sonusaini1
gmat1393 Please share OE.
Thanks
sonusaini1KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors:
The underlined portion contains the main verb of the sentence, “have led.” The subject of that verb is “the runaway success,” all the way back at the beginning of the sentence. The GMAT loves to disguise a subject-verb agreement error by placing the verb far away from the subject. Since “the runaway success” is singular, the plural verb “have led” is incorrect. The verb should be the singular “has led.” It's The runaway success ... has led, not The runaway success ... have led. By separating the subject and verb, the question is trying to trap students into thinking the subject is actually the plural “bracelets.” But “bracelets” is the object of the prepositional phrase "of stretchy rubber bracelets," and the object of a prepositional phrase is never the subject of the verb. The answer must correct this verb error.
Scan and Group the Answer Choices:
A quick scan of the choices reveals a nice 3-2 split on the verb, with (A), (B), and (C) using "have led" and (D) and (E) using "has led." This should lead to the quick elimination of (A), (B), and (C), but double-check the choices to make sure nothing was overlooked.
Eliminate Wrong Answer Choices:
(A) can be eliminated for pairing a singular subject with a plural verb, as noted.
(B) and (C) change just the end of the underlined portion. They do nothing to correct the subject-verb agreement problem and are in fact identical to (A) until the last few words. Eliminate (B) and (C).
(E) does indeed correct the subject-verb problem, by changing “have led” to “has led.” (E), however, adds the word “being” at the beginning of the underlined portion. This word is unnecessary here and is a verb form that the GMAT prefers to avoid in general. “Being” is almost never correct in Sentence Correction.
(D) uses the correct singular verb “has led,” and it introduces no new errors into the sentence. (D) does replace “the sale of them” at the end of the sentence with “their sale,” but this is actually an improvement as it is more concise and direct. (D) is the answer.
TAKEAWAY: When the underlined portion contains a verb, be clear about what the subject of that verb is. Be on the lookout for long phrases separating the subject from the verb. The GMAT could be trying to disguise a subject-verb agreement error.