The European Union announced that cod and mackerel are the

Question

The European Union announced that cod and mackerel are the only fish that  exceeds their new requirements for dioxin level and that they allow  fishermen to catch.

a. exceeds their new requirements for dioxin level and that they allow
 b. exceed its new requirements for dioxin level and that they allow
 c. exceeds its new requirements for dioxin level and that it allows
 d. exceed its new requirements for dioxin level and that it allows
 e. exceed their new requirements for dioxin level and that they allow

I think this one is debatable. Try it.

vinzycoolfire · Accepted Answer

that is inserted to throw you off. not many people know that fish(singular) has two types of plural fish(plural) and fishes.
eg:- i have other fish to fry
so here it is plural. ideally it should be fishes as "fish(plural)" is used to denote many members of one species and "fishes" to denote many number of several species

vinzycoolfire · Answer

D.
simple case of singular and plural
european union should be considered singular(collectively)---similar to united states 
eg:- US is the only country to...
therefore answer should have "it" and end with "it allows"
eliminate A,E and B. 
cod and mackerel , plural---so exceed
eg:- he excels, they excel
so answer is D.

PTK · Answer

What about the "fish" ? is it singular?

TomB · Answer

To overcome the hurdle whether fish is singular or plural, focus on the verb "exceed" it refers to fish -"cod and mackerel" so in this sentence fish is plural. so Option C is the answer.

carcass · Answer

excuse me, but in this case should be better to see the verb ARE to understand if fish are plural or singular, so after we can see the verb exceed and make the split....in fact the correct answer is D with plural verb.

exceed (parallel with are) its (UE) new requirements for dioxin level and that it allows (UE)

If I wrong, please say me......thanks

vinzycoolfire · Answer

TomB i think u made a typo C says "exceeds" not "exceed". did u mean D? because fish(plural) exceed is the correct usage.
ex:- boys(plural) exceed , boy(singular) exceeds

carcass there are several methods to go about doing this Q so choose one that fits u comfortably.

JarvisR · Answer

My 2 cents.
The European Union announced  that  
cod and mackerel are the only fish that 
 exceeds their new requirements for dioxin level  and that 
they allow   fishermen to catch.

1: Who exceeded the new requirements? 
>>Cod and Mackerel; It would need plural verb so exceed not exceeds. 
2: The European Union is sing.
>>"it" is req. instead of "their" to refer EU.

a.  exceeds   their  new requirements for dioxin level and that  they  allow
b. exceed its new requirements for dioxin level and that  they  allow
c.  exceeds  its new requirements for dioxin level and that it allows
 d. exceed its new requirements for dioxin level and that it allows 
e. exceed  their  new requirements for dioxin level and that  they  allow

daagh · Answer

In D, ‘exceed’ is used because ‘cod and mackerel’ is a plural word; 'its' is used because ‘its’ is referring to the EU, which is singular.

Abhishek009 · Answer

Correct Answer must be (D) for the highlighted errors in other options...

TheNightKing · Answer

This question is such a classic trap of hiding the subject. You need to spot the ARE used for fish which makes the first verb as exceed and then for EU we have to use it allows. D is the right answer. I don't feel OA is debatable.

jrk23 · Answer

can somebody explain why that can't refer to closest nount "fish" and fish is singular so why not exceed?

TheNightKing · Answer

jrk23 
Just look at the mention of C and M. It works as a compound noun. And to help substantiate it the sentence is already using ARE. Hence it should be treated as plural. 
I hope it helps.

AjiteshArun · Answer

My reply is not specific to this question, but  fish  is normally used as the plural form of  fish .

prateekchugh · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Attention to the Right Detail and Pattern Recognition are both essential to success on
Sentence Correction questions. You want to check the sentence very carefully for errors,
giving special consideration to the recurring patterns that the GMAT testmaker is so
fond of. In this sentence, there are two underlined pronouns plus an underlined verb.
Both underlined pronouns, “their” and “they,” refer to the European Union, which is
a singular noun. These pronouns are therefore incorrect; the sentence should use “its”
and “it,” respectively. Only (C) and (D) get both pronouns right, so one of these choices
has to be the correct answer. The difference between (C) and (D) is the use of “exceeds”
versus “exceed.” Since there are two kinds of fish, “cod and mackerel,” you need the
plural verb. Choice (D) is correct.

ArunBishnoi · Answer

but here we are referring to 2 different species of fish so why not FISHES. COD and Mackerel are two different species.

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi taaubilla,

My reply is not specific to this question, but you can use either  fish  or  fishes  as the plural of  fish . As a noun,  fish  is far more common than  fishes .

The European Union announced that cod and mackerel are the

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The European Union announced that cod and mackerel are the

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