With a new park, stadium, and entertainment complex along the Delaware

In normal terms, a non-essential relative pronoun such as ‘which’ or an essential modifier such as ‘that’ will incline to modify the noun that is just before and take an appropriate verb depending upon the number of the noun, mostly plural, ----- except when the subject ‘one’ is preceded by the definite article ‘the’.

In the context, look at the subtle difference between the two types
1. Trenton, New Jersey, is ‘but one of’ a large number of communities ‘that is looking to’ use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life and attract new businesses.
2. Trenton, New Jersey, is but ‘the one of’ a large number of communities ‘that is looking’ to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life and attract new businesses.
Since the definite article is absent in the first case, the relative pronoun ‘that’ will modify the plural ‘communities’ and take on a plural verb ‘are looking’.
In the second case, since the definite article ‘the’ is present the focus prima-facie shifts to the article ‘the’, which restricts the number to singular. Hence, in the second case, the modifier ‘that’ in spite of its essentiality will go along taking a singular verb ‘is looking’.

In this topic, the plural verb ‘are looking’ is grammatically fitting.

That said, the choice falls among C, D and E; in the context, C is the best for using the right idiom ‘looking to use’ and for remaining parallel. D has serious SV mis-match of using ‘are looking to use its’. E uses the wrong idiom ‘looking at’ in addition to being unparallel.

There is another way to arrive at the destination without bothering about the S-V number agreement. First consider the idiom. Remove all ‘looking at’ choices. A, C and D are left Then dump D for the blatant S-V mismatch. A is wordy and imprecise. C is forthright and crisp. Done?
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I agree. Consider this simpler example:
Jack is but one of the talent show performers that are planning to rehearse here tonight.

Following noun modifier rules, if only Jack plans to rehearse, we'd have to move the modifier closer to him:
Jack, who is planning to rehearse here tonight, is but one of the talent show performers.

Even if you ignore the is/are verb split, you should still arrive at the answer C. Some of these have been mentioned above, but not the wordiness issue found in A, D, E.

A) is looking to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life and attract
Wordiness

B) is looking at using its waterfront to improve the quality of urban life and attract
Idiom ("looking to use X" is prefered)

C) are looking to use their waterfronts to improve the quality of urban life and attract
CORRECT

D) are looking to use its waterfront as a way of improving the quality of urban life and attracting
mismatch of are/its
Wordiness

E) are looking at using their waterfronts as a way of improving the quality of urban life and attract.
Idiom ("looking to use X" is prefered)
Wordiness
Lack of Parallelism

With a new park, stadium, and entertainment complex along the Delaware River, Trenton, New Jersey, is but one of a large number of communities that is looking to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life and attract new businesses.

A. is looking to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life and attract “is looking to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life” is referring to the large number of communities. So, the verb and pronoun used needs to be plural since “communities” is plural.

B. is looking at using its waterfront to improve the quality of urban life and attract Same as A

C. are looking to use their waterfronts to improve the quality of urban life and attract The verb and pronoun are in the correct number.

D. are looking to use its waterfront as a way of improving the quality of urban life and attracting “is looking to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life” is referring to the large number of communities. So the pronoun used needs to be plural since “communities” is plural.

E. are looking at using their waterfronts as a way of improving the quality of urban life and attract The presence of “and” shows that we need to look out for parallelism. “improving” and “attract” are not parallel.

- Nitha Jay
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Some pointers-

1. "that" refers to communities and therefore "are" needed
2. "Looking at using" refers to visual skills rather than the logical relationship established by "looking to use"

C is parallel in every other aspect as well (through the use of infinitive form - to use, to improve)

Hence C is the correct choice

This is what I figured after going through some grammar books:

"one" usually is singular except when it is part of the "of" construction. The verb must take the object of the "of" construction....... I think.

With a new park, stadium, and entertainment complex along the Delaware River, Trenton, New Jersey, is but one of a large number of communities that is looking to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life and attract new businesses.
A. is looking to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life and attract
B. is looking at using its waterfront to improve the quality of urban life and attract
C. are looking to use their waterfronts to improve the quality of urban life and attract
D. are looking to use its waterfront as a way of improving the quality of urban life and attracting
E. are looking at using their waterfronts as a way of improving the quality of urban life and attract

It is definitely D

"One" is similar to the indefinite SANAM pronouns (from Manhattan Gmat) which follow the case of the object (communities in this case).
Since communities is plural, we need an 'are' here
D is out because we need 'their' instead of 'its'
E changes meaning

Hope this helps

Consider Kudos for the post

"is" refers to "a large number of communities", which is plural

same here. here is classical 2:3 split. (A) and (B) are out

Correct.

"its" refers to "a large number of communities", which is plural

"a way of improving.....and attract" - non-parallel

Well I think whole clause "that are looking to use their waterfronts to improve the quality of urban life and attract new businesses" modifies "a number of communities", not Trenton, New Jersey.

: is but one of a large number of communities that is looking to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life and attract new businesses.

that refers to the immediate noun before it.Here it is a plural.Hence are is correct usage.

IMO C.

Thank you.

Initially went for B.. but " one of " follows different rule..

Chk it out in this link..
https://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic22818.html

A, B are eliminated for the above said reason... E is eliminated because 'to improve' requires 'to attract...'- parallelism
D is incorrect because 'to improve' is the correct idiom...

Nice Question...

OA is C.. Please visit the below link fo rdetailed explanation:

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/wit ... -t553.html

What is the significance of putting 'but' in Jack is but one of the talent show performers that are planning to rehearse here tonight..
How does the meaning change if 'but' is omitted.---> Jack is one of the talent show performers that are planning to rehearse here tonight.

Also, is this correct? Jack is one of the talent show performers who are planning to rehearse here tonight.

Hi saxenaashi,

The usage of "but one" in your sentence expresses that Jack is the "only one" of the talent show performers who are planning ........

For example: There is but one God. <-- Means that there is "just one" god or there is "only one" god

If we drop the "but" in your sentence then it would express that apart from Jack there could be other performers who are planning......

By the way using "that" would be less preferable in GMAT prefers the usage of who for humans. So the correct sentence would be " .. one of the performers who..."

--> Yes this is correct the relative clause "who are performing...." is modifying the performers and Jack is one of them.

Hope that helps,

Vercules
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1) With a new park, stadium, and entertainment complex along the Delaware River, Trenton, New Jersey, is but one of a large number of communities that is looking to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life and attract new businesses.

A) is looking to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life and attract
B) is looking at using its waterfront to improve the quality of urban life and attract
C) are looking to use their waterfronts to improve the quality of urban life and attract
D) are looking to use its waterfront as a way of improving the quality of urban life and attracting
E) are looking at using their waterfronts as a way of improving the quality of urban life and attract.

With a new park, stadium, and entertainment complex along the Delaware River, Trenton, New Jersey, is but one of a large number of communities

that is looking to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life and attract new businesses.

that is a relative pronoun of “large number of communities”, hence there is Subject Verb Agreement.

Eliminating option A) and B)

Option D) has the “its” which should be talking about the communities’ waterfront. Hence should be plural – Eliminated.

Option E) The sentence talks about intent “to use” and “to improve” should be used.

Hence Option C)

2) Since 1975 so many people have been moving to Utah such that Mormons who were once 75 percent of the population are now only accounting for half of it.

A. so many people have been moving to Utah such that Mormons who were once 75 percent of the population are now only accounting for half of it
B. many people have been moving to Utah, so Mormons once 75 percent of the population are now accounting for only half
C. that many people have been moving to Utah, such that the Mormons that were once 75 percent of the population are now accounting for only half of it
D. many people have been moving to Utah such that the Mormons, who once represented 75 percent of the population, now only account for half
E. so many people have been moving to Utah that the Mormons, who once represented 75 percent of the population, now account for only half

Since 1975 so many people have been moving to Utah such
that Mormons who were once 75 percent of the population are now only accounting for half of it

I have a doubt about placement of “such” and “only” should modify half. Have been moving – present perfect continuous signifying that action started in the past still continuing in the present.

Option C) since 1975 that. that doesn’t make sense to replace 1975.

Option D) and Option B) removal of “so” decreases the degree of the people movement in the Utah.

Hence Option E)

Any points e-gmat would like to add in this analysis.

Hi Kinjal,

Your analysis looks pretty good!

Regarding the use of "such", note that "such that" shouldn't follow "so". "So + that" is used to show the cause and effect relationship between two entities. The "so" part gives us the cause and the "that" part gives us the effect. E.g. This bag is so heavy that I can't carry it.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Meghna
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With a new park, stadium, and entertainment complex along the Delaware River, Trenton, New Jersey, is but one of a large number of communities that is looking to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life and attract new businesses.

A) is looking to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life and attract
B) is looking at using its waterfront to improve the quality of urban life and attract
C) are looking to use their waterfronts to improve the quality of urban life and attract
D) are looking to use its waterfront as a way of improving the quality of urban life and attracting
E) are looking at using their waterfronts as a way of improving the quality of urban life and attract.

Let's look at some more POEs based on idiom and style in this example.
1. to look at and to look to
Look at means physically look at something. The moment our eyes are off it, we don't anymore 'look at' that. However - to look to - is something you start doing now and carry forward to future. Since in this context, NJ is looking forward to a prosperous future, - to look to - is the correct idiom. On this score alone, we can omit B and E.
2. It is easy to eliminate D both on faulty SV agreement and parallelism as many have pointed out.

3. Between A and C, obviously, it is clear that NJ is not the only one state that is wanting to use its natural resources to bolster its economy. There are several others. So logically the plural verb -are - is a more appropriate choice. Additionally "as a way to improve" is a redundant way of saying 'to improve'. Hence A is out and C wins.
4. I do not think that the word 'but' is a decisive one in this context largely because it is not underlined and is common to all the choices.
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can someone help regarding this question ?
"is" modify which noun ? the first "is" in the sentence

fsalek, verbs don't serve as modifiers. The first "is" in the sentence is the verb for the subject "Trenton." Trenton is one of a large number of communities . . .
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A. "A number of" requires a plural verb ("are" in this case).
B. "A number of" requires a plural verb ("are" in this case).
C. Correct.
D. "Its" should be "their" to match the plural noun.
E. "Improving" is not parallel to "attract."