The direction in which the Earth and the other solid planets—Mercury,

Question

The direction in which the Earth and the other solid planets—Mercury, Venus, and Mars— spins were determined from  collisions with giant celestial bodies in the early history of the Solar System.

(A) spins were determined from
(B) spins were determined because of
(C) spins was determined through
(D) spin was determined by
(E) spin was determined as a result of

daagh · Accepted Answer

A simple and methodical approach: There are two subjects namely 1. The singular ‘ direction ’ for the main clause and a compound and plural subject for the sub-clause  ‘the Earth and the other solid planets’ . Now we must match them with suitable verbs

The main verb has to be singular; therefore,  ‘was determined’  is appropriate. A plural verb is required for the sub-clause; therefore,  ‘spin’  is apt.

Only D and E have the combination of both these verbs. E is lost because a determination or solution itself is a result and therefore  ‘determined as a result of ’ is unduly superfluous and repetitive. ‘ Determined by’  is the accepted idiom. D is the choice

Hussain15 · Answer

"determined by" is the correct idiom. Option "E" is wordy.

manoharpln · Answer

Almost chose E.....
less wordy and "determined" and "as a result" both of them together looked redundant
So wnt for D

cano · Answer

"The direction" requires the verb form "was determined", not "were determined". Eliminate A and B.
Earth and "other planets-Mercury, Venus, and Mars" is plural, requires spin no spins. Eliminate C.
The difference between "determined by" and "determined as a result of" is the correct idiom. Eliminate E.

Best answer choice is D.

kraizada84 · Answer

D is best.

The  direction  in which  the Earth and the other solid planets —Mercury, Venus, and Mars— spins   were  determined from collisions with giant celestial bodies in the early history of the Solar System.

Read through the same colored parts , they are the corresponding subject- verb pairs.

direction--> was (singular)
the earth and the other solid planets--> spin (plural)

hope this helps..!!

Swoosh617 · Answer

The direction in which the Earth and the other solid planets—Mercury, Venus, and Mars—spins were determined from collisions with giant celestial bodies in the early history of the Solar System.

(A) spins were determined from
(B) spins were determined because of
(C) spins was determined through
(D) spin was determined by
(E) spin was determined as a result of

can somebody match the subject and verb in the above sc. I am confused.

So the first verb i see is "spins," and then I asked myself "what spins?" The "other solid planets" are spinning, and because the planets are plural, the verb should reflect that. That rules out answer choices A, B, and C because they use "spins" which would reflect a singular subject. That leaves D and E. I chose D since it's less wordy and I'm not too sure if you can say "determined as a result of"

albertaudi · Answer

Right, you got it - once you break this down it is quite easy. SC often punishes those who pick "wordier" answers - IMO  determined  and  as a result of  are repetitive, since you can only determine something as a result of some process, so "determined by" will suffice.

The  direction  in which the Earth and the other solid planets—Mercury, Venus, and Mars—  spins were determined  from collisions with giant celestial bodies in the early history of the Solar System.

1) The direction (singular) in which blah blah blah blah blah *was* (must also be singular) determined.
2) The direction in which  the Earth and the other solid planets—Mercury, Venus, and Mars-   spin (must be plural because it refers to multiple planets)  blah blah blah
3) determined from collisions with blah blah blah. Here, the correct phrasing is "determined as a result of," but that can be shortened to "determined by," which gives us the most concise sentence.

daagh · Answer

The direction is the main subject: it’s singular and its verb should be was; in which the Earth and the other solid planets - Mercury, Venus, and Mars – is the plural subject of the sub-clause and its verb should be the plural spin; In addition, the correct idiom is determined by

(A) spins were determined from --------- both verbs are wrong; determined from is unidiomatic 
(B) spins were determined because of ------- both verbs are wrong 
(C) spins was determined through ------------ spins is wrong 
(D) spin was determined by -------------------- correct choice; both verbs are correct; idiom determined by is right 
(E) spin was determined as a result of ------- both verbs are correct; as a result of is unidiomatic

Skywalker18 · Answer

The direction in which the Earth and the other solid planets—Mercury, Venus, and Mars— spins were determined from  collisions with giant celestial bodies in the early history of the Solar System.

(A) spins were determined from -- subject-verb agreement -- direction were ; the earth and other solid planets spins 
(B) spins were determined because of -- subject-verb agreement -- direction were ; the earth and other solid planets spins 
(C) spins was determined through -- -- subject-verb agreement -- the earth and other solid planets spins 
non-sensical ; "X is determined through Y" means that "Y" is a method used to find out "X".
E.g., Optimal drug structure is often determined through combinatorial chemistry"”in other words, experimentation with essentially random combinations of chemical substitutions on a parent molecule.
(D) spin was determined by - Correct
(E) spin was determined as a result of - redundant ; specifically, "result of" signifies causation, so any other construction that also signifies causation creates fatal redundancy.
was determined as a result of... = saying exactly the same thing twice, so, redundant
was determined by... = not redundant
was a result of... = not redundant

Answer D

prav04 · Answer

I have a doubt if the question was written like 'The direction in which the Earth and each of the other three solid planets—Mercury, Venus, and Mars'...We have to use the ver 'Spins' instead of Spin, right? Please someone clarify.

BARUAH · Answer

The direction in which the Earth and the other solid planets—Mercury, Venus, and Mars— spins were determined from  collisions with giant celestial bodies in the early history of the Solar System.

(A)  spins were  determined  from  : The subject for verb spin = The earth & other planets > subject is plural, so spin. Again subject for were is the direction, singular.So was in place of were. Determined from is wrong: Determined by. 
(B)  spins were determined because of  : same error as in A.
(C)  spins  was determined  through  : Error as in A.
(D) spin was determined by : correct.
(E) spin was  determined as a result of  : determined by.

RobVanDam · Answer

it will still remain same, as and(conjunction) still makes the  'Earth and each of the other three solid planets—Mercury, Venus, and Mars'   plural.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

The subject here is ‘ direction ’ which is  singular . The verb that corresponds with a singular noun is a singular verb and it’s ‘ was  determined’

The secondary clause attached to the main subject is  plural  – the Earth and other … planets. This needs a plural action verb ‘ spin ’.

If we figure these two bits out, it is easy to get to the correct answer.

Options A and B  can be eliminated for the reasons discussed above.

Option C  uses ‘spins’ which is not correct. Eliminate.

The correct preposition that goes with ‘determined’ is by.  Option D  has 'spin was determined'

Option D is the best choice.

Hope this helps!

sauravleo123 · Answer

The direction in which the Earth and the other solid planets—Mercury, Venus, and Mars—spins were determined from collisions with giant celestial bodies in the early history of the Solar System.

(A) spins were determined from
(B) spins were determined because of
(C) spins was determined through
(D) spin was determined by
(E) spin was determined as a result of

A. The other solid planets spins- SV error. The direction were- SV error
B. Same as A
C. Planets spins is wrong
D. Correct
E. As a result of is wordy and awkward.

arvind910619 · Answer

Determined as result of is redundant.
Determined itself conveys as a result of so out of D and E.
D is correct

dabaobao · Answer

GMATNinja   EducationAisle   daagh  Would really appreciate your thoughts on this.

D ("direction determined by collisions") implies that collisions did the action of "determining", something that doesn't make sense.

E says that it was "determined" by someone and not "collisions". Hence, it seems more logical than D.

I can see some redundancy in "determined as a result of" but I feel that it's a non-definite issue and the meaning issue in D is a bigger problem.

daagh · Answer

dab

To say that ‘determined by’ somebody or someone is weird. Don’t collisions occur accidentally? I don’t think one can ever settle for the correct answer in SC if one digresses to this level. The asteroid that destroyed Siberia was not determined either by the asteroid or by anybody else. 
What is in the topic is that the first three choices are instantly out because of SV error and then D is more concise. We have miles to go in the exam than get stuck at one point. 
Incidentally, who determined the collisions in E? Why do you say ‘ determined by’ someone?? There is no such thing as given?

jaisonsunny77 · Answer

The direction in which the Earth and the other solid planets—Mercury, Venus, and Mars—spins were determined from collisions with giant celestial bodies in the early history of the Solar System.

(A) spins were determined from
(B) spins were determined because of
(C) spins was determined through
(D) spin was determined by
(E) spin was determined as a result of

A. The other solid planets spins- SV error. The direction were- SV error
B. Same as A
C. Planets spins is wrong
D. Correct
E. As a result of is wordy and awkward.

TheUltimateWinner · Answer

Hi Experts,
 GMATNinja   AjiteshArun   GMATGuruNY   MartyTargetTestPrep   AndrewN 
Can you share your thought for choice E? I mean-why choice E is considered as wrong?

The direction in which the Earth and the other solid planets—Mercury,

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The direction in which the Earth and the other solid planets—Mercury,

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