The couple, like hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada

Question

The couple, like hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada and the US, were hunting the Asian giant hornet, an invasive species whose stealthy advance throughout British Columbia and Washington state is causing growing unease.

A) The couple, like hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada and the US, were hunting the Asian giant hornet, an invasive species whose stealthy advance throughout British Columbia and Washington state is causing growing unease.

B) The couple, like hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada and the US, were hunting the Asian giant hornet, an invasive species whose stealthy advance throughout British Columbia and Washington state are causing growing unease.

C) The couple, such as hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada and the US, were hunting the Asian giant hornet, an invasive species whose stealthy advance throughout British Columbia and Washington state are causing growing unease.

D) The couple, such as hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada and the US, was hunting the Asian giant hornet, an invasive species whose stealthy advance throughout British Columbia and Washington state is causing growing unease.

E) The couple, like hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada and the US, was hunting the Asian giant hornet, and an invasive species whose stealthy advance throughout British Columbia and Washington state is causing growing unease.

vmadan10 · Answer

Could someone please explain why we use "Were" instead of "Was" to describe the action of the 'The Couple'.

Thanks!

DinoPen · Answer

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the OA is correct.
'The couple' is singular.
'The couples' are plural.

nobleahuja · Answer

I think the answer is E. Please guide me with the answer.
Thank you

Chethan92 · Answer

Couple is Singular. Eliminate A, B, and C.

Between D and E. D wins.

The use of and after Asian giant hornet is wrong.

sparshgs97 · Answer

Please someone explain how is Were going with the couple. For me the answer should be D.

naveenban · Answer

The Couple is supposed to be singular.
Could someone please explain why E is incorrect ?

DinoPen · Answer

naveenban 
The use of 'and' is not correctly used here since you are describing the hornet. The use of 'an' describes the hornet. 
'... and an invasive species whose stealthy advance throughout British Columbia and Washington state is causing growing unease.'

naveenban · Answer

DinoPen  i completely missed the 'and' after Giant Hornet. Didn't read this sentence properly then i think.
Anyways, Thanks for Pointing this out. But How is The Couple Plural ?

DinoPen · Answer

naveenban 
'The couple' is singular.

naveenban · Answer

DinoPen  if the Couple is singular, then why is "were hunting the Asian giant hornet" is used. Were refers to a plural Subject .

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  naveenban . I hope I am not butting in, and if  DinoPen  has anything to add to your growing dialogue on the question, that would be great. I simply thought I might shed some light on this issue, since I wrote a response to a question that involved a similar subject-verb agreement discrepancy with a collective noun. You can read that response  here  (and try the question at the top if you want). In short,  couple  in this question is used as a collective noun, and yes, in American English, you would say,  The couple  was  hunting...  In British English, however, collective nouns are often thought of in terms of the individuals who make up that group, so  The couple  were  hunting...  would be appropriate. I linked to an article on the subject in that other post. I hope you find it worth a read.

Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

abhi19051990 · Answer

I think this is a high quality question

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

This is an interesting question to analyze.

A) The couple, like hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada and the US,  were  hunting the Asian giant hornet, an invasive species whose stealthy advance throughout British Columbia and Washington state is causing growing unease.  The answer to the question "Who was hunting" is "The couple", which is a collective noun. On the GMAT, collective nouns are considered singular, since they are thought of as a single group to which all verbs and adjectives are applied. Therefore, the appropriate verb here would be "was hunting". Eliminate.

B) The couple, like hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada and the US,  were  hunting the Asian giant hornet, an invasive species whose stealthy advance throughout British Columbia and Washington state  are  causing growing unease.  Same error as (A). Also, "stealthy advance" is a singular noun and requires the singular verb "is causing". Eliminate.

C) The couple, such as hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada and the US,  were  hunting the Asian giant hornet, an invasive species whose stealthy advance throughout British Columbia and Washington state  are  causing growing unease.  Same error as (A) and (B). Eliminate.

D) The couple, such as hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada and the US, was hunting the Asian giant hornet, an invasive species whose stealthy advance throughout British Columbia and Washington state is causing growing unease.  Correct answer. Singular verbs are used for the collective noun as well as "advance". No other errors are introduced.

E) The couple, like hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada and the US, was hunting the Asian giant hornet,  and  an invasive species whose stealthy advance throughout British Columbia and Washington state is causing growing unease.  This brings about a shift in meaning, implying that the couple was hunting "an invasive species" in addition to and different from the Asian giant hornet. Eliminate.

Hope this helps.

AndrewN · Answer

I think there are many fine points that  CrackVerbalGMAT  has drawn attention to above. I resisted offering a full analysis because I assumed this to be either a user-generated question (since the source is listed as "Other") or a user-located question in some third-party material that might not be indicative of what would appear on the GMAT™. To be clear,  I agree that a collective noun , with the few  counting  collective nouns excepted (such as  number , which can be singular or plural depending on the article  a/the  ahead of it),  will be treated as a singular entity on the GMAT™ . My scruple with answers (C) and (D) is the use of  such as  in place of  like . In this type of noun-to-noun comparison,  like  is appropriate. The idiom is  A, like B, was   . The comparison is clear, and the flexible placement of  like B  reinforces its correct idiomatic usage. The sentence could just as easily begin,

Like hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada and the US, the couple...

Compare to  such as :

Such as hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada and the US, the couple...

In the end, I cannot stand behind any answer if I interpret the question and answer choices through a strict GMAT™ lens. I choose instead to see it as a fun side question. Interestingly enough, dictionary.com, an American source, lists a special usage note under the definition  collective noun  for the very collective noun we see in this question,  couple :

When the collective nouns  couple  and  pair  refer to people, they are usually treated as plurals: The newly married couple  have  found a house near good transportation. The pair  are  busy furnishing their new home.  (My emphases.)

Take of this information what you will. I am only going to feel more strongly about urging people to  study official questions  as their primary source.

- Andrew

41396302717 · Answer

D is a run on, as D has two independent clauses connected by just a comma. Accordingly, only E can be the answer.
Please correct me for I may be wrong.
EDIT :- Sorry, its not a run on

anilgmat10 · Answer

How can D be the Answer .. In this usage of such as is not clear to me. Can anyone explain the contextual usage of "such as" which I understand is used to provide examples. In my view A, Like B construction here is far better.

smeb1 · Answer

I am a bit confused. Would it be the " the couple were or the couple was".

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

"Couple" can be considered singular or plural.

In this case, it's clear that the couple itself was not hunting. The individuals within the couple were hunting. So, it makes more sense to consider "couple" two individuals and use the plural 'were."

That said, it would probably be acceptable to use the singular "was" instead.

SO, the move in answering this question is to consider both "were" and "was" possibly correct and look for clearer decision points.

Since the use of "such as" does not make sense in this context, a comparison, the presence of "such as" can be used to eliminate (C) and (D).

(E) seems to indicate the the couple were hunting two things. While that meaning could be correct, let's go with the idea that the meaning conveyed by the other versions is the correct one.

(B) has a clear subject-verb agreement error.

(A) is grammatically correct and expresses a logical meaning.

So, the correct answer is (A).

anilgmat10 · Answer

Thanks  MartyTargetTestPrep .. Nicely explained

The couple, like hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada

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The couple, like hundreds of other beekeepers in western Canada

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