In attempting to solve the problems caused by a lowering of

Question

In attempting to solve the problems caused by a lowering of the price of oil, oil companies operating in the North Sea have taken a variety of approaches,  which includes their reducing employment, using new technology to pump oil more efficiently  from smaller fields, and finding innovative ways to cut the cost of building and operating platforms.

(A) which includes their reducing employment, using new technology to pump oil more efficiently
(B) which includes reducing employment, using new technology to be more efficient in pumping oil
(C) which include reducing employment, using new technology to pump oil more efficiently
(D) which include the reduction of employment, their using new technology to pump oil more efficiently
(E) including a reduction of employment, their use of new technology to be more efficient at pumping oil

KevinRocci · Accepted Answer

Some good things to notice in this question: We are dealing with parallelism in a modifying phrase. List of things should send up a red flag to think about parallelism. The key to knowing what the structure of our list should be is outside of the underlined portion. The word "includes" is not plural. We only use "includes" for third person present. Is this third person here? Follow these tips to the right answer!

Let me know if I can help!

EducationAisle · Answer

which  modifies the  nearest grammatically eligible  word. In C, that word is  approaches . So, for the relative clause:  which include reducing employment, using new technology to pump oil more efficiently from smaller fields , the subject is  approaches .

p.s. Our book   SC Nirvana   discusses  which  modifiers, their application and examples in significant detail. If you can PM you email, I can send you the corresponding section.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Choice A:  Option A suffers from a subject-verb disagreement, as the singular verb "includes" has been used to refer to the plural noun "approaches". Thus, Option A is incorrect.

Choice B:  Option B suffers from that same error that Option A has. Thus, Option B is incorrect.

Choice C:  Option C maintains both subject-verb agreement and parallelism throughout the sentence. Thus, Option C is correct.

Choice D:  Option D suffers from a parallelism error, between the phrases "the reduction of employment" and "their using new technology" because "reduction" is a noun and "using" is a verb. Thus, Option D is incorrect.

Choice E:  Option E suffers from a parallelism error, between the phrases "reduction of employment", "use of new technology", and "finding innovative ways" because "reduction" and "use" are nouns and "finding" is a verb. Thus, Option E is incorrect.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

This question is based on Parallelism and Subject-Verb Agreement.

The relative pronoun ‘which’ refers to the phrase “variety of approaches”. Since the compound subject (variety of approaches) begins with a quantitative word ‘variety’, the verb agrees with the second noun in the phrase ‘approaches’. The appropriate verb form thus would be ‘include’ and not the singular form ‘includes’. So,  Options A and B  can be ruled out.

The last part of the sentence gives of a list of the approaches, so the three items in the list must be similar in structure. Option E lacks parallelism – “including a  reduction  of employment,  their use  of new technology to be more efficient at pumping oil from smaller fields, and  finding  innovative ways to cut the cost of building and operating platforms”.  Since the last item in the list is not underlined, it is non-negotiable, the manner in which the other two items are mentioned should be similar to the structure of the last item in the list. So, it should be “reducing…, using….., and finding”.  So,  Option E  can also be eliminated.

Between Options C and D, Option D lacks parallelism. “which include the  reduction  of employment,  their using  new technology to pump oil more efficiently from smaller fields, and  finding  innovative ways to cut the cost of building and operating platforms.” So,  Option D  can be eliminated.

Subject-Verb agreement and parallelism are maintained in Option C. It has the appropriate form of the verb and the three approaches are parallel in structure – “which include  reducing  employment,  using  new technology to pump oil more efficiently from smaller fields, and  finding  innovative ways to cut the cost of building and operating platforms”.

Therefore, C is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

kunaljain1701 · Answer

Hi kevin,
can u pls explain why variety of approaches needs a plural - include ??

subject of verb include is singular word -vareity and not plural word - approaches ; then y r we using include in the answer ?

pls help !!

kunal

KevinRocci · Answer

Howdy Kunal,

I think EducationAisle did a nice job of explaining why we use "include" instead of "includes." Although it may appear like the "which" modifies "variety," it is actually modifying "approaches." I think this should make sense if you think about it logically. If you look at the list of the things after the "which," do they describe "variety?" Can those things modify and explain "variety?" Or does it make more sense for the list of things to describe "approaches?" It makes more sense that they items listed are explaining and giving further detail about "approaches" and not about "variety."

Does that make sense?

Hope so! Happy studying and best of luck! :D

Cheers,

Kevin

Travy · Answer

I have a question based on this question:

Which of the following would be correct -

- have taken a group of managers, which include John, Ben, and Steve.

managers is plural and it provides a list, so it is very apparent that include should be in the plural form, but what about:

- have taken a group of managers, which includes John.

John is one person, so would the correct word be includes or would it still be include because managers is plural?

Abhishek009 · Answer

This question tests the correct use of  Parallelism / Modifier / S-V agreement  issue 
 
 In attempting to solve the problems caused by a lowering of the price of oil ,  oil companies   operating in the North Sea   have   taken a variety of   approaches  , which   include      reducing   employment,   using    new technology to pump oil more efficiently from smaller fields, and   finding    innovative ways to cut the cost of building and operating platforms.
  
Errors in the answer options highlighted in RED  ,  Correct answer must be (C)

daagh · Answer

The first thing to point out is that 'which' cannot follow managers; so whether it includes three people or one person, 'which' can only modify the group. However, in the 'approaches' case, which can logically refer to the multitude of approaches stated there, thus, faithfully subscribing to the touch rule of "which".

sanjeevsinha082 · Answer

A. Since there is more than one approach, plural form include is needed. 
B. Same as A 
C. Correct. 
D. Not parallel. 'the reduction of' is not parallel to 'their using'. 
E. Not parallel.

priyanshu14 · Answer

Dear EducationAisle bb GMATNinja egmat I am still not clear why "which" in question refers to "approaches" and Not "Variety of approaches". Also, please refer below question. Correct answer is E. Which refers to "tenure of Steve Jobs" and not "Steve Jobs" During the tenure of Steve Jobs, which was memorable as much for his dictatorial management style as for his groundbreaking product innovations, the growth of Apple exceeded any large technology company in the world. A. which was memorable as much for his dictatorial management style as for his groundbreaking product innovations, the growth of Apple exceeded B. anymemorable both for his dictatorial management style and his groundbreaking product innovations, the growth of Apple was exceeded by that of no other C. who was memorable for his dictatorial management style and his groundbreaking product innovations, the growth of Apple exceeded that of any D. who was memorable as much for his dictatorial management style as for his groundbreaking product innovations, Apple exceeded every other E. which was memorable as much for his dictatorial management style as for his groundbreaking product innovations, the growth of Apple exceeded that of any other EducationAisle , please mail the concerned chapter on priyanshu14@gmail.com

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi Priyanshu, notice that C states "which  include ". So, the plural verb "include" is an indication that "which" can only modify something "plural".

Since " Variety  of approaches" is singular, "which" cannot modify "variety".

"which" cannot modify "people" and hence, cannot modify "Steve Jobs".

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  priyanshu14 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, when the "comma + "who/whose/whom/which/where" construction refers to a noun phrase that includes "of", the construction refers to the phrase as a whole; for example "The King of Thailand, who was crowned last year, is well-liked." - here, "who" refers to the entire phrase "King of Thailand" and not just to "Thailand".

Further, "which" cannot refer to "Steve Jobs" because "which" cannot refer to human beings; the appropriate equivalent for humans is "who".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

EducationAisle · Answer

This is not correct. There are numerous official examples that use "which" to refer to the object of preposition "of".

The commission proposed  that funding for development of the park, which could be open to the public early next year, be  obtained through a local bond issue.  
- "which" is referring to "park"

The proliferation of so-called cybersquatters, people who register the Internet domain names of high-profile companies in hopes of reselling the rights to those names for a profit, led to  the passage in 1999 of the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, which allows companies to seek up to $100000 in damages against those who register domain names with the sole intent of selling  them later. 
- "which" is referring to "the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act"

In attempting to solve the problems caused by a lowering of the price of oil, oil companies operating in the North Sea have taken a variety of approaches,  which include reducing employment, using new technology to pump oil more efficiently  from smaller fields, and finding innovative ways to cut the cost of building and operating platforms. 
- "which" is referring to "approaches".

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