An avid proponent of the back-to-nature movement, he was intent on liv

Question

An avid proponent of the back-to-nature movement, he was intent on living in a remote, uninhabited area where   little water or services were available.

(A) little water or services were available
(B) little water or services had been available
(C) there were few services and little available water
(D) there is little water and services available
(E) little water or services is available

Jacques · Accepted Answer

This is a Countable / Uncountable noun problem. Services - countable noun and Water is an uncountable noun. Got to be careful when we combine both the countable and uncountable nouns in a X or Y form.

A - cant be right. 'X or Y form' so its got to be parallel. its either ' water or services ' or ' little water or few services '.

B - cant be right. 'had been available' is a past perfect tense so this means there is no more services and water available out there.

C - Right. 'there were' is consistent with the tense 'he was intent'. and the countable / noncountable noun issue is right taken care of ' few services / little water '.

D - cant be right again the countable / noncountable noun issue.

E - cant be right again the countable / noncountable noun issue.

Paul · Answer

C is right but if this is not an OG question, then it is really close to it. I know some PR2005 questions have exact OG format except for a few bells and whistles which they change. Can you tell me the source of this question after? Thanks.

HIMALAYA · Answer

we need few to address services. so only C makes sense but C is unnecessary lengthy. "there were" is little awakward.

gandy_achar · Answer

C for the same reasons stated above. I think this is an OG qn. I remember seeing it there.

GA

Abhishek009 · Answer

Little refers to non-countable nouns ( Water ) and Few refers to countable nouns ( Services ), hence correct answer got to be (C)

aryarkrishnan · Answer

Can somebody please clarify my doubt. I thought using AND in option C changes the intended meaning of the sentence. The original question uses OR.

hiranmay · Answer

An avid proponent of the back-to-nature movement, he was intent on living in a remote, uninhabited area where  little water or services were available .

(A)  little  water or  services  were available --> "little services" is wrong, should be "few services"
(B)  little  water or  services  had been available --> same as A
(C) there were  few services  and little available water -->  correct 
(D) there is  little  water and  services  available--> same as A
(E)  little  water or  services  is available--> same as A

VerbalBot · Answer

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An avid proponent of the back-to-nature movement, he was intent on liv

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An avid proponent of the back-to-nature movement, he was intent on liv

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