
"merely" in D is incoorect

financeguy · Answer

That's a good one. Can someone highlight the mere / merely concept in detail?

daagh · Answer

The usage of the definite article ‘ the ’ is one key to the right answer. The text means to say that the each human cell contains in all some 50,000 to 100,000 genes. (That is all, no more). This entirety is brought out by the use of the definite article. Choices which do not use ‘ the ’ mean that only 
50,000 to 100,000 thousand genes of possibly a higher number than that are contained in a cell. 
This critical difference leaves us only with choices C and E. 
Information is a singular noun and therefore  ‘is contained’  is the suitable verb. E is the choice.

nimrod · Answer

E for me...
A, B, C are incorrect because information is singular.. For this reason use of 'is' is recommended....
D is out because 'merely' is an adverb modifying a noun...
E correctly uses 'mere' .i.e. an adjective for the noun....

itsnotover · Answer

My pick is E.
A, B, C are ruled out because they are plural.
D is wrong because, 'merely' is an adverb as given above; mere is preferred. I think there would be a good reason for "The"...though it make sense as it is in E..I am not sure how to explain.

PrashantPonde · Answer

Grammatical difference between them -  Merely is adverb  (used to modify verbs only) whereas  Mere is adjective  (used to modify nouns or noun phrases).
 Merely:  Last night he  merely  shared his opinion. (Modifies verb "shared")
 Mere:  Last night he shared his opinion in  mere  two lines. (modifies noun "Two words")

In this SC problem, the use of  "merely"  is improper as it is trying to modify the noun phrase "three percent of the cell’s DNA". Use of  "mere"  is more appropriate here.

HTH!

Zarrolou · Answer

Responding to a PM:

In my experience I've never found a SC based entirely on "the" and on its usage. I guess you eliminated A B C because of "are", and now you are left with D and E.

A difference between those two is "merely" vs "mere", and since this modifier is refered to a noun, an adj is necessary (and not an adverb).
 And we should base our decision on this fact.

"The" in this case however gives us a different meaning of the sentence: " the  50,000 to 100,000 different genes" tells us that there are 50-100,000 genes in the cells => it's good info, it adds value to the discovery.
But again, I would NOT base my decision only on the precence of "the".

pqhai · Answer

IMO, E
Here my 2 cents.
"All of the information" is singular, so A, B, C are out because of "are".
Between D and E. D is wrong because "information encoded  in 50,000 to 100,000 of  X" is not as good as "information encoded  in  the  50,000 to 100,000 X ". In addition, the use of "the" is correct.
E is correct.

nhattruong1302 · Answer

As a result of the ground-breaking work of Barbara McClintock, many scientists now believe that  all of the information  encoded in 50,000 to 100,000 of the different genes found in a human cell are contained in merely  three percent  of the cell’s DNA.

(A)  50,000 to 100,000 of the different genes  found in a human cell  are  contained in  merely

(B)  50,000 to 100,000 of  the human cell’s different genes  are  contained in a mere

(C) the 50,000 to 100,000 different genes found in human cells  are  contained in  merely

(D)  50,000 to 100,000 of  human cell’s different genes is contained in  merely

(E) the 50,000 to 100,000 different genes found in a human cell is contained in a mere

JJakeRRoberts · Answer

1) All the information - Use of determiner - Information here is treated as single entity - so singular. So A,B,C are out.
2) three percent is a noun, so it needs an adjective, not an adverb. So D is out.
3) Answer = E.

HMC · Answer

(A) 50,000 to 100,000 of the different genes found in a human cell are contained in  merely 
(B) 50,000 to 100,000 of  the human cell’s different genes  are contained in a mere
(C) the 50,000 to 100,000 different genes found in human  cells  are contained in merely
(D) 50,000 to 100,000  of human cell’s different  genes is contained in merely
(E) the 50,000 to 100,000 different genes found in a human cell is contained in a mere - CORRECT

Is my analysis right...?

sayantanc2k · Answer

It would be faster to eliminate on the basis of splits, and splits can always be found at the beginning and at the end of the underlined part. If we get a 3:2 split ( as in the case above), we may get to the answer fast.

In the example above, the splits that can be observed immediately are as follows:

beginning of the underlined part: no "the" (A,B, D), "the" (C,E)... 2:3 split.Once we recognise that "the" is required (since a  definite  set of genes are referred to), then we can eliminate A,B and D and examine just C and E.

end of the underlined part: "merely" (A,C,D) and "mere" (B, E).. again 2:3 split. Once we recognise that an adjectve, not an adverb, is required, we can eliminate A,C and D and examine just B and E.

We see above that E is the only possible right answer.

Sometimes it would be possible to answer even without reading the main sentence or the answer choices at all (as in this case), although not reading the question at all is not recommended.

as03691 · Answer

The "50,000 to 100,000" are unique (among the supposedly many more) genes and thus, "the 50,000..." is the correct usage. This boils it down to C and E.
"Three percent..." is a noun and hence, an adjective (not an adverb) is needed for modifying it. Thus, C is incorrect because of "merely".
E.

Ss6479118 · Answer

A B and C can be discounted as they all share an SV disagreement, they use ‘are’ to refer to ‘information. Between the remaining two options there is a very subtle distinction that will decide the correct answer. E puts a ‘the’ in front of ’50,000 to 100,000’ which implies these are the total number of genes in a human cell. This is the correct meaning, so E is the correct answer.

Harsh2111s · Answer

VeritasKarishma   GMATNinja   AjiteshArun 
I have one doubt regarding below highlighted parts.
many scientists now believe that all of the information encoded in

(A)  50,000 to 100,000 of the different genes  found in a human cell are contained in merely
(B) the 50,000 to 100,000 different genes  found in a human cell is contained in a mere

Apart from plural-singular difference, can we say that
 in option A : information coded in 50,000 to 100,000 ( doesn't make sense)

while in part B: information coded in the 50000 to 100000 different genes(make much more sense)

Can above reasoning be true or meaning of both the statement is same ?

GMATNinja · Answer

It looks like you are actually comparing choice (A) to choice (E)?

See if  this post  (particularly the last part) by  ChrisLele  helps!

ballest127 · Answer

Hi experts,

I have a question about the usage of mere/merely + some percentage of number.

I understand that mere is an adjective , so it is correct to use a mere 3% of the cell’s DNA, as seen in this official question.

However, I have also seen the usage of approximate/approximately with some percentage.
But all that I can remember, it's used as approximately with some percentage, such as approximately 3%.

I tried to find the official question that have approximate(ly) as in underlined portion, but I could not find; just only a official question whose "approximately" not in underlined portion: as followed

Paper production accounts for approximately 40 percent of the world's industrial use of wood, and the market for paper is growing faster than it is for all major wood products.
https://gmatclub.com/forum/paper-produc ... 02565.html

My question is why, in the above question, it's not a approximate (adjective), rather than approximately(adverbs) , be used here?

Please explain.
Thank you very much.

As a result of the ground-breaking work of Barbara McClintock, many

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