Forming stunning perches from which hikers can view an endless array

Question

Forming stunning perches from which hikers can view an endless array of forests and lakes, the high alpine sections of the Wind River mountain range remain barren regions where  little water or nutrients exist  to sustain plant or animal life.

(A) little water or nutrients exist
(B) little water or nutrients exists
(C) few nutrients and little water exists
(D) there is little available water or nutrients available
(E) there are few nutrients and little available water

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cdrectenwald · Answer

I like E here

(A) little water or nutrients exist - This option incorrectly suggests that both “little water” and “nutrients” are plural, but “little” indicates a singular amount of a non-count noun.

(B) little water or nutrients exists - This option incorrectly suggests that “little water” is singular but “nutrients” is plural, which doesn’t agree with the singular verb “exists.”

(C) few nutrients and little water exists - This option uses “few,” which correctly indicates that “nutrients” is a plural count noun, but the verb “exists” should be plural “exist” to agree with the compound subject “few nutrients and little water.”

(D) there is little available water or nutrients available - This option repeats “available” unnecessarily and the verb “is” does not agree with the plural “nutrients.”

(E) there are few nutrients and little available water - This option correctly uses “there are” to agree with the plural “nutrients” and the singular “little available water” follows the rule that “little” is used with non-count nouns.

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poojaarora1818 · Answer

Forming stunning perches from which hikers can view an endless array of forests and lakes, the high alpine sections of the Wind River mountain range remain barren regions where  little water or nutrients exist  to sustain plant or animal life.

(A) little water or nutrients exist Incorrect 
(B) little water or nutrients exists Incorrect 
(C) few nutrients and little water exists Incorrect 
(D) there is little available water or nutrients available Incorrect 
(E) there are few nutrients and little available water Correct  when a compound subject is connected by "or" the last noun in the subject is singular it takes or if it is plural it takes a plural verb. So, option E makes more sense

Bunuel · Answer

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:

This problem features multiple important Decision Points: the choice between “exist” and “exists”/“there is” and “there are”; the choice between “few” and “little”; and the choice between “and” and “or.” If you start with the subject-verb agreement decision points, you can eliminate answer choices B and C first. Since “nutrients” must agree with the verb (agreement by location), “exists” is incorrect and should be “exist.” In answer choice C there is a plural compound noun (nutrients and water) that does not agree with “exists.”

Choices A and D feature a subtle but critical diction error: you cannot have the adjective “little” modifying the noun “nutrients." Think of the logic there: what would constitute "little nutrients"? With a singular noun (such as 'water" or "food") little can mean "not a lot of." But when you place it in front of a plural noun, you're modifying each item and calling it "small" ("there are no little parts, just little actors" as the famous phrase goes). Importantly, when multiple nouns (such as "water" and "nutrients" here) are modified by the same adjective or phrase, you should check to ensure that the modifier can logically apply to all nouns in that series.

In answer choice E, “few” is properly put in front of “nutrients” and “little available” in front of water. There is also proper subject-verb agreement as well as the correct conjunction “and.”

The correct answer choice is E.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Forming stunning perches from which hikers can view an endless array

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