The set of propositions which was discussed by the panel

Question

The set of propositions  which was discussed by the panel have been  published in the society journal.

A. which was discussed by the panel have been 
B. which were discussed by the panel have been
C. that was discussed by the panel has been
D. which were discussed by the panel has been
E. which was discussed, by the panel, has been

daagh · Accepted Answer

Considering the GMAT’s view that any choice selected solely on the basis of which or that is unlikely to be correct because of the controversy surrounding them, let’s now rather look beyond the pronoun for the time –being. But we take the meaning route to unknot this conundrum.

1. Is the word ‘propositions’ the referent for the pronoun ‘which or that’? No; it is the set; of propositions is just a middleman or an additional info that embellishes the subject namely ‘the set’. For that matter, it doesn’t even matter whether the set consists of propositions, or questions or doubts, or what that may be. The subject is certainly the singular set.

Secondly, it is also clear that what was discussed was also published. You cannot use singular verb in one case and plural verb in another case for the same subject. Both have to be singular in this case. That way, only C and E have consistent SV number agreement. Of this, the unnecessary offsetting of the phrase, “by the panel” in E, renders it half – baked. So it is C all the way

pran21 · Answer

IMO D.

Because the propositions(plural) in the set were being discussed and not the set(singular).
And finally , the set(singular) was published.

aditya8062 · Answer

i  disagree  with the OA . C is prefect here  .we need  "that"  to introduce  essential clause  . "which"  is total wrong here

skiingforthewknds · Answer

IMO D

the error lines up with subject verb agreement....bold matches with bold, underline matches with underline. Which is a adjective clause which can be taken out 'the set has been published' but within the adj clause propositions needs to match with were b/c they are plural. If my logic is off please let me know.

The set  of  propositions  which  were discussed  by the panel  has been  published in the society journal.

sdas · Answer

Daagh, the pronoun is simply giving more information about the subject, which is a non essential modifier in real sense. As you also mentioned, it is irrelevant if the set is of prepositions or not, what matters is that the set was published. In that case why not consider E, which I understand has an additional punctuation but in what way is this incorrect. As I am not too convinced with C as the answer choice.

daagh · Answer

That the panel discussed is very essential to the sentence. In E, it is rendered inessential by offsetting. Remove the offset part and you might feel the bareness of the clause.

mohit878 · Answer

There would be a comma before "which" i think,than only Option D would be right

umeshpatil · Answer

The set of propositions which was discussed by the panel have been published in the society journal.

A. which was discussed by the panel  have  been.  The set has been... 
B. which  were  discussed by the panel  have  been
C.  that was discussed by the panel has been .  Perfect match 
D. which  were  discussed by the panel has been
E. which was discussed, by the panel, has been.  For this to be correct, there should have been a comma before  which  and after  panel .

Which vs That.. (from grammar girl)

A restrictive clause   is just part of a sentence that you can't get rid of because it specifically restricts some other part of the sentence. Here's an example:
   Gems that sparkle often elicit forgiveness.  
The words that sparkle restrict the kind of gems you're talking about. Without them, the meaning of the sentence would change. Without them, you'd be saying that all gems elicit forgiveness, not just the gems that sparkle. (And note that you don't need commas around the words that sparkle.)
 Nonrestrictive Clause--Which 
  A nonrestrictive clause   is something that can be left off without changing the meaning of the sentence. You can think of a nonrestrictive clause as simply additional information. Here's an example:
   Diamonds, which are expensive, often elicit forgiveness.  
Alas, in the world, diamonds are always expensive, so leaving out the words which are expensive doesn't change the meaning of the sentence.

aks456 · Answer

I disgaree with OA.
Reasons-
1) Before "Which" there is always a "comma"
2) "The set of prepositions" is Singular( B and D are out)
3) Since "the set of prepositions" is singular so A is out ...As it cannot be "have been"...It should be "Has been"
4)Left with (c) and (E).. (E) cannot be the answer for two reasons- there is always a comma before which...so that will be prefereed... secondly" ,by the panel'" structure is wrong
So (C) should be the answer...

tsi2014 · Answer

I feel D must be the OA.
Here the modifier "which XXXX" is modifying the noun closest to it - "propositions", is it not ?

rajthakkar · Answer

The meaning says prepositions were discussed.We can not say the set was discussed.so which must be followed by were instead of was.

Now what has been published is the set of prepositions.which is singular.

IMO D

Pags · Answer

The set of propositions which was discussed by the panel have been published in the society journal.

A. which was discussed by the panel have been
 Incorrect. The set....have. 
 B. which were discussed by the panel have been
 Incorrect. The set..were.
 C. that was discussed by the panel has been
 Correct. The set...was...has
 D. which were discussed by the panel has been
 Incorrect. The set...were.
 E. which was discussed, by the panel, has been
 Incorrect, no need of comma after discussed.
 
Even not entering in the thing "that vs. which", it is pretty clear that the option C is the correct answer. OA is incorrect.

Pags · Answer

Not really, which is modifying "set", not "propositions". Let's take an example from the Magoosh material:

The first novel of Virginia Wolf, which centers on a sea voyage to South America, explores the excitement and vitality of youth.

which is modifying "novel", not "Virginia Wolf". Basically, a vital-noun-modifier (of Virginia Wolf) has the priority to touch the noun that it modifies, while a non-vital-noun-modifier doesn't (which centers...)

I hope it helps.

rajthakkar · Answer

I think you are taking it wrong.
The meaning of the sentence is essential to evaluate the answers.

If which refer to sets than sets must have been discussed.but here the meaning says the prepositions were discussed.

bb  can u help us out solving this?

Posted from my mobile device

mvictor · Answer

tricky one...I see why many people got it wrong.

first SV pair:
the set has been published - A and B are out because of the SV agreement error.

second SV pair:
propositions were discussed - therefore, C and E are out.

D remains.

cbh · Answer

Does 'which' really always require a comma before? If not, then D looks more appropriate to me

Sent from my HUAWEI GRA-UL10 using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

linakherchi · Answer

"Which" refers to the preceding noun "propositions". Therefore, the verb should be in plural form. 
Then, " The set     has been published in the society journal ."

D rules out.

Best,

jimmy6473 · Answer

Hi,

C seems like a better option than D.
How can we use Singular and Plural to refer to the same subject?

sayantanc2k · Answer

There should have been a comma before "which" in option D. Otherwise option D would be technically wrong (though you would not find a wrong answer in GMAT just because of wrong punctuation).

Essential modifier : "that" without comma - refers to a subset: I hate dogs that bark - implies that there are a number of dogs (say 100) of which some bark (say 20) - I hate only those (20) that bark.

Non-essential modifier: "which" with comma - refers to all: I hate Dogs, which bark - implies that there are a number of Dogs, and I hate all of them - an additional information about the dogs is that they bark.

Now consider the given question:
Option C: Set that was discussed . implies that there are many sets of which one  was  discussed - that one set  has been  published: makes sense
Option D: Propositions, which were discussed: implies (all) the propositions  were  discussed - the set of these propositions  has been  published - also makes sense.

The set of propositions which was discussed by the panel

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The set of propositions which was discussed by the panel

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