The rise in the number of new housing starts in the final two quarters

Question

The rise in the number of new housing starts in the final two quarters of last year  suggest that the sluggish economy should continue its recovery into the first quarter of this year, but  weak job growth in the private sector continues to worry some economists.

A.) suggest that the sluggish economy should continue its recovery into the first quarter of this year, but 
B.) suggest that the sluggish economy will continue to recover in the first quarter of this year, but that 
C.) suggest that the sluggish economy is continuing to recover in the first quarter of this year, but 
D.) suggests that the sluggish economy should continue its recovery into the first quarter of this year, but that 
E.) suggests that the sluggish economy will continue to recover in the first quarter of this year, but

daagh · Answer

please underline the required part

dominicraj · Answer

Hi eventurer,

It is E.

"The rise"... "suggests" S-V agreement.

"suggest that"- subjunctive hence "should" wont be there.

Hence E.

Regards,
Dom.

Abhishek009 · Answer

The rise in   the number of   new housing starts in the final two quarters of last year   suggests  that the sluggish economy will continue to recover in the first quarter of this year, but weak job growth in the private sector continues to worry some economists.
  
Correct answer must be (E) for the highlighted errors in the other options....

RMD007 · Answer

I think the subject here is  The Rise  instead of  the Number of .

prateekchugh · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Step 1: Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors  
Whenever the subject or predicate verb of a sentence is underlined, we need to check for subject-verb
agreement. In this sentence, the predicate verb, “suggest,” is underlined. The subject of that
verb is “rise,” which is singular, so we need a singular verb. However, “suggest” is plural. We’ve
discovered a subject-verb agreement error, and the right answer will correct it.

Step 2: Scan and Group the Answer Choices  
(A), (B), and (C) retain the error; all use “suggest.” (D) and (E) change the verb to “suggests.”

Step 3: Eliminate Choices Until Only One Remains  
Because (A), (B), and (C) all make the same subject-verb agreement mistake, we can eliminate them.
The answer will be either (D) or (E). Choice (D) adds the word “that” to the end of the underlined
part of the sentence, which changes the meaning. According to the original sentence, the only
thing suggested by the rise in housing starts is that the sluggish economy will continue to recover.
Adding the word “that” makes it sound as if the rise in housing starts also suggests that weak
job growth continues to worry some economists, which is not what the original sentence implied.
Because the correct choice will retain the meaning of the original sentence, (D) is incorrect, and
(E) is the correct answer

udaypratapsingh99 · Answer

1) "The rise in the number" is singular and therefore will follow the singular verb "suggest s ". So, we can eliminate options A, B, and C.

2) Option D & E check the knowledge of subjective mood. Suggests triggers the subjunctive mood and the rule says that it should  "that + base form of verb" . Therefore 'will continue' is correct and 'should continue' is wrong.

Correct answer is E

The rise in the number of new housing starts in the final two quarters

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The rise in the number of new housing starts in the final two quarters

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