The Zika and dengue viruses, like virtually all mosquito-borne disease

Question

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The Zika and dengue viruses, like virtually all mosquito-borne disease, does not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers by biting infected human beings.

A) does not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers by biting infected

B) do not occur in mosquito larvae yet are transmitted by female mosquitoes and become carriers after biting

C) do not occur in mosquito larvae but transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers after biting

D) does not occur in mosquito larvae transmitted by female mosquitoes, becoming carriers when biting

E) do not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers after biting

generis · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Remove the non-essential clause to simplify the sentence.
 The Zika and dengue viruses. . . does not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers by biting infected human beings.

A contrast exists. Mosquito-borne viruses do not even occur mosquito larvae. 
Rather, the viruses are transmitted by female adult mosquitoes (which become virus carriers after the mosquitoes bite an infected human being).
In a sense, what we think of as "mosquito-caused" viruses is not quite correct. Mosquitoes must bite an infected person and only then do the mosquitoes carry the virus by biting other human beings.

• Split #1- subject/verb agreement

The answer choices are split between the singular verb  does  and the plural verb  do .
So what is the subject of the sentence?  The Zika and dengue viruses — plural .

Options A and D incorrectly use the singular verb  does. 
Eliminate options A and D

• Split #2 - meaning

In option C,  but transmitted  makes the sentence incoherent. 
The phrase should be  but  are  transmitted .
This noun (viruses) cannot "transmitted by." It can only   be  transmitted by. 
We need the passive construction  but are transmitted  (by something else) so that the sentence makes sense.

Option B is worse than C.
The phrase  yet are transmitted by female mosquitoes and become carriers  suggests that the Zika and dengue viruses, not female mosquitoes, become carriers   after biting infected humans. 
Huh? Viruses do not bite infected humans. Nor are they carriers of themselves after biting infected humans. Nonsensical.

Eliminate options B and C

The correct answer is E.  
-- in option E, the verb  do  agrees with its plural subject,  the Zika and dengue viruses .
-- furthermore, option E depicts the contrast clearly by using the fairly common idiomatic structure  Not X but rather Y.

Notes

Do not be fooled by the singular word  disease .
→  Disease  is not the subject of the sentence. The subject is  viruses .
→ Disease is nonessential, flanked by commas, and can be removed from the sentence without altering meaning.

The phrase  like virtually all mosquito-borne disease  is an adjective phrase that modifies  the Zika and dengue viruses .
The singular word "disease" just happens to be part of that adjective modifier.

A noun such as  disease  in a nonessential modifier can never be the subject of the sentence.
The nonessential modifier itself is not a "major player" in the sentence, let alone one measly noun in that nonessential modifier.

COMMENTS

Saasingh  , welcome to SC Butler.
  DasAshishAshutosh  , and  tyildirim92  , I welcomed you in my other OE, but two welcomes never hurt anyone.

Sidebar: is  insist  a mandative / command ("bossy") verb that requires the command subjunctive construction?
Especially if you are not a native speaker and you answered  yes  without qualifying your answer, you should read that OE, which is  here .

Answers to this question range from very good to outstanding. 
That statement is a good way to end a week. Nicely done.

Saasingh · Answer

IMO E.

The Zika and dengue viruses --> its a compound noun and must have a plural verb i.e. DO.

Therefore, A and D are out.

Among B,C, and E :

B) do not occur in mosquito larvae yet are transmitted by female mosquitoes and become carriers after biting

...and become carriers after biting? It appears as if Zika and Dengue viruses become carriers after biting.

But, it is the female mosquito that becomes the carrier.

Meaning dostorted. WRONG.

C) do not occur in mosquito larvae but transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers after biting

Viruses do not occur 
But viruses TRANSMITTED, WHICH BECOME CARRIERS.

This sentence is missing a verb.

WRONG.

E) do not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers after biting

This option overcomes the problem in option C of missing verb

But viruses rather ARE TRANSMITTED...which become.

Also it is clear that it is the female mosquito which becomes carrier. Thus, meaning is correct.

CORRECT.

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HoneyLemon · Answer

E ?

The Zika and dengue viruses --  compound subject and must have a plural verb

Therefore, A and D are out.

out of B,C, and E :

B) do not occur in mosquito larvae yet are transmitted by female mosquitoes and  become carriers after biting

Meaning changed . WRONG. .. It seems Zika and Dengue viruses become carriers after biting. illogical

C) do not occur in mosquito larvae but transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers after biting

This sentence is missing a verb.

E) do not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers after biting

CORRECT.

tyildirim92 · Answer

The Zika and dengue viruses, like virtually all mosquito-borne disease, does not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers by biting infected human beings.

A) does not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers by biting infected  // subject and verb disagree. i.e. viruses are plural and should not be followed by does.
 
B) do not occur in mosquito larvae yet are transmitted by female mosquitoes and become carriers after biting  // the intended meaning is distorted. viruses did not become carriers. Mosquitoes are the carriers.

C) do not occur in mosquito larvae but transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers after biting  // are is missing after but. a run-on sentence.

D) does not occur in mosquito larvae transmitted by female mosquitoes, becoming carriers when biting  // subject and verb disagree. i.e. viruses are plural and should not be followed by does. verb-ing modal is used incorrectly, it refers to viruses. "when" is not properly used, as it is, the usage of "when" means as though the mosquitoes become carriers only when they bite humans.

E) do not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers after biting  // a perfect choice in line with the above analysis.

The answer is E.

Iceman2020 · Answer

The Zika and dengue viruses, like virtually all mosquito-borne disease, does not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers by biting infected human beings.

- Zika and dengue viruses are connected by "and" which makes the main subject of this sentence as plural. So we "does" (singular) can be eliminated (Option A and D)
- Now let's analyze the other options

A) does not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers by biting infected  As stated above

B) do not occur in mosquito larvae yet are transmitted by female mosquitoes and become carriers after biting  "yet" is a contrast word but does not create the same impact as "but'. More importantly in the later part of the sentence "and become carrier after biting" does not have a correct referent as it makes it sound as if Zika and dengue viruses become carrier after biting

C) do not occur in mosquito larvae but transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers after biting  Fixes the above errors but lacks a verb in the underlined portion

D) does not occur in mosquito larvae transmitted by female mosquitoes, becoming carriers when biting  As stated above

E) do not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers after biting  Fixes all the errors that were discussed above. "which" is correctly referring to the word touching it "female mosquitoes"

vipulshahi · Answer

The Zika and dengue viruses, like virtually all mosquito-borne disease, does not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers by biting infected human beings.

* Subject Verb Agreement   * Tense Form    
- properly conveys intended meaning.

* If-then condition  - not used

* Subjunctive Verb  - not used

* Pronoun  - not used

* Modifier    
- properly modifies the female mosquitoes.

* Comparison   
- compares the entity logically.

* Idioms  - not used

While analyzing the sentence, only   subject verb agreement error   is there.

A)   does not occur   in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers by biting infected

- Subject verb agreement error

- Incorrect
 
B) do not occur in mosquito larvae   yet   are transmitted by female mosquitoes   and become carriers after biting  
 
1. usage of "yet" changed the meaning.
2. using parallelism marker "and" between "mosquitoes" & "become" changed the meaning abruptly and makes no sense grammatically.

- Incorrect 
 
C) do not occur in mosquito larvae but   transmitted   by female mosquitoes, which become carriers after biting
 
- usage of "transmitted" makes incorrect; " transmitted" is past tense. whole sentence is in present tense.

- Incorrect

D) does not occur in mosquito larvae transmitted by female mosquitoes,   becoming carriers when biting

- modifier error ; "becoming carriers when biting" modifies " does not occur in mosquito larvae transmitted by female mosquitoes" which makes totally redundant.

- Incorrect.
 
E) do not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers after biting

- removes the subject verb agreement error & modifier error

- Correct. 
 
 IMO(E)

jaisonsunny77 · Answer

The Zika and dengue viruses, like virtually all mosquito-borne disease,  does not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers by biting  infected human beings.
 
The subject is the plural noun ''viruses'', whereas the verb ''does'' is singular in nature. Since plural subjects cannot take singular verbs, we can   eliminate (A) and (D)   on the grounds that both these options have the singular verb ''does'' 
 
B) do not occur in mosquito larvae yet are transmitted by female mosquitoes and become carriers after biting  -  According to the parallelism structure introduced by (B), it is the ''viruses'' that perform the action of ''biting''. this does not make any sense.  
 
C) do not occur in mosquito larvae but transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers after biting  -  what follows the coordinating conjunction ''but'' is not an independent clause; instead, we have a participial phrase.

E) do not occur in mosquito larvae but rather are transmitted by female mosquitoes, which become carriers after biting - has no error. Hence,  (E) is the right answer choice.

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here .

youggotthis95 · Answer

When you do a quick look over of the options, the 3-2 split is between does and do.

- Viruses are plural, so the obvious choice would be do, and that leaves us with options B C and E. 
- In option B, "and become carriers" is suggesting that the viruses become carriers. That is most definitely not the correct meaning. 
- Leaves with the final split between C and E. In C "transmitted" is suggesting something that has already happened, whereas the entire sentence is in present tense. If you read this option again, in context of a timeline, you will understand what is wrong with it. 
- That leaves us with our correct option choice E.

nvs18 · Answer

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VerbalBot · Answer

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The Zika and dengue viruses, like virtually all mosquito-borne disease

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The Zika and dengue viruses, like virtually all mosquito-borne disease

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