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Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested,

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Sajjad1994
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Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested, [#permalink] New post   08 Feb 2020, 07:55
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A
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E

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35% (medium)

Question Stats:

59% (01:10) correct 41% (01:21) wrong based on 310 sessions
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Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested, most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats.

(A) less than thirty have been tested, most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats

(B) most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats, fewer than thirty have been tested

(C) most of the less than thirty tested produced cancer in laboratory rats

(D) less than thirty of which have been tested, most of them produce cancer in laboratory rats

(E) fewer than thirty have been tested, and most of these produce cancer in laboratory rats

Source: Master GMAT
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E
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Re: Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested, [#permalink] New post   10 Feb 2020, 10:37
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Official Explanation

The original sentence improperly uses less instead of fewer in reference to a numerical quantity (the number of chemicals tested). Also, the modifier most of which is separated from its antecedent (thirty), resulting in confusion as to whether most of which refers to the thirty chemicals tested or the tests themselves. Choice (E) remedies both problems in the original sentence.

The correct answer is (E).
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Re: Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested, [#permalink] New post   08 Feb 2020, 11:28
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Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested, most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats.

(A) less than thirty have been tested, most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats - less than can not be used for countable noun

(B) most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats, fewer than thirty have been tested - Correct - Use of fewer and most of which modifying all the 1000 chemicals

(C) most of the less than thirty tested produced cancer in laboratory rats - less than can not be used for countable noun

(D) less than thirty of which have been tested, most of them produce cancer in laboratory rats - less than can not be used for countable noun

(E) fewer than thirty have been tested, and most of these produce cancer in laboratory rats - "these" is it modifying all the 1000 chemicals or those fewer than 30 chemicals - Incorrect
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Re: Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested, [#permalink] New post   29 May 2021, 12:42
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Sajjad1994 wrote:
Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested, most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats.

(A) less than thirty have been tested, most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats

(B) most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats, fewer than thirty have been tested

(C) most of the less than thirty tested produced cancer in laboratory rats

(D) less than thirty of which have been tested, most of them produce cancer in laboratory rats

(E) fewer than thirty have been tested, and most of these produce cancer in laboratory rats

Source: Master GMAT



Why E and not B.

What B says is that 1000 chemicals produce cancer in rats, and only 30 of these have been tested.
Most of 1000 chemicals produced cancer in rats might be right, but how did one come to that conclusion if only 30 have been tested.

The sequence is not right in B.
most of the 30 chemicals produced cancer because only 30 of them were tested.
Therefore E.

Also, never use less for any countable noun.
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Re: Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested, [#permalink] New post   30 May 2021, 03:28
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ERROR ANALYSIS -

1) use of 'which' is wrong - it needs to modify the immediately preceding noun
2) 'less' is used for uncountable nouns, for countable, 'few' is used

ANSWER CHOICE ANALYSIS -

A) use of 'which' is wrong - it needs to modify the immediately preceding noun, 'less' is used for uncountable nouns, for countable, 'few' is used
B) Wrong positioning of the clauses, as per the original sentence, fewer than 30 were tested, most of these produced cancer
C) 'less' is used for uncountable nouns, for countable, 'few' is used
D) 'less' is used for uncountable nouns, for countable, 'few' is used
E) CORRECT
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Re: Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested, [#permalink] New post   10 Feb 2020, 09:32
shameekv1989 wrote:
Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested, most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats.

(A) less than thirty have been tested, most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats - less than can not be used for countable noun

(B) most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats, fewer than thirty have been tested - Correct - Use of fewer and most of which modifying all the 1000 chemicals

(C) most of the less than thirty tested produced cancer in laboratory rats - less than can not be used for countable noun

(D) less than thirty of which have been tested, most of them produce cancer in laboratory rats - less than can not be used for countable noun

(E) fewer than thirty have been tested, and most of these produce cancer in laboratory rats - "these" is it modifying all the 1000 chemicals or those fewer than 30 chemicals - Incorrect


Even I arrived at B. Not sure what is the explanation here? E reverses the relationship. Even if it were true, wouldn't it need a past participle? The cancer surely occurs after the testing. The current sentence uses the simple present "produce". I'm kinda confused here.

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Re: Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested, [#permalink] New post   20 May 2021, 07:52
egmat please help
shouldn't the demonstrative pronoun 'these' be followed by the noun it modifies
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Re: Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested, [#permalink] New post   20 May 2021, 09:20
shameekv1989 wrote:
Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested, most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats.

(A) less than thirty have been tested, most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats - less than can not be used for countable noun

(B) most of which produce cancer in laboratory rats, fewer than thirty have been tested - Correct - Use of fewer and most of which modifying all the 1000 chemicals

(C) most of the less than thirty tested produced cancer in laboratory rats - less than can not be used for countable noun

(D) less than thirty of which have been tested, most of them produce cancer in laboratory rats - less than can not be used for countable noun

(E) fewer than thirty have been tested, and most of these produce cancer in laboratory rats - "these" is it modifying all the 1000 chemicals or those fewer than 30 chemicals - Incorrect















"most of which" needs to modify 30 chemicals not 1000
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Re: Of the 1,000 chemicals in coffee, less than thirty have been tested, [#permalink]
20 May 2021, 09:20
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