Whereas it had been possible to at least consider the draft proposal o

Question

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1) 
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Whereas it had been possible to at least consider the draft proposal of the directors,  none of the two options of the final bargaining round were acceptable because of  the bulk of the finance stipulated in the fine print depended on output.

A) none of the two options of the final bargaining round were acceptable because of

B) none of the two options by the final bargained round were acceptable because

C) neither of the two options of the final bargaining round were acceptable because

D) none of the two options in the final bargaining round was acceptable because of

E) neither of the two options during the final bargaining round was acceptable because

generis · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1) 
 For SC butler Questions  Click Here

• QUICK POE

Split #1:  when two countable items are involved (such as  options ), use  neither , not  none .
 Neither  is for two.  None  is for more than two.
Options A, B, and D incorrectly use  none  to refer to only two options.
Eliminate A, B, and D.

Split #2:  as a standalone (without "nor"),  neither  is always singular

Always.
 Correct : Neither of the twins is blonde.

To maintain subject/verb agreement, we need  . . . neither . . . of the two options . . . was acceptable. 
Eliminate C.
The correct answer is E.

• ANALYSIS

THE PROMPT

•  Meaning?  Agency is purposely downplayed by use of the passive voice. (In other words, passive voice is fine.)

→ While it had been possible to entertain the possibilities that the directors put forth in their draft proposal, the two options in the final bargaining round were not acceptable because the majority of the finance specified in the smaller details was dependent on output.

•  Issues?

→  None vs. Neither 
When two countable items are involved, use  neither .
When more than two countable items are involved, use  none .
Do  not  use  none  to describe only two items.

This issue is one of diction. 
English has many sets of words that have essentially the same meaning, but usage differs depending on whether the sentence involves two or more than two things.
→ Better (for two) /Best (for more than two)
This one is the  better  of the two options. 
This is the  best  of all the options.

Similar usage differences exist in these pairs:
-- between (two) /among (many); 
-- talk to each another (two) / talk to one another (more than two); 
-- choose either of the dresses (two) / choose any of the dresses (more than two, all)

In this sentence,  two options  are being considered.  Neither  is appropriate.  None  is not.

→  Subject/verb agreement:  The word  neither,  standing alone (not coupled with nor) is  always  singular.
No exceptions. 
Correct:  Neither of the twins likes lima beans. 
I describe additional guidelines for  neither  and  none  in Notes, below.

→  Because/because of

To join a clause,  because  should be used.
For example:  I am thirsty because the desert air is hot and dry. 
→ "The desert air is hot and dry" is a clause. It has a subject and a verb.
( Because  is a subordinating conjunction that joins a dependent or subordinate clause to a main clause.  Because  must be followed by a clause.)

To join a noun or noun phrase, use  because of .
For example:  I am thirsty because of dry, hot, desert air. 
→ "dry, hot, desert air" is a noun phrase. The noun  air  is modified by three adjectives.
( Because of  is a compound preposition that joins a noun or noun phrase to the rest of the sentence. Prepositions are always followed by nouns or noun phrases.)
 
In this sentence, what follows because / because of? A clause or a noun?
→ The bulk of the finance   stipulated in the fine print depended on output. ← ← That is a clause with a subject and a verb.
A clause is being joined, so  because  is correct, but  because of  is not. 
If the sentence contained a noun phrase—say,  the bulk of the output-dependent finance in the fine print —then  because of  would have been correct.

THE OPTIONS  
 
• None vs. neither
→  None  should not be used when discussing  two  options.
→  Correct : Neither of the options was acceptable. 
→  Correct:  Neither option was acceptable.

• Subject/verb
IF none were replaced with neither, the verb  were  would be incorrect.  Neither  is always singular.

•  Because of  should be  because. 
→  Because of , a compound preposition, should be followed by a noun. What follows here is a clause.
→  Because , on the other hand,  is  followed by a clause.
This is the clause that follows what should be the word  because : . . .  the bulk of the finance stipulated in the fine print depended on output. 
Eliminate A

•  None  should be  neither. 
→ The sentence involves two options—not more than two.
→ See analysis beneath option A.

• Diction:  Bargained  round.
→ What on earth is a "bargained" round? 
In English, we refer to the meeting during which people negotiate as the  bargaining  round.

• Diction: "By" is a strange choice. This issue is a tiebreaker if you need one, but not, on its own, a reason to eliminate. 
→ ... the two options  by  the final bargained round . . .
→ Typically we would say the two options IN or OF the final round.
We would probably not say, "The two options BY the final round." 
In informal speech, "by" would signal "the two options that remained by the time that the final round arrived." I don't think that "by" is being used in that sense. Nor is GMAC informal speech.

"Bargained" is wrong.
"By" is weird.
"None" is fatal.
Eliminate B

• when neither is by itself (without the word "nor"), neither is always singular. The verb  were  should be  was .
→  Correct:  Neither of the parents was home.
→  Correct  (and a way to remember what that first sentence is saying): Neither parent was home.

Eliminate C
 
•  None  should be  neither . See options A and B.

•  Because of  should be  because . See option A.
Eliminate D

• I do not see any errors
•  neither  correctly refers to two options (neither of which was acceptable)
• the singular noun  neither  correctly takes the singular verb  was 
• because is correctly followed by a clause
KEEP

The answer is E.

Notes

NEITHER / EITHER (and neither/nor) 
When they are used alone, the words neither / either = always singular.
→  Neither of the twins likes candy. 
→  Either coffee or tea is acceptable. 
→  Neither option is acceptable. Neither of the two options is ethical.

On the other hand, when those words are in a "word pair" (in a correlative conjunction), the noun closer to the verb controls.
That is, when we see
 Neither . . . nor  /  Either . . . or,  the verb depends on the closer preceding noun.
 
When  neither  and  nor  are used together, the noun closer to the verb determines whether the verb should be plural or singular.
whether the construction requires a singular or plural verb depends on the closer preceding noun, this way:
→  Neither the teacher nor the  students were  prepared for the tornado, but everyone is unhurt. 
→  Neither the students nor the  teacher was  prepared for the tornado, but everyone is unhurt.

NONE - singular? Plural?

This topic is hotly contested; GMAC avoids controversy.

None  can take a singular or plural verb, depending on the noun that follows  none .

Guideline #1 (singular)
NONE +  of the  + non-count noun + singular verb
→ None of the work was finished.

Guideline # 2 (plural):
NONE +  of the  + plural count noun + plural verb
→ None of the children enjoy lima beans.
→ None of the cakes have been sold.

COMMENTS

ParamjitDasGMAT  ,  VelvetThunder  , and  saurabh314  , welcome to SC Butler.

I am always glad to see new people; all aspirants have a standing invitation to post.
If you can explain (essentially, teach) a concept, you are likely to be able to draw on in quickly under pressure.

For the most part, I see good critical thinking, excellent analysis, and even some lively prose!
Nicely done.
Keep up the hard work.

Happy holidays.

harsha3699 · Answer

This question askes about subject-verb agreement and D corrects it.

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (E) . It took me 27 seconds.

(A) For two items, prefer "neither" to "none". 
(BD) are also eliminated.

Between (C) and (E), (E) correctly uses "was" to agree with "neither“.

ElninoEffect · Answer

I don't know why GMAT has made me like this.! :@
She prefers something make sure you give it to her or else she might be offended, I took risks a few times and have paid it badly not going to do the same again.

She prefers neither over none. - give it to her. A, B and D are out.
Neither is always singular so we are left with   only E.

*Note there are many other things which could have accounted for the right answers such as - Use of options of the, options by the, options in the, options during (idioms there are so many of them and i can't remember them all) So left that route.
and sentence ending with because vs because of. Personally, I prefer because over because of.

ParamjitDasGMAT · Answer

Aside from the comments regarding the preference of 'neither' to 'none' when only two choices are mentioned, I also wanted to point out the following:

--- "Neither" as a standalone subject of a sentence (or a new clause) requires a  singular  verb*, thereby  eliminating (C).

--- We  need  "because" rather than "because of" in this case, irrespective of the fact that "because" should be preferred to "because of" in most cases. This is due to the presence of a complete clause after the underlined portion (the bulk (subject)...depended (verb)). To connect an independent clause, we need either a subordinating   conjunction of some sort (because, since, although, etc.) or a punctuation delineator such as semi-colon, colon, etc. "Because of" is a prepositional phrase, and therefore cannot be used to connect a complete clause.  Eliminate (A) and (D).

--- We can also eliminate (B), as " final bargained round " is incorrect in this context. Furthermore, with the construction of " by a certain time-period ", a past perfect tense (i.e., "had been acceptable")** would be more appropriate -- this clarifies the first action had been completed  before  the time-period in question.

Consider the sentences below for further clarification:

*Neither of John's parents  IS  going to the ceremony (Neither is short for "Not either", so it does not matter that the noun after the preposition is plural - the verb will still be singular).

**By 1999, astronomers had traveled at least twice to the moon (They have done so before   1999).

All of these leave us with  (E)  as the only viable option. Hope this helps.

Please let me know if anything is unclear, and I will be happy to provide further clarification

VelvetThunder · Answer

Answer E

When we have to choose between two choices, we use "neither"; but when we have to choose between three or more choices, use "none"
So eliminate A, B, D
Between C and E, E is correct because neither is always singular. In C "neither....were" does not have the S-V agreement

saurabh314 · Answer

I love that the options give us very clear split in answer choices.

Whereas it had been possible to at least consider the draft proposal of the directors,  none of the two options of the final bargaining round were acceptable because of  the bulk of the finance stipulated in the fine print depended on output.

A)  none of the two  options  of the final bargaining round  were acceptable  because of
 
B)  none of the two  options  by the final bargained round  were acceptable  because

C)  neither of the two  options  of the final bargaining round  were acceptable  because

D)  none of the two  options  in the final bargaining round  was acceptable  because of

E)  neither of the two  options  during the final bargaining round  was acceptable  because

Split 1: none of the two vs neither of the two (with was or were)
Split 2: in/ of/ during the final bargaining round vs by the final bargained round
Split 3: because vs because of

Let's start with Split 3.  You always say 'because of something', and not 'because of something performed an action'. 'because of' has to follow a reason - in the above, 'something performed an action' is not the reason, the 'action' is. For e.g., I can either say 'I hate going to school because of the bullies' or I can say 'I hate going to school because of the bullying' or I can say 'I hate going to school because the bullies beat me up'

This eliminates A and D.

Split 1:  None of the two vs Neither of the two
Neither is usually preferred when two entities are discussed. 'Neither' is always singular. Since neither is the subject, verb must be 'was' instead of 'were'

So options B and C are eliminated and we are left with  E

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here .

Whereas it had been possible to at least consider the draft proposal o

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Whereas it had been possible to at least consider the draft proposal o

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