The relationship between corpulence and disease remain controversial

The relationship between corpulence and disease : relationship is singular subject and verb which would go well with it would be remains so D,E left

Line "although statistics": statistics is plural so associate will be correct .. and reduced life expectancy with is correct over reduced life expectancy to

IMO D

Here, we are first focusing on subject verb agreement, so as relationship is singular, it would take singular verb i.e. remains, eliminate A,B and C. Next is the emphasis on statistics. Even though Statistics may seem plural, it is considered as singular as many other words like Mathematics etc. So, Statistics would take a singular verb i.e. associates. So, IMO, Option E.

idiom expectancy "to" something is correct in option "E'
sub-verb agreement is also correct in E

hence "E" is correct

The relationship between corpulence and disease remain controversial, although statistics clearly associate a reduced life expectancy with chronic obesity.

(A) remain controversial, although statistics clearly associate a reduced life expectancy with

(B) remain controversial, although statistics clearly associates a reduced life expectancy with

(C) remain controversial, although statistics clearly associates reduced life expectancy to

(D) remains controversial, although statistics clearly associate a reduced life expectancy with

(E) remains controversial, although statistics clearly associates reduced life expectancy to

The relationship is singular so singular verb is required,statistics is plural in this context so associate is correct.

Will go with choice D.

Regards

This question is all about S-V agreement ))

The relationship --> singular so the verb ''remain'' should be ''remains''

--> A, B, C out

Statistics --> plurial so ''associate'' and not ''associates'' --> E is out

Answer D.

Official Explanation :

Choice A is incorrect because remain should be remains; the subject of the verb is relationship, not corpulence and disease, which are hardly controversial.

Choices B and C are similarly flawed, and associates in B, C, and E should be associate to agree with the intended number of statistics. Finally, associate(s). ..to is unidiomatic in C and E.

Choice D is the best answer.

The relationship between corpulence and disease remain controversial, although statistics clearly associate a reduced life expectancy with chronic obesity.

(A) remain controversial, although statistics clearly associate a reduced life expectancy with

(B) remain controversial, although statistics clearly associates a reduced life expectancy with

(C) remain controversial, although statistics clearly associates reduced life expectancy to

(D) remains controversial, although statistics clearly associate a reduced life expectancy with

(E) remains controversial, although statistics clearly associates reduced life expectancy to

Here, the subject is "The relationship", which is singular. Therefore, we need to find a singular verb.
statistics is plural I believe, so (E) is incorrect
Also, the correct idiom is "associate with"

Ans: (D)

I chose the answer A. This is why:

Initially I thought "The relationship between corpulence and disease..... because there are two nouns i.e. between A and B I thought it should be followed by "remain"....

But then I realised after looking at the explanations that "relationship" is the subject. And the subject is singular and so the word following that should be "remains". Ok fair enough, I accept that explanation.

Then the words "statistics"..... the forum is suggesting that the word "statistics" is plural. Hence this is followed by "associate" instead of "associates". My thoughts here: I initially thought the word "statistics" is singular. Like "politics". "Politics" is a singular word right? So I figured that "statistics" should be followed by "associates". But somehow this thought process is wrong.

Anyone have any thoughts/feedback to share on this?

Main Issue:

Subject Verb Agreement

(A) remain controversial, although statistics clearly associate a reduced life expectancy with

(B) remain controversial, although statistics clearly associates a reduced life expectancy with

(C) remain controversial, although statistics clearly associates reduced life expectancy to

(D) remains controversial, although statistics clearly associate a reduced life expectancy with

(E) remains controversial, although statistics clearly associates reduced life expectancy to

Unlike physics and mathematics, statistics can be used as both singular and plural. It is singular when we refer to the subject but plural when we talk about number and facts.
Here it is plural.

Regards,
Arup

What is wrong with "associates with". Experts please help.

In this context, "statistics" is plural, so we need a plural verb ("associate", not "associates").

The relationship between corpulence and disease remain controversial, although statistics clearly associate a reduced life expectancy with chronic obesity.

(A) remain controversial, although statistics clearly associate a reduced life expectancy with - Subject ('relationship') is singular while the verb ('remain') is plural. Here, we have a subject-verb agreement error. hence, eliminate (A).

(B) remain controversial, although statistics clearly associates a reduced life expectancy with - Subject ('relationship') is singular while the verb ('remain') is plural. Here, we have a subject-verb agreement error. hence, eliminate (B).

(C) remain controversial, although statistics clearly associates reduced life expectancy to - Subject ('relationship') is singular while the verb ('remain') is plural. Here, we have a subject-verb agreement error. hence, eliminate (C).

(D) remains controversial, although statistics clearly associate a reduced life expectancy with - Uses the right idiomatic structure 'associate with'. Additionally, we have no subject-verb agreement errors here. Hence, (D) is the right answer choice.

(E) remains controversial, although statistics clearly associates reduced life expectancy to - rather than using 'associate with' structure, (E) uses 'associate to', which is an incorrect idiomatic structure. Hence, eliminate (E)

Here, we are first focusing on subject verb agreement, so as relationship is singular, it would take singular verb i.e. remains, eliminate A,B and C. Next is the emphasis on statistics.

Unlike physics and mathematics, statistics can be used as both singular and plural. It is singular when we refer to the subject but plural when we talk about number and facts.
Here it is plural.

Hence we go with D.

Just sharing my logic, which made me to mark wrong choice rather right choice in last 2 best option.


Here statistics is not considered as subject (branch of study) but rather it is used here as "many a times".
Thereby answer choice B is correct with SVA (plural subject "statistics" with plural verb "associate").

GMATNinja correct me if i am wrong in above logic.

Hello Experts, I have recently attempted a few GMATClub Tests and I have noticed questions appearing in those tests are more challenging than questions such as this. Would you say that these questions appear regularly in the GMAT and if they do would they be at a 600-700 difficulty level.


Thank you for your assistance.

I think you have the right idea here, but I'm assuming you meant to type "answer choice D", not "answer choice B"?

The singular subject ("relationship") requires a singular verb ("remains"), so we can eliminate A, B, and C immediately. And, yes, "statistics" is plural in this context.

I hope that helps a bit!