In good years, the patchwork of green fields that surround

Question

In good years, the patchwork of green fields that  surround the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of them  in the area just for the season.

(A) surround the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of them
(B) surrounds the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of whom are
(C) surround the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of who are
(D) surround the San Joaquin Valley town bustle with farm workers, many of which
(E) surrounds the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many are

almostfamous · Answer

In search for further evidence to support B, I found these information in the MGMAT SC book.

For your reference, the original problem and the first two alternatives are here:
-------------------------------
In good years, the patchwork of green fields that surround the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of them in the area just for the season.

(a) surround the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of them
(B) surrounds the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of whom are
-------------------------------

I have 4th edition of the MGMAT SC. On page 234, under "Modifiers: Exception to the Touch Rule"

1) A "mission-critical modifier falls between. This is modifier is often an Of-phrase that defines the noun. Example: He had a way OF DODGING OPPONENTS that impressed the scouts.

Without the Of-phrase, the sentence is meaningless.

In our problem, "patchwork" is meaningless without the of-phrase. So I would qualify this as a valid exception for the touch rule.

On page 236, under "subgroup modifiers"

Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF WHICH WERE only recently discovered 
Wrong: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF WHICH only recently discovered

In other words, this construction requires a verb. As A lacks a verb, I would conclude this ungrammatical, a la MGMAT.

daagh · Answer

Before we decide the subjects and their agreement with their corresponding verbs, let us refresh some facts and ask some questions.

1. What is the verb in question? “Surround” – 
2. What ‘surround’? It must be some plural subject. 
3. What are the available plural subjects prior to surround? There is only one plural subject i.e. ‘green fields’.

In addition, as per the relative pronoun  touch - rule,  the relative pronoun modifies the noun just before it and assumes all the characteristics of its gender and number.

So there can be no doubt that the noun phrase  ‘-green fields –'  is the subject of ‘surround’.

Let us now go to the next verb ‘bustles’. This is a singular verb and its subject has to be singular.

What singular subjects are there before ‘bustles? They are  the patch work  and  the town . But green fields are not even a contender because of its plurality.

The singular subject town is not a logical contender in the context, because the town is the object of the verb  surround.  We have to conclude that the ‘patch work’ is the only plausible subject of the verb ‘bustles’

I am interested in knowing any better logic than this .

stringworm · Answer

MichaelS,

I've seen so many conflicting explanations (including from GMAT instructors) concerning what "that" or "which" refers to following a prepositional phrase. You are a SC God! Can you please affirm or dispel the below (below the examples). I think it would really clear things up for a lot of people!

3 Popular examples (all the correct version):

In good years, the patchwork of green fields that surround the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of them in the area just for the season.

In an effort improve the quality of patient care, Dr. Lydia Temoscho is directing one of several clinical research projects that seek to determine how helpful psychological counseling is in supplementing the medical treatment of serious disease.

The use of lie detectors is based on the assumption that lying produces emotional reactions in an individual that, in turn, create unconscious physiological response.

1) That or which always refers to the first noun directly preceding it. (I'm 99.9% sure this is false)

2) That or which always refers to the entire noun phrase, and you should not pick any specific noun out of it.

3) That or which could refer to any noun in the noun phrase or the noun phrase as a whole, and you use the following verb to determine what the relative pronoun is referring to.

4) That or which could refer to any noun in the noun phrase or the noun phrase as a whole, and it is the reader's job to determine, based off what the sentence goes on to explain/describe, what the relative pronoun is referring to.

5) You can cross out the prepositional phrase when determining subject/verb agreement.

6) Contrary to what many believe, the relative pronoun that appears to prompt a subject/verb agreement issue, actually is rarely the cause of a SC split, and the error is usually something else.

DmitryFarber · Answer

Hmm, my answer is closest to #4, with a bit of 3 and 6 thrown in.

Let's use parentheses to clarify the meaning of your examples:

In good years, the patchwork (of green fields  ) bustles with farm workers, many of them in the area just for the season.
(By the way, I think this is a flawed problem, and not worthy of all the attention it gets on the forums.)

In an effort improve the quality of patient care, Dr. Lydia Temoscho is directing one (of several clinical research projects that seek to determine how helpful psychological counseling is in supplementing the medical treatment of serious disease).

The use of lie detectors is based on the assumption that lying produces emotional reactions (in an individual) that, in turn, create unconscious physiological responses. (I added a plural here; otherwise, you'd need to add "an" before "unconscious.")

. . . a patent for one (of Kirchoff's laws), an observation

So, in short, when you see a modifier following a prepositional phrase, there is no concrete rule saying whether the modifier applies to the original noun or to the object of the prepositional phrase. You need to use meaning to make the determination. As you said in #3, you may also use the following verb (among other clues) to help you decide. Here are a few more examples off the top of my head (all correct):

Police have captured one of a ring of drug smugglers who have been plaguing the area. (smugglers who)
Members of the committee who do not wish to vote may leave early. (Members . . . who)
The extensive network of caverns that lie beneath the city has yet to be thoroughly explored. (network . . . has yet, caverns that lie)
The price of steel, which had fluctuated wildly for many years, began a steady decline after the labor dispute. (price . . . which)

Notice that there isn't much ambiguity here. In each case, only one reading makes sense. You might make a case for "network (of caverns) that lies," but that's about it. If there is more than one valid way to read the sentence, there will probably be another split that makes the answer clear, or one of the choices will be a distinct departure from the intended meaning conveyed by the other choices.

I hope that helps. Dig up more examples for Supreme Court consideration if you like . . .

stringworm · Answer

haha. Well those are great examples and your response validated what I had believed, yet was uncertain of. Thank you very much. I hope more people see this relatively simple summary. I know I'm not the only one with these questions, especially seeing as the source of some of my confusion has been some of the explanations I've read.

The Supreme Court is just.

The Supreme Court is just.

daagh · Answer

Many have argued that the object pronoun ‘them’ may refer to either the fields or the workers. But, can it logically referto the fields? If we accept that premise, then we have to accept that the fields appear around the San Joaquin Valley town for the season, and then disappear or take a vacation in the non- season or in not so good years, and then reappear. Can this logic hold well?

On the contrary, in the context, we can assign such mobility only to workers; so I see no dilemma of ‘them’ referring to the fields.

Can we delve into these points? We can’t crack such hard nuts, unless there is an official version to this kind of hair- pullers.

DmitryFarber · Answer

Beware of certainty. I can come up with an exception to almost any rule you care to cite, and the GMAT is sometimes "flexible" (if you want to be nice) or inconsistent (if you don't). SC doesn't just test your ability to mechanically apply rules--you have to look at the sentence as a whole, consider the intended meaning, and prioritize. Some issues turn out not to be as important as they look. I've certainly seen a problem on the real test in which every single answer choice violated something that we state as a rule. Sadly, the GMAT makes the rules, and we have to follow along after them trying to explain their decisions. Most of the time, they are consistent and sensible, but every now and then they're not!

sayantanc2k · Answer

1. Members of an organization are protesting...correct
2. Group of girls is partying... correct

However the subject question is somewhat different from the examples you have given.

The patchwork of green fields  is singular.

Nonetheless the modifier  that surround the San Joaquin Valley town  refers to  green fields , which is plural - the relative pronoun  that  is used to refer to  fields , not  patchwork . Hence the usage of plural verb  surround  is alright.

The main subject of the sentence is  patchwork , which is singular. Hence it takes the main singular verb  bustles .

msk0657 · Answer

Meaning : There are some green fields surround the S J V valley and here farmers are working out and many of them are here just for the season.

The patch work can't surround the town but it is green fields that surround the town and here some patch work is taking place. So, options B and E get eliminated.

In A : Them correctly refers to farmers.
 C : Who must refer to the subject and Whom to the object, here farmers are object.
 D : Which cannot refer to people but instead it can refer to place.

IMO A is the correct answer.

cledgard · Answer

“that surround the San Joaquin Valley town” is ambiguous because the “ that ” could refer to “ patchwork ” or “ green fields .”

In A the verb surround is plural, so “ that ” must refer to “ green fields ”. In this case, does “many of them” refer to “workers” or to “green fields?”

In B surrounds is singular, so “ that ” must refer to “ patchwork ”. “Many of whom” clearly refers to “workers”

I believe that B has more clarity than A. On the other hand, “that surrounds the San Joaquin Valley town” (choice B) refers to “patchwork” instead of “green fields”,  changing the meaning of the original sentence .

So I would   choose A   because meaning is essential.

rajatkataria14@gmail.com · Answer

I think except (a )and (d) all are separating two independent clauses with comma. D contains which so A wins

sayantanc2k · Answer

Only option E has two independent clauses - in all others, the latter clause is dependent.

This is a question on subgroup modifier - the two correct structures of such modifiers are:

main clause (ending with a noun to be modified), many/some/all etc. of  them  + NO verb
main clause (ending with a noun to be modified), many/some/all etc. of  whom (person) /which (thing)   + verb

With the above structure in mind, we are left with options A and B only.

Now the task reduces to determine whether singular or plural verb is correct. (already discussed in the thread.)

AdityaHongunti · Answer

In good years, the patchwork of green fields that surround the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of them in the area just for the season.

(C) surround the San Joaquin Valley town bustles with farm workers, many of who are

SaraiGMAT   EducationAisle   DmitryFarber   generis 
please clear my doubt :
Who - refers to te subject / the doer of the action
Whom- refer to the object / receiver of the action

In this example , the reason i chose C is that "many of who ARE IN the area.. " . Here "are" is helping verb so does "who " act as a subject her?? I mean when we ask a questio we would say : who are in the area?? 
i agree that "whom " modifies the noun "farmer, which itself is an object , but the latter part in the "underlined part "in option C appropriately use "are" and thus this structure validates the usage of "who" . 
for eg : Patrick punished Marco who in fact was innocent. James talked to Lidia, who is an expert on the topic. (Here Lidia is the object , but the modifier that follows is using "who") 
Please correct me .

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi Aditya,  whom  is an  object  pronoun while  who  is the  subject  pronoun.

An easy  rule  to remember is that whenever a pronoun appears as part of  prepositional phrase , the pronoun always takes the  object  form.

In the phrase  many of whom , clearly the pronoun  whom  appears as part of  prepositional phrase  (  of  whom ) and hence takes the  object  form (rather than the  subject  form  who ).

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  Pronoun  case  , its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

AdityaHongunti · Answer

EducationAisle 
Thank you for your response.
My doubt is regarding the helping verb "are" after the pronoun 
For eg: the judge punished Michelle, who was in fact innocent

Here "who" is used . Which is followed by helping verb "is" .now why isn't "whom" used here?? Please explain. Thank you

Posted from my mobile device

EducationAisle · Answer

Because in this case,  who  is  not  part of  prepositional phrase !

So, following sentences (though not great from a  meaning  perspective) illustrate correct usage of pronouns:

The judge punished people  who  were very educated.

The judge punished people, all  of whom  were very educated.

Neha2050 · Answer

Its "patchwork of green fields", isnt this a prepositional clause and hence the subject would be patchwork which is singular thus followed by "surrounds" supporting SV agreement?
Pls clarify

AjiteshArun · Answer

Of  green fields   is a prepositional phrase (  green  fields    is a noun phrase).    Patchwork  of green fields   is a noun phrase. That's why the main verb ( bustles ) is singular (because  patchwork  is singular).

The  surrounds  however, depends on whatever the  that  refers to (the  that  could refer either to    patchwork  of green fields   or to   green  fields   ).

pulinagarwal · Answer

Per my understanding the subject here is patchwork. Anything that is after 'of' is a prepositional phrase and hence can not be the subject. So the correct verb form would be 'surrounds'. Between option B and E, option B is better as we need an object pronoun i.e. 'whom'.

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  pulinagarwal , words in a prepositional phrase cannot be the subject  in the clause that prepositional phrase is a part of .

In this sentence, the two clauses are:

(i)  In good years, the patchwork of green fields bustles with farm workers, many of them in the area just for the season

(ii)  that surround the San Joaquin Valley town

Notice that  patchwork of green fields  is part of clause (i) and hence, in clause (i),  green fields   cannot  be the subject (since it is part of prepositional phrase). Hence, the subject is  singular  (patchwork) and so, we use  singular  verb  bustles  in this clause.

On the other hand, in clause (ii), whether the verb should be  surround  or  surrounds , merely depends on what  that  is modifying. In this case, the nearest word is  green fields  and there is  no  reason why  that  cannot modify  green fields . Hence, the correct verb in clause (ii) is  surround .

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  this issue , its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

In good years, the patchwork of green fields that surround

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

In good years, the patchwork of green fields that surround

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