Unpredictability of the monsoon, unusual, spatial and temporal

Question

Unpredictability of the monsoon, unusual, spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall over the four month period, drought like conditions in some areas and excessive rainfall in others, and the possible impact of global warning has, in the past, given rise to questions frequently about whether or not we are witnessing permanent or quasi permanent changes in monsoon behaviour.

A. Unpredictability of the moonsoon, unusual spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall over the four month period, drought-like conditions in some areas and excessive rainfall in others, and the possible impact of global warming has, in the past, given rise to questions frequently about whether or not we are witnessing permanent or quasi permanent changes in monsoon behaviour. 
 
B. Unpredictability of the monsoon, unusual spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall along the four month period, drought-like conditions in some areas and excessive rainfall in others, and the possible impact of global warming have, in the past, given rise to questions frequently about whether or not we are witnessing permanent or quasi permanent changes in monsoon behaviour. 
 
C. Unpredictability of the monsoon, unusual spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall over the four month period, drought-like conditions in some areas and excessive rainfall in others, and the possible impact of global warming, have, in the past, given rise frequently to questions about whether or not we are witnessing permanent or quasi permanent changes in monsoon behaviour. 
 
D. Unpredictability of the monsoon, spatial and temporal distribution of unusual rainfall over the four month period, drought-like conditions in some areas and excessive rainfall in other, and the possible impact of global warming, have, in the past, given rise frequently to questions about whether or not we are witnessing permanent or quasi permanent changes in monsoon behaviour.

E. Unpredictability of the monsoon, unusual spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall over the four month period, drought-like conditions in some areas and excessive rainfall in others, and the possible impact of global warming, have in the past, given rise to frequent questions of whether or not we are witnessing permanent or quasi permanent changes, in monsoon behaviour.

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

Well, there is no "original" meaning that we're trying to preserve, but I'm with you here -- I don't see why it's any more logical to describe the rainfall itself as "unusual" than to describe the spacial distribution of the rainfall that way. So I wouldn't lose any sleep over this one. In an official question, one option would have to be clearer or more logical than the other. That doesn't seem to be the case here.

So two takeaways:

1) It's fine if the answer you select has a different meaning than (A), so long as that answer is  better 
2) Try to rely on official questions. Otherwise, you end up agonizing over the kind of decision points you'd never actually see in the exam.

I hope that helps a bit!

Abhi077 · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Option A is incorrect because of the inappropriate placement of the adverb frequently , The correction is...given rise frequently to questions about Further, in Option
(A) the verb ‘has’ does not agree with the series of anomalies (i.e. the different conditions) mentioned in the first part of the sentence. 
In Option B along the four month period is an incorrect expression. The correction is over the four month period ... because in this context. a time span is being referred to. 
Further, in statement B the adverb frequently is inappropriately placed. 
Only statement D is grammatically correct, In option (C) Unusual is misplaced and in option (E) frequent
Questions is incorrect.

Choice (D) is the correct answer

Mona2019 · Answer

A. Unpredictability of the moonsoon, unusual spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall over the four month period, drought-like conditions in some areas and excessive rainfall in others, and the possible impact of global warming has, in the past, given rise to questions frequently about whether or not we are witnessing permanent or quasi permanent changes in monsoon behaviour. 
 Incorrect  
Subject verb agreement error - has does not agree with the multiple subjects

B. Unpredictability of the monsoon, unusual spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall along the four month period, drought-like conditions in some areas and excessive rainfall in others, and the possible impact of global warming have, in the past, given rise to questions frequently about whether or not we are witnessing permanent or quasi permanent changes in monsoon behaviour. 
 Incorrect  
along the four month period is not right

C. Unpredictability of the monsoon, unusual spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall over the four month period, drought-like conditions in some areas and excessive rainfall in others, and the possible impact of global warming, have, in the past, given rise frequently to questions about whether or not we are witnessing permanent or quasi permanent changes in monsoon behaviour. 
 Correct

D. Unpredictability of the monsoon, spatial and temporal distribution of unusual rainfall over the four month period, drought-like conditions in some areas and excessive rainfall in other, and the possible impact of global warming, have, in the past, given rise frequently to questions about whether or not we are witnessing permanent or quasi permanent changes in monsoon behaviour. 
 Incorrect  
unusual should be placed with spatial

E. Unpredictability of the monsoon, unusual spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall over the four month period, drought-like conditions in some areas and excessive rainfall in others, and the possible impact of global warming, have in the past, given rise to frequent questions of whether or not we are witnessing permanent or quasi permanent changes, in monsoon behaviour.
 Incorrect  
if it a question of whether or not we are witnessing.... then using question s  is wrong

Arthurito · Answer

Same IMO should be C, way more logical especially with the placement of "unusual" which respects the original meaning of the first sentence. The placement of "unusual" in D modifies the intendent meaning of the 1st sentence and we could understand that the the rainfalls are unusual. But it's not the original meaning which is that the distribution of the rainfall is unusual, not the rainfall in itself. Makes no sense to pick D over C.

GMATNinja could you please explain why it's D ? it's weird

GMATNinja  could you please explain why it's D ? it's weird

kungfury42 · Answer

In continuation to what you said, I would like to add that I couldn't help but observe a "whether or not" present in all the answer choices.

I generally use this as an elimination point on SC questions but now I am slightly confused as to whether I have formed an incorrect (and just lucky so far) elimination criteria basis "whether or not"?

What is GMAT's stand on this Charles, could you please share some insights? Are there any official questions where such usage is accepted?

Posted from my mobile device

GMATNinja · Answer

Great observation: we've never seen "whether or not" in an OA. As explained in this post , “whether or not” is apparently considered redundant on the GMAT. “Whether” is enough, and the “or not” is just a waste of words. But it's worth repeating the disclaimer we wrote in this post : the moment we think we've uncovered a "rule," the GMAT tends to put us in our place.

If you see "whether or not," you've probably found an incorrect choice. But blindly eliminating something the moment you spot "whether or not" probably isn't a great idea -- read your options carefully, and hopefully there will be other clues to support eliminating options in which "whether or not" appears. I hope that helps a bit!

banker08 · Answer

in option D, isnt the the word "other" wrong?
Shouldnt it be "others"?

Posted from my mobile device

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  banker08 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, you are correct; Option D needs to use the plural pronoun "others" to refer to the plural noun "areas"; this is most likely a transcription error.

We hope this helps.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

PyjamaScientist · Answer

Given the busy schedule of  GMATNinja , I am not sure if he will be prompt to reply to your query. Here are my two cents, instead. "Whether or not" is  not wrong . Period. It's just that the part ("or not") after " whether " is not  necessary . So, just " whether " alone stands  concise   and  enough . But, if you club it with " or not ", it does not make the sentence wrong  solely   on that basis. So, as Charles would say, "  Do not make rules in SC that might bite you back if followed blindly ".
You will always get another definite error to eliminate an answer choice. So, you do not need to keep this "whether or not" rule in your POE analysis.

ShubhadeepB · Answer

AjiteshArun   GMATNinja   mikemcgarry 
Can you please share your thoughts on why it should be C over D?

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  Metalking ,

I think  both C and D are incorrect . That said, if I absolutely had to choose between those two options, I would go for C.

Ignoring the other issues in this option,   unusual spatial and temporal distribution  of rainfall  seems to be okay.

I don't think I've ever heard something like  spatial and temporal distribution of  unusual rainfall   before. Moreover, if the rainfall itself is unusual, surely that's enough? Why would we add something about the distribution of something unusual if the distribution isn't surprising? That said, as GMATNinja points out, it's hard to be absolutely sure that this isn't the intended meaning.

ShubhadeepB · Answer

Are options C and D grammatically incorrect?  AjiteshArun

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  Metalking ,

I'm not sure how the company or individual who made this question looks at this issue, but if we focus on the comma before  have , we can see one of the problems in that option:

The structure is { A, B, C, and D ,  have }. Or, in other words, {subject ,  verb}. This is unexpected. Also, we can't ignore the  other  issue ("drought-like conditions in some areas and excessive rainfall in   other  , and the possible impact") in the correct(?) option. Moreover, option A isn't the same as the underlined portion (just from a quick glance, as I still haven't read the entire question).

It's possible that most people who attempt this question immediately remove the "correct" option, D, because of "rainfall in other", and that's why this question has a "95% (hard)" rating. It'd be good to go through the OE for this question, but I'm fairly confident that D is not the best answer here.

NCC · Answer

Dear GMATNinja
Please help to explain why is C wrong here.

ReedArnoldMPREP · Answer

Frankly, I wouldn't fret over this question. The explanation that 'C' is wrong due to the placement of 'unusual' doesn't cut it for me. I see no reason why the rainfall must be unusual, and why the distribution of rainfall cannot be unusual.

GMATNinja · Answer

That's the problem with this question: (C) doesn't really seem to be any worse than (D). Check out  this post  for more on this.

NehaKalani · Answer

How is " drought like conditions in some areas and excessive rainfall in  other " right? It should have been "others" in option D.

Unpredictability of the monsoon, unusual, spatial and temporal

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Unpredictability of the monsoon, unusual, spatial and temporal

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