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A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult

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A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 11 Sep 2021, 04:41
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A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult by numerous obstacles, not the least of which is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes.

(A) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes

(B) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes

(C) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes

(D) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes

(E) is the challenges of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes

Show SpoilerOE
Both the decreased atmospheric pressure and the low oxygen availability are things to which the climber must adjust, and the sentence needs to express that one obstacle is the challenge of adjusting to both of these things.

Since this predicate nominative (essentially, Y in the sentence X is Y) is singular, we need "is," not "are," so B and D are out.

(E) is out because "is the challenges" doesn't work.

Finally, both the decreased atmospheric pressure and the low oxygen availability characterize very high altitudes; since the verb has a plural subject, (C) is out (we couldn't say "they characterizes").

(A) is the only answer choice in which all subjects agree with all verbs.
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A

Originally posted by notrandom on 28 Sep 2013, 04:11.
Last edited by Bunuel on 11 Sep 2021, 04:41, edited 1 time in total.
Edited the question.
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   28 Sep 2013, 07:23
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notrandom wrote:
A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult by numerous obstacles, not the least of which is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes.

A) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes
B) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes
C) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes
D) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes
E) is the challenges of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes


A) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes
Correct is correctly agrees with the challenge and characterize agrees with altitudes

B) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes
Use of are is incorrect. Hence incorrect

C) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes
characterizes does not agree with altitudes. Hence incorrect

D) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes
use of are and characterizes introuduces S-V errors. Hence incorrect

E) is the challenges of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes
Here challenges is plural so use of is is incorrect. Hence incorrect
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   18 Jan 2020, 02:05
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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

notrandom wrote:
A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult by numerous obstacles, not the least of which is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes.

(A) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes

(B) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes

(C) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes

(D) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes

(E) is the challenges of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes


Choice A: Option A maintains proper subject-verb agreement throughout the sentence. Thus, Option A is correct.

Choice B: In Option B, we see a clear subject-verb disagreement between "are" and "challenge". Remember, although there are two elements of this challenge mentioned, the adjustment and low oxygen availability, the challenge in question is a singular combination of both. Thus, Option B is incorrect.

Choice C: In Option C, we see a subject-verb disagreement between "characterizes" and "the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability". Remember, when connected by an "and", singular nouns become plural. Thus, Option C is incorrect.

Choice D: Option D features the same subject-verb disagreement that Option B does. Thus, Option D is incorrect.

Choice E: In Option E, we see a clear subject-verb disagreement between "is" and "challenges". Thus, Option E is incorrect.

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "And v/s other conjunctions on GMAT”, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   02 Jan 2014, 03:06
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A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult by numerous obstacles, not the least of which is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes.

A) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudesYes. Proper SV agreement. Hold it for a while.
B) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudesWrong SV pair.
C) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudesdecreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability together characterized very high altitudes but neither of the both alone.
D) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudesWrong SV pair again.
E) is the challenges of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudesis the challanges is wrong.

Now +A it is.

Hope that helps.
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   12 Jan 2014, 07:30
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notrandom wrote:
A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult by numerous obstacles, not the least of which is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes.

A) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes
B) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes
C) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes
D) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes
E) is the challenges of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes

OA
Show Spoiler
A


OE
Show Spoiler
Both the decreased atmospheric pressure and the low oxygen availability are things to which the climber must adjust, and the sentence needs to express that one obstacle is the challenge of adjusting to both of these things. Since this predicate nominative (essentially, Y in the sentence X is Y) is singular, we need "is," not "are," so B and D are out. (E) is out because "is the challenges" doesn't work. Finally, both the decreased atmospheric pressure and the low oxygen availability characterize very high altitudes; since the verb has a plural subject, (C) is out (we couldn't say "they characterizes"). (A) is the only answer choice in which all subjects agree with all verbs.



First split IS vs ARE. Is here refers to the least of which, singular
Second split the challenge singular not plural
Third split A and B characterize cause its a compound subject we need plural

Hence A

Hope it helps
Cheers!
J :)
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   16 Apr 2017, 22:35
rockstar23 wrote:
notrandom wrote:
A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult by numerous obstacles, not the least of which is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes.

A) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes
B) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes
C) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes
D) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes
E) is the challenges of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes


A) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes
Correct is correctly agrees with the challenge and characterize agrees with altitudes

B) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes
Use of are is incorrect. Hence incorrect

C) is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes
characterizes does not agree with altitudes. Hence incorrect

D) are the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes
use of are and characterizes introuduces S-V errors. Hence incorrect

E) is the challenges of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes
Here challenges is plural so use of is is incorrect. Hence incorrect


can someone elaborate on why IS is correct instead of ARE? Is it because "not the least of which" denotes a singular item? I got it right just sorta being a native speaker, but otherwise i'm confused. thanks!
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   16 Apr 2017, 22:52
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mdacosta wrote:
can someone elaborate on why IS is correct instead of ARE? Is it because "not the least of which" denotes a singular item? I got it right just sorta being a native speaker, but otherwise i'm confused. thanks!


Its an inverted construction, where "challenge/challenges" is the keyword that determine "is/are". Refer this : https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/2016/1 ... tructures/
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   17 Apr 2017, 04:53
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godot53 wrote:
mdacosta wrote:
can someone elaborate on why IS is correct instead of ARE? Is it because "not the least of which" denotes a singular item? I got it right just sorta being a native speaker, but otherwise i'm confused. thanks!


Its an inverted construction, where "challenge/challenges" is the keyword that determine "is/are". Refer this : https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/2016/1 ... tructures/


hi,
thanks for the link .
well could you please help me out about my understanding on this problem , here it is-

in answer A , is followed =challenge(subject)
characterize= atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen(2nd plural subject)

please correct me if i am wrong . i really appreciate that.

thanks
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   17 Apr 2017, 05:35
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nks2611 wrote:
hi,
thanks for the link .
well could you please help me out about my understanding on this problem , here it is-

in answer A , is followed =challenge(subject)thanks


Yes, your understanding is correct. But, technically, "challenge" is not the subject. Consider this..
There are books on the table.
There is a book on the table.
Here, "there" is actually an expletive, or the logical subject, and the "books/book" is the object. Since, both the following sentences are derived from...
Book/books are/is on the table: its "book/books" that decide which verb to use.

nks2611 wrote:
characterize= atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen(2nd plural subject)

Again, I would argue "that" is the subject of the relative clause "that characterize very high altitudes" and "that" refers to a compound noun, hence a need for plural verb.
So, I won't use the term subject for "atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen", because "that" is the subject here.
----
However, by whatever name you define all the above, as long as you realize the need for plural verb and eliminate the answer choices, you are done. All you need is to recognize the splits - "characterizes/characterize" and "is/are".

Cheers !! :-D
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   17 Apr 2017, 05:49
Thanks for the emphatic explanation. [SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES], but i didn't get how did you recognize the subject of 2nd part, ('that' is a compund noun) i didn't get this part.
Could you please elaborate more .
Loads of kudos for the great explanation ?

Sent from my vivo 1601 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 17 Apr 2017, 06:04
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nks2611 wrote:
Thanks for the emphatic explanation. [SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES],


Thank you !!

nks2611 wrote:
i didn't get how did you recognize the subject of 2nd part, ('that' is a compund noun) i didn't get this part.
Could you please elaborate more


"that" is not a compound noun. What I mean :
1. "that" refers to a compound noun i.e. "atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen", hence a need of plural verb form "characterize".
2. "that" itself is the subject and not the compound noun "atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen".

Originally posted by godot53 on 17 Apr 2017, 06:01.
Last edited by godot53 on 17 Apr 2017, 06:04, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   17 Apr 2017, 07:27
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I think that this is a really good question. It has two splits where you have to decide based on meaning (is vs. are and characterize vs characterizes), and also tests for parallelism.
The key is to really think what the original sentence tries to say:

A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult by numerous obstacles, not the least of which is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and (to) correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes.

-The challenge is an example of one obstacle. If we were given two examples of numerous obstacles, we would have to use are.
-When we decide whether it is characterize or characterizes we have to ask what is the subject. Is it 'correspondingly low oxygen availability' or 'the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability'? It is logiccal that both of them characterize very high altitudes, hence plural verb is needed.
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   07 Sep 2018, 04:30
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mdacosta wrote:
can someone elaborate on why IS is correct instead of ARE? Is it because "not the least of which" denotes a singular item? I got it right just sorta being a native speaker, but otherwise i'm confused. thanks!


OA: A successful ascent is rendered difficult by numerous obstacles, not the least of which is the challenge of adjusting to the atmospheric pressure.
Here, SOMETHING is not the least of numerous obstacles that render a successful ascent difficult.
What is that something?
The CHALLENGE of adjusting to the atmospheric pressure.
Conveyed meaning:
The CHALLENGE of adjusting to the atmospheric pressure IS not the least of numerous obstacles that render a successful ascent difficult.
In the OA, the verb in green is singular to agree with the challenge.
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   13 Jan 2020, 20:51
characterizes should modify "low oxygen availability" .
So as per SVA "C" is a better choice.
Can someone help resolve this query?
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   13 Jan 2020, 21:10
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globaldesi wrote:
characterizes should modify "low oxygen availability" .
So as per SVA "C" is a better choice.
Can someone help resolve this query?


OA: the...pressure and...availability that characterize very high altitudes
Here, characterize (plural) agrees with the pressure and availability (plural).
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   25 Jan 2020, 08:32
How is 'is' correct when there are clearly 2 obstacles metioned: adjusting to low pressure AND adjusting to low oxygen availability? Even the word 'and' is mentioned, so why are we associating the verb to the first element only?
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   25 Jan 2020, 22:44
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Wulfang wrote:
How is 'is' correct when there are clearly 2 obstacles metioned: adjusting to low pressure AND adjusting to low oxygen availability? Even the word 'and' is mentioned, so why are we associating the verb to the first element only?

The verb "is" does not go with "the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability."

"Is" goes with "the challenge of adjusting ...," which is singular.
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   26 Jan 2020, 02:03
Hi AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , MagooshExpert , GMATGuruNY , VeritasPrepBrian , MartyTargetTestPrep , DmitryFarber , VeritasKarishma , generis

Could "the challenge" refer to "that", which could have the verb "characterizes"?

A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult by numerous obstacles, not the least of which is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes.
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   26 Jan 2020, 05:09
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Deadpool3 wrote:
Hi AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , MagooshExpert , GMATGuruNY , VeritasPrepBrian , MartyTargetTestPrep , DmitryFarber , VeritasKarishma , generis

Could "the challenge" refer to "that", which could have the verb "characterizes"?

A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult by numerous obstacles, not the least of which is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes.


No.

Proposed revision:
the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterizes very high altitudes.
Here, the subject for characterizes (singular) seems to be availability -- the nearest preceding singular noun -- since it is logical to convey that LOW OXYGEN AVAILABILITY characterizes very high altitudes.

If the intended subject for characterizes is challenge, we could make this intention clear as follows:
the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability -- a challenge that characterizes very high altitudes.
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Re: A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult [#permalink] New post   26 Jan 2020, 06:13
A successful ascent of Mt. Everest is rendered tremendously difficult by numerous obstacles, not the least of which is the challenge of adjusting to the decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability that characterize very high altitudes.

As per my understanding: Is verb for challenge and Characterize for plural subject ,i.e decreased atmospheric pressure and correspondingly low oxygen availability
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