When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common

Question

When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there is partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event and, therefore, to construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can .

A. When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there is partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event and, therefore, to construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can

B. To construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can because when investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event

C. When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event, and to construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should therefore collate as many records as he can

D. When investigating an incident from the distant past, a common occurrence is that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event, so one should collate as many records as they can in order to construct a realistic historical hypothesis

E. To construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can because when investigating an incident from the distant past, it commonly occurs that there is partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there is partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event and, therefore, to construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can .

A. When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there is partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event and, therefore, to construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can

This answer choice is grammatically incorrect. The plural subject conflicting accounts does not agree with the singular verb is. Once the verb is located, it is important to ask what the subject of that verb is.

What helps us identify this question as a Subject Verb Agreement question and identify the mistake is the following Stop Sign:

The verb precedes the subject

B. To construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can because when investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event

This answer choice corrects the original Subject Verb Agreement error by matching the plural verb  are  with the plural subject  conflicting accounts .

C. When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event, and to construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should therefore collate as many records as he can

Although this answer choice corrects the original Subject Verb Agreement error by matching the plural verb are with the plural subject conflicting accounts, it is grammatically incorrect. The pronoun they refers to one but does not agree with it as one is singular and they is plural.

The pronoun one agrees with itself only.

Example: One must be careful with what one wishes for.

The pronoun  one  agrees with itself only.

Example: One must be careful with what one wishes for.

What helps us identify this question as a Pronoun question as well as identify the mistake is the following Stop Sign:

Every pronoun in the underlined part of the sentence or after it

D. When investigating an incident from the distant past, a common occurrence is that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event, so one should collate as many records as they can in order to construct a realistic historical hypothesis

Although this answer choice corrects the original Subject Verb Agreement error by matching the plural verb are with the plural subject conflicting accounts, it is grammatically incorrect. The pronoun they refers to one but does not agree with it as one is singular and they is plural.

The pronoun one agrees with itself only.

Example: One must be careful with what one wishes for.

The pronoun  one  agrees with itself only.

Example: One must be careful with what one wishes for.

E. To construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can because when investigating an incident from the distant past, it commonly occurs that there is partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event

This answer choice is grammatically incorrect and repeats the original Subject Verb Agreement error. The plural subject conflicting accounts does not agree with the singular verb  is .

What helps us identify this question as a Subject Verb Agreement question and identify the mistake is the following Stop Sign:

The verb precedes the subject

PyjamaScientist · Answer

Option  (B)  in my opinion.

It is my least favorite too. Because the intended idea does not flow organically. The original flow of the sentence is much better and I wish it were the correct choice.

But there are blatant errors in almost all except this ugly option B.

Option A has a plurality error:  There is  (singular) used with  accounts  (plural). Red flag.

Option B: Correct plurality error as well as other errors in other option choices.  Correct Choice.

Option C: This was the best just that the usage of "he", a relative pronoun makes it wrong. "he" refers to males. There is no male here to be referred to. Red Flag.
The pronoun one agrees with itself only.
Example:  One  must be careful with what  one  wishes for.

Option D:  One  should collate as  they  can. Red flag.

Option E: Plurality error as same as option A. Red flag.

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (B) . It took me 02:25, the first minute of which I spent  eliminating  all  answers .

= First Pass  (Eliminating all answers)  =
(A) Can "it" investigate an incident from the distant past? No. Eliminated. 
(B) Eliminated for the same reason.
(C) Eliminated for the same reason.
(D) Can ” a common occurrence “ investigate an incident from the distant past? No. Eliminated. 
(E) See (A).

Now, all options are eliminated. I hope that such question should not be  a common occurrence  or even rare occurrence in actual GMAT test. But, what if I ignore the problems identified above? We have to rewind to (A).

== Second Pass ==
(A) SVA error between "there is" and "accounts". 
(C) "one" and "he" do not agree. 
(D) "one" and "they" do not agree. 
(E) SVA error between "there is" and "accounts".

So, I ultimately chose (B).

100mitra · Answer

Correct Option B

Sentence Exam on  : 
- SV Agreement
- Sentence structure

Wrong Option A  . 
When investigating an incident from the distant past, 
 it is a common occurrence that  -  Common occurance and incident has not connection 
there   is   (partially or completely)   conflicting accounts   of the same event and, -  is  singular -  accounts  plural
therefore, to construct a realistic historical hypothesis, 
  one should collate as many records as one can   -  sentence incomplete has no ending or conclusion .

Correct Option B  . 
  To construct   a realistic historical hypothesis, 
one   should collate   as many records as one can,
because   when investigating   an incident from the distant past, 
it is a   common occurrence that there     are   (partially or completely)   conflicting accounts   of the same event
 - Correct Connection between the sentence

Wrong Option C .  
When investigating an incident from the distant past, 
it is a common occurrence that 
there  are  (partially or completely)  conflicting accounts  of the same event,  and  
to construct a realistic historical hypothesis, 
one should therefore collate as many records as he can 
 - No Corelation between the sentence

Wrong Option D . 
When investigating an incident from the distant past, 
a common occurrence is that 
there  are  (partially or completely)  conflicting accounts  of the same event, 
so one should collate as many records as they can in order 
to construct a realistic historical hypothesis
 - No Corelation between the sentence

Wrong Option E .  
To construct a realistic historical hypothesis, 
one should collate as many records as one can 
because when investigating an incident from the distant past, 
it commonly occurs that there   is   (partially or completely)   conflicting accounts   of the same event
 - Sentence error and SV Agreement error.

sivatx2 · Answer

A. When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there  is  partially or completely   conflicting accounts of the same event   and, therefore, to construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can 
 Here subject takes Noun1 of Noun2 form --> "Conflicting accounts" of "the same event" should use Noun1 for the subject verb agreement. So, subject is plural but 'is' usage makes the verb singular. SVA error. Eliminate

B. To construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can because when investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there  are  partially or completely  conflicting accounts of the same event  
 No SVA issue. Keep

C. When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event, and to construct a realistic historical hypothesis,  one  should therefore collate as many records as   he   can 
 Pronoun 'he' usage is incorrect as it is not parallel with 'one'. Also gender is not mentioned anywhere else in the sentence. Eliminate.

D. When investigating an incident from the distant past, a common occurrence is that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event, so  one  should collate as many records as  they  can in order to construct a realistic historical hypothesis 
 Pronoun 'they'(plural) usage is incorrect as it is not parallel with 'one'(singular). Eliminate.

E. To construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can because when investigating an incident from the distant past, it commonly occurs that there  is  partially or completely   conflicting accounts of the same event   
 Here subject takes Noun1 of Noun2 form --> "Conflicting accounts" of "the same event" should use Noun1 for the subject verb agreement. So, subject is plural but 'is' usage makes the verb singular. SVA error. Eliminate

Hence B is the best answer choice.

Anuragsharma93 · Answer

IMO B

Initially i had eliminated all answers because of the usage of "it" and the word "occurrence"
It cannot refer to the entire clause!

Here is how i eliminated the Choices-

A. When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that  there is  partially or completely conflicting  accounts  of the same event and, therefore, to construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can -- SV Error and the usage of Accounts is erroneous.

B. To construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can because when investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event. - This is the best answer without any apparent SV error.

Tried to reframe the above sentence without the dependent clause and using pronoun IT in expletive form however still this sentence didnot make much sense.. 
To construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can, that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event it is a common occurrence .

C. When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event, and  to construct  a realistic historical hypothesis,  one  should therefore collate as many records as  he  can - Multiple issues in Parallelism.

D. When investigating an incident from the distant past, a common  occurrence  is that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event,  so   one  should collate as many records as  they  can in order to construct a realistic historical hypothesis -- One is singular and they is plural. S-V mismatch.

E. To construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can because when investigating an incident from the distant past, it commonly occurs that  there is  partially or completely conflicting  accounts  of the same event -- SV error and usage of Accounts is erroneous.

aishu0091 · Answer

I got it wrong but this is what I've picked up from the other explanations, feel free to drop a reply in case there are any errors.

When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there is partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event and, therefore, to construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can.

A. When investigating an incident from the distant past, it  is  a common occurrence that there is partially or completely conflicting  accounts  of the same event and, therefore, to construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can - eliminated as the wrong SV, Accounts is plural and would require 'are'

B. To construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can because when investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event

To construct a realistic hypothesis,  one   should  collate records  as many as   one   can  - sentence perfect on its own, correct idiom usage of as many as, subject reference is correct,
because when investigating an incident from the distant past - dependent on previous sentence 
it is a common occurrence that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event - if I'm not wrong the 'it' is a dummy word and we cannot identify what 'it' is referring to, but logically the sentence makes sense.

C. When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common occurrence that there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event, and  to construct  a realistic historical hypothesis,  one should  therefore collate as many records as  he can  - eliminated as he is incorrect as it is not parallel with 'one'

D. When investigating an incident from the distant past, a common occurrence  is that  there are partially or completely conflicting accounts of the same event, so  one should  collate as many records as  they  can in order to construct a realistic historical hypothesis- one and they. One is singular, they is plural so incorrect.

Also if anyone sees this, can someone confirm if the usage is correct? : a common occurrence is that there are .. - It just sounds so wrong.

E. To construct a realistic historical hypothesis, one should collate as many records as one can because when investigating an incident from the distant past, it commonly occurs that there  is  partially or completely conflicting  accounts  of the same event - eliminated as the wrong SV, Accounts is plural and would require 'are'

When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

When investigating an incident from the distant past, it is a common

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