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The fact that “dark matter” accounts for over 95 percent of the matter
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06 Aug 2019, 10:15
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Question Stats:
41% (01:12) correct 59% (01:28) wrong based on 300 sessions
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The fact that “dark matter” accounts for over 95 percent of the matter in the universe has been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what is more difficult to determine are the origin, composition, and properties of dark matter.
(A) has been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what is more difficult to determine are (B) has been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what is more difficult to determine is (C) has been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what are more difficult to determine are (D) have been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what is more difficult to determine are (E) have been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what are more difficult to determine are
Re: The fact that “dark matter” accounts for over 95 percent of the matter
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07 Aug 2019, 09:55
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4
gvij2017 wrote:
What he likes much in breakfast is/are an apple, a full glass of milk and two sandwiches. In my understanding what is modifying the list of three items. So "are" is correct here.
Similarly, in given SC problem, ...but what is/are difficult to determine is/are x, y and z. I think here what is mentioned for three nouns; therefore, at both places, are is correct. Whether the clause is singular or plural depends on whether the relative pronoun itself is understood as singular or plural. Please clear this doubt to avoid further mistakes.
I had the same concern when I faced this question, and made a lot of search in the internet and in GC, and came to the conclusion below:
Conclusion: Whenever (noun) clause acts as a subject of the sentence it is always SINGULAR in GMAT irrespective of weather the verb refers to a singular/plural noun.
Your above considerations is correct form general grammar standpoint as Mr. Mike said, but seems here in GMAT it is a little bit straight forward.
The subject of the sentence that you've stated in your post, is What is difficult to determine. This is itself a clause.
When the subject of a clause itself is a clause, the subject is considered singular.
This is irrespective of whether the verb be refers to a singular/plural noun. I used to know a very specific official example illustrating this point, but somehow am not able to locate it.
That some fraternal twins resemble each other greatly while others look quite dissimilar highlights an interesting and often overlooked feature of fraternal-twin pairs, namely that they vary considerably on a spectrum of genetic relatedness.
Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses this aspect of clauses, along with examples. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id, I can mail the corresponding section.
What one learns from mistakes (is/are) resilience, will power and courage. What is very clear from recent debacle of the party in the elections (is/are) lack of leadership, absence of political vision, and discontent among voters. What statements politicians give (is/are) important. How many superstitions there are (don’t/doesn't) matter. That a causal relationship exists between health and labor productivity (has been/have been) concluded by several empirical studies.
The fact that “dark matter” accounts for over 95 percent of the matter
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Updated on: 07 Aug 2019, 09:13
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1
The fact that “dark matter” accounts for over 95 percent of the matter in the universe has been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what is more difficult to determine are the origin, composition, and properties of dark matter.
Meaning: 1. The fact (that “dark matter” accounts for over 95 percent of the matter in the universe) has been established 2. established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects 3. but what is more difficult to determine 4. the origin, composition, and properties of dark matter - are difficult to determine
Errors:
Attachment:
A.PNG [ 69.88 KiB | Viewed 1263 times ]
Generally this question tests SV agreement and Verb tenses. Let's discuss all SV pairs one by one.
1. SV - the fact-has been established - agrees in number usage of present perfect here is absolutely correct, because we don't know exact time of this establishment, and present perfect presents this fact as a result.
2. SV - that-accounts-that refers to 'dark matter'- both singular - agrees in number present simple used correctly to show generals facts about dark matter
3. SV - what-is-what is a placeholder here, and most probably this relative pronoun refers to each items of the list separately and because of the first item of the list is singular, what should be singular, we can consider 'what' here as singular - agrees in number.
4. SV - what is more difficult to determine-are, subject here is - what is more difficult to determine, so clauses as a subject are always singular, hence, we have SV agreement error.
POE
(A) has been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what is more difficult to determine are (B) has been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what is more difficult to determine is (C) has been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what are more difficult to determine are (D) have been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what is more difficult to determine are (E) have been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what are more difficult to determine are
Attachment:
B.PNG [ 88.17 KiB | Viewed 1268 times ]
B is the answer.
Attachments
dark_matter_topic_1024.jpg [ 70.04 KiB | Viewed 1701 times ]
The fact that “dark matter” accounts for over 95 percent of the matter
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07 Aug 2019, 04:53
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1
shobhitkh wrote:
The fact that “dark matter” accounts for over 95 percent of the matter in the universe has been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what is more difficult to determine are the origin, composition, and properties of dark matter.
Using POE :
Subject of first IC is "The fact", so we need a singular verb "Has been" and not plural verb "Have been". Eliminate D and E.
When we see second IC after "but", we can see the SV disagreement. Subject of the second is a clause "What is........", and this means we are talking about something
singular. When clause becomes the subject of the sentence, it is considered "singular". Eliminate A and C.
(A) has been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what is more difficult to determine are
(B) has been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what is more difficult to determine is
(C) has been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what are more difficult to determine are
(D) have been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what is more difficult to determine are
(E) have been established through analysis of gravity’s effect on light from distant objects, but what are more difficult to determine are
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Re: The fact that “dark matter” accounts for over 95 percent of the matter
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07 Aug 2019, 09:05
1
What he likes much in breakfast is/are an apple, a full glass of milk and two sandwiches. In my understanding what is modifying the list of three items. So "are" is correct here.
Similarly, in given SC problem, ...but what is/are difficult to determine is/are x, y and z. I think here what is mentioned for three nouns; therefore, at both places, are is correct. Whether the clause is singular or plural depends on whether the relative pronoun itself is understood as singular or plural. Please clear this doubt to avoid further mistakes.
Re: The fact that “dark matter” accounts for over 95 percent of the matter
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07 Aug 2019, 10:04
1
Thanks GKomoku!
Now I am completely agree with your elucidation. And I will keep this in mind while attempting such SC problems.
GKomoku wrote:
gvij2017 wrote:
What he likes much in breakfast is/are an apple, a full glass of milk and two sandwiches. In my understanding what is modifying the list of three items. So "are" is correct here.
Similarly, in given SC problem, ...but what is/are difficult to determine is/are x, y and z. I think here what is mentioned for three nouns; therefore, at both places, are is correct. Whether the clause is singular or plural depends on whether the relative pronoun itself is understood as singular or plural. Please clear this doubt to avoid further mistakes.
I had the same concern when I faced this question, and made a lot of search in the internet and in GC, and came to the conclusion below:
Conclusion: Whenever (noun) clause acts as a subject of the sentence it is always SINGULAR in GMAT irrespective of weather the verb refers to a singular/plural noun.
Your above considerations is correct form general grammar standpoint as Mr. Mike said, but seems here in GMAT it is a little bit straight forward.
The subject of the sentence that you've stated in your post, is What is difficult to determine. This is itself a clause.
When the subject of a clause itself is a clause, the subject is considered singular.
This is irrespective of whether the verb be refers to a singular/plural noun. I used to know a very specific official example illustrating this point, but somehow am not able to locate it.
That some fraternal twins resemble each other greatly while others look quite dissimilar highlights an interesting and often overlooked feature of fraternal-twin pairs, namely that they vary considerably on a spectrum of genetic relatedness.
Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses this aspect of clauses, along with examples. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id, I can mail the corresponding section.
What one learns from mistakes (is/are) resilience, will power and courage. What is very clear from recent debacle of the party in the elections (is/are) lack of leadership, absence of political vision, and discontent among voters. What statements politicians give (is/are) important. How many superstitions there are (don’t/doesn't) matter. That a causal relationship exists between health and labor productivity (has been/have been) concluded by several empirical studies.
The fact that “dark matter” accounts for over 95 percent of the matter
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25 Aug 2019, 14:39
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AcetheGMAT2019 wrote:
generis but "what is more difficult to determine" - is this the substantive clause?
AcetheGMAT2019 , yes, what is more difficult to determine is the substantive clause. (A substantive clause can also be called a noun clause or a nominal clause.)
If you simply wanted confirmation, stop reading. If you want a little more information about substantive clauses, keep reading.
In this post, here, I discuss substantive clauses and provide a link to a good post by Mike McGarry. Scroll down to the blue bullet point labeled "Substantive clauses."
This grammar article, here contains good examples of the ways in which substantive clauses can function as nouns (subjects, direct objects, appositives, etc.). The article also lists the words that introduce these clauses. [Ignore the assertion about IF.] Scroll down to the part titled, "NOUN (OR SUBSTANTIVE) CLAUSES."
Substantive / noun clauses are weird because they contain a verb but are nouns. Once you get a sense for them, though (by reading examples -- both articles have examples), substantive clauses are pretty easy to spot.
Substantive clauses are almost always singular. (If you have no idea, choose singular!)
The instances in which substantive clauses are plural are unlikely to appear on the GMAT. I do not recall any such questions. The article by Mike McGarry discusses the plural exceptions and notes that they are unlikely to show up on the GMAT. (I have not mined data on this issue. My assertion is impressionistic.)
Hope that helps.
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Re: The fact that “dark matter” accounts for over 95 percent of the matter
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26 Aug 2019, 01:32
generis wrote:
AcetheGMAT2019 wrote:
generis but "what is more difficult to determine" - is this the substantive clause?
AcetheGMAT2019 , yes, what is more difficult to determine is the substantive clause. (A substantive clause can also be called a noun clause or a nominal clause.)
If you simply wanted confirmation, stop reading. If you want a little more information about substantive clauses, keep reading.
In this post, here, I discuss substantive clauses and provide a link to a good post by Mike McGarry. Scroll down to the blue bullet point labeled "Substantive clauses."
"This grammar article, here contains good examples of the ways in which substantive clauses can function as nouns (subjects, direct objects, appositives, etc.). The article also lists the words that introduce these clauses. [Ignore the assertion about IF.] Scroll down to the part titled, "NOUN (OR SUBSTANTIVE) CLAUSES."
Substantive / noun clauses are weird because they contain a verb but are nouns. Once you get a sense for them, though (by reading examples -- both articles have examples), substantive clauses are pretty easy to spot.
Substantive clauses are almost always singular. (If you have no idea, choose singular!)
The instances in which substantive clauses are plural are unlikely to appear on the GMAT. I do not recall any such questions. The article by Mike McGarry discusses the plural exceptions and notes that they are unlikely to show up on the GMAT. (I have not mined data on this issue. My assertion is impressionistic.)
Hope that helps.
So by the same token, "who is the team members is Peter, Tom and David." and "what makes the team great is the team member's determination, persistence and discipline." are correct?! This is confusing.
gmatclubot
Re: The fact that “dark matter” accounts for over 95 percent of the matter
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26 Aug 2019, 01:32
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41% (01:12) correct 
