Many successful startup companies have raised hundreds of millions of

Question

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Many successful startup companies have raised hundreds of millions of dollars,  of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds .

A) of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds

B) of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees had received any funds

C) the majority of it must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds

D) and the majority of this must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before the reception of any funds by employees

E) the majority of which are repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds

generis · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)

THE PROMPT  
 
 • TIP: an  amount or sum of money  is almost always singular

→  hundreds of millions of dollars  refers to a quantity of money and is uncountable. That quantity of money is singular.
Correct:  Twenty million dollars  is  tied up in the stock market.

Correct:  The majority of his twenty million dollars  is  tied up in the stock market.

• if we were to ask a question, would we ask, "How much must be repaid?" Or would we ask, "How many must be repaid?"

→ If we use  How much  to ask, we have a non-countable and singular noun.
(If we should use "How many?" then the noun is countable.)

• Another tip:  a majority of/the majority of  can be singular or plural

→ Both  a majority of  and  the majority of  follow the noun that they quantify ( majority  is a quantifier, similar to  half )

→ The noun in the OF-prepositional phrase will tell you whether the verb is singular or pluual
-- Correct:  The majority of Americans are Vitamin D deficient.

-- Correct:  The majority of the cake is gone.

THE OPTIONS  
 
• I see no errors
→ the verb "must" hides the fact that a sum of money is usually uncountable and singular
•  of which the majority  = 
the  majority  of which = 
the majority of the hundreds of millions of dollars = 
the majority of the sum of money = 
 singular

• in  of which , the  which  reaches back to modify 
 the majority of the hundreds of millions of dollars  =

==> the amount (quantity) of money, which is non-count, singular noun.

The majority of which is a quantifier, very similar to SANAM pronouns, and very similar to  half.

These phrases are common in English: some of which, none of which, any of which, half of which, a number of which, and the majority of which (SANAM pronouns + extras)
KEEP

•  had received , past perfect, is incorrect

•  had received  would be used to describe the  earlier  of two events. Employees get their money second—later in time.
→ (1) majority of funds must be repaid to investors and preferred stockholders, then
→ (2) employees receive funds.
ELIMINATE B 
 
• this sentence is a comma splice: it needs a semicolon or a conjunction and has neither.
→ it impermissibly "sticks" two full, independent clauses together with only a comma.
Not okay.
We need a COMMA + AND (but, or)
or
a SEMICOLON.
We have nether. 
The comma splice is fatal.
ELIMINATE C
 
• almost always, do not use  this  as a standalone pronoun. 
→  this  must point to a noun: this apple tree, this peach tree, this oak tree
→ to my knowledge, GMAC has published exactly 1 question in which  this  is a standalone pronoun (in OG 2020)

•  the reception of any funds by employees  is unnecessarily long and passive. 
ELIMINATE D
 
• the plural verb  are  does not match the singular subject of the relative clause  , which refers to a huge sum =  is 
 
ELIMINATE E

The correct answer is A.

XyLan  , good question.
We can choose between A and E because option E contains a subject/verb error.
A sum of money is singular, even when the sum is written out and is, in a way, "countable."
Option E couples the plural verb  are  with a singular subject.
Alternatively, we are sure that "must" agrees with the subject.
Perhaps there is disagreement about whether this sum of money is indeed singular.
Option A gets you out of having to decide the issue.

We treat money as we treat distance:
 Twenty dollars is not enough to buy the book.
Twenty miles is a short distance.

COMMENTS

People who posted were brave. Nicely done. 
Only one or two people noticed the subject/verb issues. Also nicely done.

Now, everyone: get brave.
Take risks. If 2020 has not taught us that damn near anything can happen . . . well, I don't know what will do so.

tyildirim92 · Answer

Many successful startup companies have raised hundreds of millions of dollars,  of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds .

A) of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds // correct

B) of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees had received any funds // this info is general, no need to have any kind of past tense. Plus, "before" already implies the order of the events.

C) the majority of it must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds // a run-on sentence

D) and the majority of this must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before the reception of any funds by employees // passive voice is not ideal. "this" is a dangling modifier.

E) the majority of which are repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds // "are" is wrong. The majority of the money should precede "is".

Posted from my mobile device

XyLan · Answer

Sentence Structure Subject - Verb - Modifier Many successful startup companies have raised hundreds of millions of dollars, of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds. Issues: At 1st look, I could NOT find any issue with Option-A: Alert cap ON! ---> Let's see

Answer choice analysis: A) of which the majority MUST be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds Can live with that: Better than the rest, A is the winner! B) of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees had received any funds Had received ---> Past-perfect usage is unsolicited. Furthermore, repayment to investors happened BEFORE employees receive funds, yet past-perfect is used for employees. OUT! C) the majority of it must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds Comma splice | Run-on sentence. "hundreds of millions of dollars" is NOT mapping with Singular-Pronoun( it ). OUT! D) and the majority of this must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before the reception of any funds by employees Too colloquial and imprecise. The term "this" demands a NOUN. OUT! E) the majority of which ARE repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds Comma splice | Run-on sentence. The startup has JUST raised hundreds of millions of dollars, yet the majority of which ARE already repaid to investors: Maybe, I am nitpicking; however, I find E inferior to A . OUT! generis , How to decide between such close choices: E and A .

Varunsawhney8 · Answer

Tense error

HoneyLemon · Answer

imo  A   .. NOt sure whether I got it correct .. but it took me >2 min.. 
Many successful startup companies have raised hundreds of millions of dollars,  of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds .

A) of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds
 --  Correct  
 B) of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees  had received  any funds
 had received is not necessary  
C) the majority of it must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds
 Run-on sentence. 
D) and the majority of  this  must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before  the reception of any funds by employees 
 -- This has no reference . 
-- the reception is wordy  
E) the majority of which are repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds
 Run-on sentence.

sonee@gmail.com · Answer

Many successful startup companies have raised hundreds of millions of dollars, of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds.

while analyzing the original sentence, I didn't find any issues, so let's proceed and  Mark Option A as a contender

A) of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds

In Option B, here usage of had received is wrong. usage of past perfect tense does not make any sense here because investors must be paid first and employees receive funds later. So eliminate Option B

B) of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees had received any funds -- Incorrcet

In Option C, Usage of it is wrong. Hundreds of millions of dollars are showing plural quantity so it can not be used. Eliminate Option C 
C) the majority of it must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds--- Incorrect

In Option D, meaning wise it is the same as A. So keep it as contender choice along with Option A.
D) and the majority of this must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before the reception of any funds by employees

In option E, Usage of are paid signifies a general rule that can happen or not is not sure. while as per sentence investors must be paid first.
So eliminate Option E.
E) the majority of which are repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds - Incoorect

Now among option A and Option D ,
Option A is clear and concise So I will choose Option A as Answer

KaramveerBakshi · Answer

Many successful startup companies have raised hundreds of millions of dollars, of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds.

A) of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds -  Concise. Correct.

B) of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees had received any funds -  'had received' is wrong. Incorrect.

C) the majority of it must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds -  'it' is ambiguous. Incorrect.

D) and the majority of this must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before the reception of any funds by employees -  'the reception of any funds by employees' is wordy and awkward. Also, 'this' is unnecessary. Incorrect.

E) the majority of which are repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds -  'majority .. are' is wrong. Incorrect.

Hence, the answer is Option (A)

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

Many successful startup companies have raised hundreds of millions of dollars,  of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds .

A) of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds
The meaning is spot therefore our answer

B) of which the majority must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees had received any funds
had recieved isn't the right usage since the tense is not giving us a defined time frame therefore out

C) the majority of it must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds
it what it what are they refering to isn't crystal therefore out

D) and the majority of this must be repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before the reception of any funds by employees
of this what .....this is not having a right reference therefore out

E) the majority of which are repaid to investors and other preferred shareholders before employees receive any funds
which is creating a lot of trouble and not conveying the right meaning therfore out

Therefore IMO A

Many successful startup companies have raised hundreds of millions of

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Many successful startup companies have raised hundreds of millions of

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