There is a general consensus among anthropologists about the small bra

Question

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1) 
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There is a general consensus among anthropologists  about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids which indicate that they  likely did not have the capacity for language.

A) about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids which indicate that they

B) about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids and that they are indicative of

C) about the small brain size and the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids indicates that they

D) that the small brain size and that the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids indicates that they

E) that the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids indicate that they

generis · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)

THE PROMPT  
 
• subject/verb agreement
→ The plural subject  small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract  requires the plural verb  indicate .

• idiom
→ In the context of this sentence, the idiomatically correct construction is  consensus that  and not  consensus about. 
→ GMAC has tested this idiom a few times. I would not worry about it too much. All of the options contain with this error contain other errors.

THE OPTIONS  
 
•  which  is a nonessential modifier that should be set off by commas
→ In British English,  that  and  which  are interchangeable.
→ In U.S. English and on the GMAT,  that  and  which  are not interchangeable.
The word  that  is an essential modifier. It conveys crucial (essential) information about its noun. A that clause is not preceded by or flanked by commas.
The word  which  is a non-essential modifier that conveys nonessential information about its noun; that information is set off by commas and can be removed from the sentence without any radical change in meaning.
If you see the word  which,  start looking for commas.

→ Controversy exists about this rule. Conservation grammarians, yours truly included, believe that a distinction exists.
Less strict grammarians argue that usage has erased the distinction.
So far, on the GMAT, the two have not been interchangeable.
That fact might change at any time, but for now it holds. Just a heads up.

• idiom:  consensus about  should be  consensus that 
ELIMINATE A
 
• the sentence is nonsensical
→  and that they are indicative of  is immediately followed by  likely did not have the capacity for language .
→ Here is the whole thing:
There is a general consensus among anthropologists about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  and that they are  indicative of likely did not have   the capacity for language. 
→ This part is nonsensical:  . . . that they are indicative of likely did not have the capacity for language. 
What are they indicative of?
"Are indicative of likely did not have XYZ" is absolute babble.

• as in (A), the correct construction is  consensus that .

ELIMINATE B

• subject/verb agreement 
→ The plural subject  small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract  requires the plural verb  indicate .

• idiom: as is the case in options A and B, the correct idiom is  consensus that , not  consensus about 
ELIMINATE C
 
• subject/verb agreement
→The plural subject  small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract  requires the plural verb  indicate.

• nonsensical meaning. 
→ There is a consensus that X and that Y.
that X = that the small brain size  
that Y = and that the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract indicate  that they likely did not have the capacity for language
The word and is a parallelism marker, but X and Y are not parallel. The X part lacks a verb.

ELIMINATE D

• bingo - I do not see any errors
• the three things indicate that early hominids probably did not have the capacity for language.
KEEP

The correct answer is E.

COMMENTS

I am glad to see that almost all of these answers contain explanations.

The reasoning is spot on most of the time.
Nicely done.

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (E) . It took me 01:08.

(A) (1）"Which" should be "that" (2) "which / that" modifies "early hominids", but "early hominids" cannot indicate something for themselves.

(B) (1) Lack of parallelism between "about" and "that". (2) “are indicative of” is wordy. "indicate" is better.

(C) Not a sentence. "the small brain size and the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract" serves both as object for "about" and subject for "indicates".

(D) There is a superficial parallelism between " that  (the small brain size)" and " that  ( the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids indicates that they ...", but what follows after "that" are not parallel.

swim2109 · Answer

There is a general consensus among anthropologists about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids which indicate that they likely did not have the capacity for language.

A) about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  which  indicate that they----> which wrongly refers to hominids. It is the features (brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract) that indicate.......

B) about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  and that they  are indicative of------> 'they' is a pronoun without a clear antecedent and the usage of 'and' does not convey the meaning.

C) about the small brain size and the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  indicates  that they-----.> wrong as there are two verbs.

D) that the small brain size and that the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  indicates  that they------> subject-verb issue; plural verb to be used

E) Seems correct with all the issues sorted out. Indicate is in plural form and modifying the features

sumitkrocks · Answer

There is a general consensus among anthropologists  about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids which indicate that they  likely did not have the capacity for language.

Per meaning -logically we can have list elements as below:-
Small brain size 
Ape like cranial anatomy and ape like vocal tract

A) about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  which  indicate that they

Which is used to refer to preceding clause- eliminate

B) about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids and  that  they are indicative of

Flawed parallelism + Too wordy -  Eliminate

C) about the small brain size and the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  indicates  that they

Wrong structure -Not aa legitimate sentence

D) that the small brain size and  that  the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids indicates that they
Flawed parallelism + Too wordy + Not legitimate sentence -  Eliminate

E) that the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids indicate that they 
 E is the correct answer

minalgambhir · Answer

ERROR ANALYSIS -

1) Use of 'which' is not correct - it is used to refer to immediately preceding noun only

ANSWER CHOICE ANALYSIS -

A) Use of 'which' is not correct - it is used to refer to immediately preceding noun only
B) 2 verbs but only 1 subject after the underlined part - wrong sentence formation
C) Use of 'indicates' - S-V doesn't agree in number
D) Use of 'indicates' - S-V doesn't agree in number
E) CORRECT

asishron29181 · Answer

There is a general consensus among anthropologists  about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids which indicate that they  likely did not have the capacity for language.

A)  about  the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids which indicate that they- Incorrect

B) about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids and that  they are indicative  of- Incorrect

C) about the small brain size and the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  indicates  that they- Incorrect

D) that the small brain size and that the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  indicates  that they- Incorrect

E) that the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids indicate that they  - Correct

IMO E

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

There is a general consensus among anthropologists about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids which indicate that they likely did not have the capacity for language.

There is a general consensus among anthropologists
---about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids
-------- which indicate that they likely did not have the capacity for language.

Here "which" is modifying hominids - it is conveying the meaning that "Hominids indicate that they (hominids) [/u]likely did not have the capacity for language."
- actually author wants to convey that - small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract indicate ............
- sentence has modifier error
- Inferred meaning - consensus among the anthropologists is about "indication" and not about the small brain size........

A) about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids which indicate that they - modifier and meaning error

B) about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids and that they are indicative of
- meaning error
- Also parallelism error

C) about the small brain size and the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids indicates that they
- SV Error
- Meaning error

D) that the small brain size and that the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids indicates that they
- SV error

E) that the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids indicate that they
- Sentence is clearly conveying the meaning
- SV pair seems fine
- Correct

RajatJ79 · Answer

There is a general consensus among anthropologists  about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids which indicate that they  likely did not have the capacity for language.

Analysis :  Sentence Structure  - the correct structure here should be ' there is a general consensus  that x and y and z indicate that ... ' instead of ' about x and y and z which indicate that ... '.

A) about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  which indicate  that they

B) about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  and that they are  indicative of

C) about the small brain size and the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  indicates  that they

D) that the small brain size and that the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  indicates  that they

E)   that   the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids   indicate that   they

Answer is Option E.

sush147 · Answer

There is a general consensus among anthropologists  about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids which indicate that they  likely did not have the capacity for language.

A) about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids which indicate that they  --> INCORRECT. 'which' will refer to 'consensus' here and that is not correct. It needs to refer to compound noun (the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids). Also, connector 'about' is wrong as turning the whole underlined phrase to preposition will lead to wrong meaning with 'which' refering to 'consensus'.

B) about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids and that they are indicative of  --> INCORRECT. 'about' is wrong. Also, pronoun 'they' can refer to anthropologists here, which is not right.

C) about the small brain size and the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids indicates that they  --> INCORRECT. 'about' usage is incorrect. 'indicates' link with noun 'consensus' - leading to wrong meaning.

D) that the small brain size and that the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids indicates that they  --> INCORRECT. 'that' is correctly used. SV-agreement error. As that X and that Y is a plural noun, but 'indicates' is singular.

E) that the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids indicate that they   --> CORRECT. Sentence is structured as -- There is a general consensus among anthropologists that   and   indicate that they likely did not have the capacity for language.

Green2k1 · Answer

There is a general consensus among anthropologists  about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids which indicate that they  likely did not have the capacity for language.

There is a general consensus among anthropologists
---about the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids
-------- which indicate that they likely did not have the capacity for language.

Here "which" is modifying hominids - it is conveying the meaning that "Hominids indicate that they (hominids)  likely did not have the capacity for language."
- actually author wants to convey that - small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract indicate ............
- sentence has modifier error
- Inferred meaning - consensus among the anthropologists is about "indication" and not about the small brain size........

A)  about  the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids which indicate that they -  modifier and meaning error

B)  about  the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  and that they  are indicative of
 - meaning error
- Also parallelism error

C)  about  the small brain size and the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids  indicates  that they
 - SV Error
- Meaning error

D) that  the small brain size and that the ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract  in early hominids  indicates  that they
 - SV error

E) that the small brain size and ape-like cranial anatomy and vocal tract in early hominids indicate that they
 - Sentence is clearly conveying the meaning
- SV pair seems fine
- Correct

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here .

There is a general consensus among anthropologists about the small bra

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

There is a general consensus among anthropologists about the small bra

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards