In the United States, some 55 percent of the labor force

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION


• HIGHLIGHTS

This question tests countable and uncountable nouns.

The question may also test your willingness to choose an answer that has no grammar issues but contains a word you do not recognize: some.
Some used in this way means "approximately" or "about."
Some is not an indefinite pronoun in this sentence.
I say more about this word after the POE.

• QUICK POE

1) we can count workers. We use fewer than, not less than. Eliminate B and D.
2) labor force is an uncountable, collective, and singular noun. It thus takes the verb IS, not are. Eliminate C and E.

By POE, the answer is A.

• LONGER POE

THE PROMPT


THE OPTIONS

• I see no issues
• some?
-- when some is placed before a number or quantity, some means about or approximately
-- some is not an indefinite pronoun in this sentence
• labor force is a singular collective noun—and thus properly takes the verb is
• workers are countable. We use fewer than for countable nouns.
KEEP

• labor force is singular and requires the verb is, not are
• workers are countable. Countable = fewer. We need fewer than 100 workers.
ELIMINATE B

• labor force, singular, requires is, not are
ELIMINATE C

• companies are not people; companies cannot be referred to as who. The correct phrase is "by companies that"
• less workers is incorrect

• easiest error to spot: labor force is singular. The verb should be IS, not are.
• labor force, though composed of people, can take that or who as a relative pronoun. (Just a heads up.)
• There are is a disaster. It creates nonsense.
-- in this kind of construction ("there are" is called an "expletive"), the subject is not there.
The subject is after the IS/ARE that follows there
-- There are 55 percent of a collective noun that itself is followed by a relative clause with a verb in it. Huh? Babble.
-- I cannot invert this sentence. (Sometimes expletive sentences cannot be inverted.)
When I try to invert the sentence, I lose one of the are verbs and end up with fragment.
Fifty-five percent of the labor force [are?] who are employed by companies with fewer than 100 employees. Ouch.
• this sentence is a hot mess. We need one reason to get rid of it. We have a few.
• as always, compare to (A). No contest. We might not know what this "some" is doing, but the rest of the sentence contains no errors and is intelligible.
ELIMINATE E

The answer is (A)

• NOTES

Percent of is singular or plural depending on the noun.

When percent of precedes a singular noun, the verb is singular.
Fifty percent of the pie was eaten.
When percent of precedes a plural noun, the verb is plural.
Fifty percent of the cookies were eaten.

Labor force
-- is singular. It is similar to committee, jury, faculty, and team.
-- if you are unsure about whether a collective noun is singular or plural, choose singular
-- speakers of British English, be a little bit careful.
Collective nouns are usually (or often) plural in British English, but not on the GMAT (and not in most standard U.S. formal writing, either).

Some 55 percent means about or approximately 55 percent.
See
Oxford Dictionary online proxy, definition #3 HERE.
Cambridge Dictionary online, HERE
Merriam-Webster Dictionary online, #3 of 6, HERE and usage guide HERE

Correct: Some 11,000 Kurdish soldiers, men and women, died in the war against ISIS.
Correct: Some 350 actors auditioned for that movie role.

If an aspirant found the errors in B, C, D, and E but had never seen "some" used in this way, the aspirant would, I hope, take a deep breath and say,
"Self, subject/verb errors are fatal. Less for countable nouns is fatal error.
I have no idea what this 'some' word is doing, but the two undeniable errors are fixed in option A. Mark (A)."
Or, "I think that 'some' is an indefinite pronoun, indicates an unknown quantity, and should not be placed before a certain quantity; however, indefinite pronouns are slippery. I will mark (A)."

Whatever it takes.

COMMENTS

satya2029 , 11manish11 , and arcKnight , welcome to SC Butler. (And arcKnight , welcome to GMAT Club.)

As always, I am glad to see familiar posters, too.

(Just in case: if you have been watching but not posting, please, join us. )

I knew that this question would force some of you into a dilemma between four sentences with clear errors, on one hand, and another with what seems like a probable error (some) but gets the other two errors right.

Try to think strategically. We know s/v is being tested. We know fewer/less than is being tested.
And maybe we think that some/about is being tested.

So we get the choices down to A and C.
Which of these two do you know better: that subjects must agree with verbs or exactly how some works?
(Please, say the former.)

Kudos go to correct answers with good explanations.