New Jersey s is one of the five highest number of reported cases of Ly

Question

New Jersey’s is one of the five highest number of reported  cases of Lyme disease in the United States.

(A) New Jersey’s is one of the five highest number of reported
(B) New Jersey’s is one of the five highest numbers in reporting
(C) New Jersey has a report of one of the five highest numbers of
(D) New Jersey has one of the five highest numbers of reported
(E) New Jersey reports one of the five highest number of

DmitryFarber · Accepted Answer

We can't say a choice is wrong for "changing the meaning" unless it's very clear that the new meaning is wrong. There's a simpler problem with E: the singular "number" doesn't work with "five highest."

sudeep · Answer

it should be New jersey 'has' not 'is' so A and B are gone C changes meaning (report and reported cases) are different. also if you say that reported cases implies that cases are in report( not really

) still you are not sure whether one report is used or more for the cases(*reported

*). D is correct E as Rashmi said one of (plural) is required

learner · Answer

530. New Jersey’s is one of the five highest number of reported cases of Lyme disease in the United States.

(A) New Jersey’s is one of the five highest number of reported is -  's + is awkward 
(B) New Jersey’s is one of the five highest numbers in reporting - 's + is awkward
(C) New Jersey has a report of one of the five highest numbers -  incorrect grammar  
(D) New Jersey has one of the five highest numbers of reported -  correct 
 (E) New Jersey reports one of the five highest number of - meaning changes - New Jersey doesn't report

OA pls.

JubtaGubar · Answer

D

A - wrong use of possesive, numberS should be plural, because 5 numbers are discussed, not 1 highest.
B - wrong use of possesive
C - awkward
D - no possesive, clear meaning, plural in numbers. CORRECT
E - changes the meaning

Mahmud6 · Answer

In the following link it is said that the expression the numbers of.. is almost always incorrect.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/having-more- ... 96658.html

But, here 'the numbers of' is used in OA. Need expert opinion.

AjiteshArun · Answer

The sentence is referring to more than one number, and the plural of  number  is  numbers . It's therefore natural to use  the five highest numbers of  here. So the sentence is essentially saying that there are 5 numbers at the top, and New Jersey has one of them (one of those 5 numbers).

Verbal33 · Answer

(A) New Jersey’s is one of the five highest number of reported
 New Jersey's : incorrect. Its not providing the whole information. when we read it we think what exactly it is talking about?

(B)  New Jersey’s  is one of the five highest numbers in reporting
Same as A

(C) New Jersey has a report of one of the five highest numbers of
This one is c hanging the meaning . NJ has a report means it is having a report of something but we are talking about the whole US in which NJ has reported more cases.

(D) New Jersey has one of the five highest numbers of reported
Meaning wise and grammatically  correct.

(E) New Jersey reports one of the five highest number of
Reports: The use of simple present says that this is a general fact. But this can no be the general fact. Use of  simple present tense  is incorrect.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

The awkwardness of the possessive in the question gives it away. 
The fact that it is a  singular number  is also another clue. 
For instance, it should ideally be ‘New Jersey’s numbers are one of the five highest…

Keeping this in mind, we can  eliminate Options A and B.

Option C  has three ‘of’s in it, making it awkward. This option does not make logical sense. We can  eliminate  this. 
(Although this is not to say that we should eliminate options with repetitive propositions)

Option E  says ‘five highest  number ’ which is incorrect. We can  eliminate  this.

This leaves us with  Option D  which is the best option.

Hope this helps!

emcheeks · Answer

New Jersey’s is one of the five highest number of reported  cases of Lyme disease in the United States.

(A) New Jersey’s is one of the five highest number of reported

When it says "New Jersey's", we should expect similar phrases that specify what " 's " substituted for such as "Georgia's number", "Alabama's reported number of cases". But we didn't see any of those. 
 
(B) New Jersey’s is one of the five highest numbers in reporting

same as A

(C) New Jersey has a report of one of the five highest numbers of

"has a report" changes the meaning.

(D) New Jersey has one of the five highest numbers of reported

Correct .

(E) New Jersey reports one of the five highest number of

"reports" changes the meaning.

vasuca10 · Answer

VeritasKarishma  Mam Kindly explain between Options D and Option E

KarishmaB · Answer

When you talk about a bunch, you use plural such as "top ten contestants".

So you need to say "five highest numbers", not "five highest number".

So you need to say "NJ reports one of the five highest  numbers  ..." 
Hence (E) is incorrect.

No such issues with (D).

"NJ has one of the five highest numbers of reported cases" 
or "NJ reports one of the five highest numbers of cases" 
both are fine.

Vatsal7794 · Answer

Hi Experts

GMATNinja   VeritasKarishma   EducationAisle   ChrisLele   mikemcgarry   AjiteshArun   egmat   sayantanc2k   RonPurewal   DmitryFarber   MagooshExpert   avigutman   EMPOWERgmatVerbal   MartyTargetTestPrep   ExpertsGlobal5  other experts

In Option A let's suppose there was "numbers" instead of "number" . Will it be correct then?

What I thought is "New Jersey’s is one of the five highest number of reported cases of Lyme disease ...."
Can also be written as "New Jersey reported cases is one of the five highest number of reported cases of Lyme disease..."

Is it correct assumption?

Thanks

Vatsal7794 · Answer

Hi Experts

GMATNinja   VeritasKarishma   EducationAisle   ChrisLele   mikemcgarry   AjiteshArun   egmat   sayantanc2k   RonPurewal   DmitryFarber   MagooshExpert   avigutman   EMPOWERgmatVerbal   MartyTargetTestPrep   ExpertsGlobal5  other experts

In Option A let's suppose there was "numbers" instead of "number" . Will it be correct then?

What I thought is "New Jersey’s is one of the five highest number of reported cases of Lyme disease ...."
Can also be written as "New Jersey reported cases is one of the five highest number of reported cases of Lyme disease..."

Is it correct assumption?

Thanks

Vatsal7794 · Answer

Hi Experts

Good Evening

GMATNinja   VeritasKarishma   EducationAisle   ChrisLele   mikemcgarry   AjiteshArun   egmat   sayantanc2k   RonPurewal   DmitryFarber   MagooshExpert   avigutman   EMPOWERgmatVerbal   MartyTargetTestPrep   ExpertsGlobal5   IanStewart 
 other experts

In Option A let's suppose there was "numbers" instead of "number" . Will it be correct then?

What I thought is "New Jersey’s is one of the five highest number of reported cases of Lyme disease ...."
Can also be written as "New Jersey reported cases is one of the five highest number of reported cases of Lyme disease..."

Is it correct assumption?

Thanks

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  Vatsal7794 ,

The possessive in option A introduces a lot of ambiguity. But in your sentence, the subject is  cases , which is plural, but the verb is  is , which is singular.

This is option A with the obvious error removed ( five highest number  changed to  five highest number s  ):
1.  New Jersey’s number (of reported cases of Lyme disease) is one of the five highest numbers of reported cases of Lyme disease in the United States.

Would the GMAT find the use of  number  acceptable? Also, the phrase  New Jersey's number of cases  is most likely acceptable, but is it better than  New Jersey has... ? We may not be able to get to a definite yes/no here, and that's one of the reasons that taking calls on modified versions of official options can be somewhat risky.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem: 
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that the number of cases of Lyme disease reported in New Jersey is one of the five highest in the United States.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Awkwardness/Redundancy

A: 
1/ This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "one of the five highest number"; the use of the singular noun "number" leads to an incoherent meaning, as comparative/superlative forms (the superlative "highest" in this case) can logically only be applied if multiple elements are referred to; the intended meaning is that the number of cases of Lyme disease reported in New Jersey is one of the five highest in the United States.
2/ Option A uses the needlessly indirect construction "New Jersey’s is", leading to awkwardness.

B: 
1/ This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "in reporting"; the construction of this phrase leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that the number of cases of Lyme disease reported in New Jersey is one of the five highest in the United States.
2/ Option B uses the needlessly indirect construction "New Jersey’s is", leading to awkwardness.

C: 
1/ This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "has a report of"; the construction of this phrase leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that the number of cases of Lyme disease reported in New Jersey is one of the five highest in the United States.

D:   Correct. 
1/ The sentence formed by Option D uses the phrases "one of the five highest numbers" and "reported cases", conveying the intended meaning - that the number of cases of Lyme disease reported in New Jersey is one of the five highest in the United States.
2/ Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

E:  
1/ This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "one of the five highest number"; the use of the singular noun "number" leads to an incoherent meaning, as comparative/superlative forms (the superlative "highest" in this case) can logically only be applied if multiple elements are referred to; the intended meaning is that the number of cases of Lyme disease reported in New Jersey is one of the five highest in the United States.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

New Jersey s is one of the five highest number of reported cases of Ly

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New Jersey s is one of the five highest number of reported cases of Ly

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