Twenty-two feet long and 10 feet in diameter, the AM-1 is one of the

Question

Twenty-two feet long and 10 feet in diameter, the AM-1 is one of the many new  satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces  to detailed scrutiny from space.

(A) satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces

(B) satellites, which is a part of a 15-year effort to subject how Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces interact

(C) satellites, part of 15 years effort of subjecting how Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces are interacting

(D) satellites that are part of an effort for 15 years that has subjected the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces

(E) satellites that are part of a 15-year effort to subject the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces

daagh · Accepted Answer

@Lola: Should you really rush to reveal the answers? It takes the entire charm away. Your doubts will any way be cleared wholesomely. You have to be just patient. There are so many others who have lot of things to learn from such wonderful questions.

First of all a small note on the style of using a hyphenated adjective such as  ‘a 15 – year effort’ . It is never correct to say -  'a 15 - years effort ' or ' a 15 years effort' . It has to be always  'a 15- year effort'  (note the singular use). Other examples are - he is a six-foot tall man; two-mile long road etc., etc.

By this token alone, I will remove A and C, notwithstanding other errors in these two choices.

Relative pronouns such as ‘ that ’ and ‘ which ’ can not flout ' the touch - rule ' and refer to something far distant. In the context, ‘ that ’ has necessarily to refer to ' satellites ' and hence the corresponding verb has to be the plural ‘ are ’.So B is also out. The choice is now between D and E.

D suffers from two errors. The essence of the effort is to carry out a purpose, which is best expressed by using an infinitive  ‘to subject’ , rather than by the present perfect’  has subjected’ . In addition, what does the pronoun ‘ that ’ refer to? As such, it refers to 15 years and is erroneous. It should refer to the “ effort .’

GMATNinja · Answer

There are a couple of small problems with (A). First, we have a subject-verb agreement issue at the beginning of the underlined portion, but it’s a little bit tricky: “the AM-1 is one of the many new satellites that is part of 15 years effort…” You could argue that the phrase “that is part” modifies the singular noun “ one  of the many new satellites”, but I don’t think that’s quite right: ALL of the satellites ARE part of the effort, so we need a plural verb.

And then we have some minor idiom issues. For starters, the phrase “15 years effort” isn’t quite right. I guess it would be better if “years” was possessive, but even then, it’s odd. And it would make much more sense to call it a “15-year effort.”

Plus, it also makes more sense to say “an effort  to subject  the interactions… to scrutiny”, not “an effort of subjecting…”

So we have lots of reasons to ditch (A).

(B) has a similar subject-verb agreement problem as (A): “…one of the many satellites, which  is  part of…” Again, that doesn’t make much sense, since ALL of the satellites are part of the effort, so we need a plural verb.

And this is a very minor thing, but I don’t love the use of “which” here in general. Modifiers beginning with “which” are non-essential modifiers, meaning that the modifier isn’t strictly necessary for us to grasp the meaning of the sentence. But I think we DO need the modifier (“that are part of a 15-year effort…”) in order to understand exactly which satellites we’re talking about.

I don’t think that the difference between “which” (non-essential modifier) and “that” (essential modifier) has ever been the deciding factor on an official SC question, but it gives us an extra reason to get rid of (B).

As in (B), there’s a subtle problem with a non-essential modifier: “…one of the many new satellites, part of 15 years effort…” That’s not WRONG, exactly, but it turns the description of the satellites into an incidental, non-essential modifier. It makes more sense to say “… one of the many new satellites THAT are part of a 15-year effort…”

And just like in (A), we have that goofy little phrases “15 years effort” and “effort of subjecting.” See the explanation of (A) for more on these two issues.

Finally, there’s no good reason for the verb tense at the end of the underlined portion: “are interacting” (present progressive tense, if you’re a fan of grammar jargon) emphasizes the fact that the interactions are happening right now, and there’s no real reason to do that. As we’ll see in a moment, there are more elegant ways to phrase this without using an unnecessarily complex verb tense.

So (C) is out.

Let’s line up the last two side-by-side to make it easier to see the differences:

There aren’t tons of differences between these last two. In (D), we have “an effort for 15 years”, and that’s nowhere near as elegant as the phrase used in (E), “a 15-year effort.” That’s not a dealbreaker, but it gives us a small reason to prefer (E).

But the other issue is the way the end of the underlined portion is phrased. Let’s strip these down a bit:

(D) “… an effort…  that has subjected  the interactions… to scrutiny from space.”
(E) “… an effort…  to subject  the interactions… to scrutiny from space.”

I think we’d all agree that (E) is more clear and succinct than (D) in this part of the sentence. It’s not that (D) is necessarily WRONG, but we have two decent reasons to think that (E) is better than (D). So (E) is our answer.

Paul · Answer

It should be E.
Relative pronoun "that" should refer to closest noun "satellites" which is plural. A and B are out. C is NOT an absolute phrase. It has conjugated verb "are interacting" so it is a clause but with no subject or relative pronoun referring to the subject at hand. Furthermore, it is very awkwardly written. D, "part of an effort for 15 years" is grammatically wrong.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Tenses + Verb Forms + Grammatical Construction + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• The infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "subjecting" in this sentence) for conveying a sense of purpose/intent.
• “that” is used to provide information needed to preserve the core meaning of the sentence, and the “comma + which” construction is used to provide extra information.
• Information that is permanent in nature is best conveyed through the simple present tense. 
• The simple present continuous tense is used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature.
• Information that is vital to the core meaning of the sentence should not be placed between two commas.

A:  This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun phrase "many new satellites" with the singular verb "is". Further, Option A uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "subjecting" in this sentence) to refer to the purpose of "effort"; please remember, the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "subjecting" in this sentence) for conveying a sense of purpose/intent.

B:  This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun phrase "many new satellites" with the singular verb "is". Further, Option B incorrectly uses the "comma + which" construction to refer to information that is vital to the core meaning of the sentence -- the fact that the satellites are part of a 15-year effort to subject how Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces interact to detailed scrutiny from space; please remember, “that” is used to provide information needed to preserve the core meaning of the sentence, and the “comma + which” construction is used to provide extra information.

C:  This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present continuous tense verb "are interacting" to refer to information that is permanent in nature; please remember, information that is permanent in nature is best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the simple present continuous tense is used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature. Further, Option C incorrectly places information that is vital to the core meaning of the sentence -- the fact that the satellites are part of a 15-year effort to subject how Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces interact to detailed scrutiny from space between two commas; please remember, information that is vital to the core meaning of the sentence should not be placed between two commas. Additionally, Option C uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "subjecting" in this sentence) to refer to the purpose of "effort"; please remember, the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "subjecting" in this sentence) for conveying a sense of purpose/intent.

D:  This answer choice uses the needlessly wordy phrase "effort for 15 years that has subjected", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

E:   Correct.  This answer choice correctly refers to the plural noun phrase "many new satellites" with the plural verb "are". Further, Option E correctly uses the simple present tense verb "interact" to refer to information that is permanent in nature. Additionally, Option E uses the infinitive verb form "to + base form of verb" - "to + subject" in this sentence) to refer to the intent of the "effort". Moreover, Option E correctly uses "that" to refer to information that is vital to the core meaning of the sentence -- the fact that the satellites are part of a 15-year effort to subject how Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces interact to detailed scrutiny from space, avoiding the grammatical construction error seen in Option C, as well, as it does place any information between comma. Besides, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZj-SubJwsM

To understand the concept of "Simple Continuous Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2puWKuLccCM

To understand the concept of "Which" vs "That" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F61rK86ND44

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

qhoc0010 · Answer

Must be (E)
The rule is: "one of   that  ..."

thailandvc · Answer

B is wrong because it changes the meaning. "Is" is correct. Because "is" here refers to "one of the many." one is singular. But this is the very fact why it is wrong cuz it changes the meaning. It is not wrong because it doesn't agree with verb. "Which" does not have to refer to satellites. In fact, I there are two examples in the Brutal SC that applying this "rule" will give you a wrong answer.

A is the only one that has the subject/verb agreement wrong.

B says (correctly): Of all the satellites, the AM-1 is the one that is part of the 15 years... (Only the AM-1 is part of the effort of subjecting. the other ones are NOT)

E says: The AM-1 is one of many satellites that are ALL part of the the 15 years... (This is what the stem is trying to say but it used "is" instead of "Are" which is wrong.)

Gurus please comment.

sashikanth · Answer

A,B and C are straight away out because of subject-verb disagreement. 'That' refers to satellites and D and E properly uses plural verb 'are' instead of 'is'.

15-Year effort is simple and concise than 'effort for 15 years'. Also in D 'that' wrongly refers to 15 Years. Hence E is the right answer.

Hope this helps. Thank You.

jitbec · Answer

This is the general rule:
One of the  'Noun'  (will always be plural) + that/who + Plural Verb
e.g.  This is one of the questions that  are  incorrect 
 vs
One of the 'Noun‘ (will always be plural) + Singular Verb
e.g.  One of the chairs  is  broken

daagh · Answer

The pith is whether the main verb is singular or plural; we may now see the emphasis and the utility of the definite article- the -in the context. The article –the- after the preposition-of- indicates that the clause is trying to focus on those many satellites rather than the singular AM-1. The restrictive pronoun 'that' is also handy to heighten this focus and eventfully leads to the plural verb - are. – . In other words, all the satellites are part of the project and not just the AM-1 alone.

A. satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces ----  verb is singular; wrong. Years of subjecting is unidiomatic 
 
B. satellites,which are a part of a 15-year effort to subject how Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces interact ---'  to subject how' changes the meaning; wrong  
C. satellites, part of 15 years effort of subjecting how Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces are interacting ------  15 years should be marked with an apostrophe to mark possession; wrong.

D. satellites that are part of an effort for 15 years that has subjected the interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces –  15 years that has subjected is wrong reference of that

E. satellites that are part of a 15-year effort to subject the interactionsof Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, and land surfaces ---  Correct

mohnish104 · Answer

I have a question D mentions oceans, the question too mentions oceans but E mentions 'ocean'. The earth doesn't have jus one ocean just as it doesn't have one land surface. Am I missing something here?

pqhai · Answer

Hello mohnish Interesting question

You say Earth's ocean when you want to refer to the continuous body of salt water that covers 72 percent of the Earth's surface . If you say Earth's oceans , you imply the number of divisions of the ocean , including the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Antarctic oceans. This question, however, just wants to imply the interaction, in general, of Earth's ocean - body of salt water to detailed scrutiny from space. It does not matter which division is. Hope it helps.

prasi55 · Answer

That's right. You need "are".

Let's take an example:
He is one of the few friends who has/have helped me.

"He" and "is" are in agreement.

Note that the sentence doesn't say, "He is THE one" to suggest that only he has helped me. In the "one of X" construction, X must be plural (you can select one from many, not from one).
So let's write this part as: He is one of them.

On to the second part. This part can be written thus: A few friends HAVE helped me.

The original sentence is saying:
A few friends have helped me.
He is one of them.

When you combine the two, "them" becomes "the few friends who HAVE helped me".

Whenever you notice the definite article "the"--before "friends" (and before "satellites" in the question)--take it as a hint and deconstruct the sentence as shown above. Then applying subject-verb agreement becomes easy.

--Prasad
EnterMBA.in

JarvisR · Answer

Twenty-two feet long and 10 feet in diameter, 
the AM-1 is one of the many new  satellites 
that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of 
Earthâ€™s atmosphere, 
oceans, and 
land surfaces  
to detailed scrutiny 
from space.

A. satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earthâ€™s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces
B. satellites, which is a part of a 15-year effort to subject how Earthâ€™s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces interact
C. satellites, part of 15 years effort of subjecting how Earthâ€™s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces are interacting
D. satellites that are part of an effort for 15 years that has subjected the interactions of Earthâ€™s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces
 E. satellites that are part of a 15-year effort to subject the interactions of Earthâ€™s atmosphere, ocean, and land surfaces
 
 1. The interactions of X is subjected to Y. 
1.a. effort of subjecting Vs effort to subject. Q: Whats the intention to the 15-year effort? to subject the interactions of X to Y

2. 2/3 slpit Is Vs Are: Which one to go for? 
Text post the satellites is describing "satellites" and not AM-1. AM-1 has already been well introduced in the starting of the sentence.Now the many new satellites need to be explained to justify their purpose.So Are is req. A,B are out.

3. an effort for 15 yrs Vs a 15-years effort. Later sounds more correct. A,C,D r out.
A valuable note from "daagh".
First of all a small note on the style of using a hyphenated adjective such as ‘a 15 – year effort’. It is never correct to say - 'a 15 - years effort' or 'a 15 years effort'. It has to be always 'a 15- year effort' (note the singular use). Other examples are - he is a six-foot tall man; two-mile long road etc., etc.

daagh · Answer

The point to note here is that whenever the restrictive ‘that’ intervenes in a construction, it refers to the noun that is just before( in 99% percent of the cases); here in this case ‘that’ refers to the satellites only. Although, the relative pronoun ‘which’ has some flexibility to modify a noun farther before when critical mission modifiers are involved, that occurrence is more an exception than a rule. 
 
A. satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces --- s atellites that is part is SV error

B. satellites, which is a part of a 15-year effort to subject how Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces interact ---  satellites, which is a part – fouling of relative pronoun touch rule; also ‘to subject how certain things interact’ changes the original meaning of ‘to subject the interactions’

C. satellites, part of 15 years effort of subjecting how Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces are interacting --  of subjecting is unidiomatic since there is an intention inherent is the task; 15 years effort should be 15 years' effort

D. satellites that are part of an effort for 15 years that has subjected the interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans,
and land surfaces ---  for 15 years that has subjected – This is SV error and change of meaning

E. satellites that are part of a 15-year effort to subject the interactions of Earth’s atmosphere, ocean, and land
surfaces -----  correct choice. A 15-year old is the correct idiomatic expression and the infinitive ‘to subject’ fits in smugly with the context of an inherent intention

hellosanthosh2k2 · Answer

I was struck between D and E. But chose D

In E, to subject - infinitive form did n't sound right to me. Need expert's input. Thanks

egmat · Answer

Hello hellosanthosh2k2 , I am not sure if you still have this doubt or not, but here is the explanation anyways.

Choice D has a very prominent error. The noun modifier that modifies the preceding entity 15 years . This modification is absolutely non-sensical because 15 years has not subjected anyone to anything. Now let's talk about Choice E . There is no issue with the usage of to subject in this choice. The sentence intends to say that some satellites are part of a 15-year effort. What is the purpose of this effort? The purpose is to subject or bring the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces to detailed scrutiny from space. Hence, use of to subject to present the purpose of an action is absolutely correct. Hope this helps.

Thanks. Shraddha

egmat · Answer

Hello drishti Bathija, I will be glad to help you with this one.

Choice B has a couple of errors. i. Use of singular verb is after which suggests that the noun modifier which modifies one of the many new satellites . This modification does not make sense because the AM-1 is not the only satellite involved in the said effort. It is just one of the satellites. Hence, we need the noun modifier to modify the many new satellites as all these satellites are part of the effort. ii. The correct expression is to subject A to B . Use of how after to subject in this choice is incorrect. Hope this helps.

Thanks. Shraddha

gmatexam439 · Answer

Twenty-two feet long and 10 feet in diameter, the AM-1 is one of the many new  satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces  to detailed scrutiny from space.

A. satellites  that is  a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces

B. satellites,  which is  a part of a 15-year effort to subject how Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces interact

C. satellites,  part of 15  years effort of subjecting how Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces are interacting

D. satellites that are part of an  effort for 15 years  that has subjected the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces

E.  satellites that are part of a 15-year effort to subject the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, ocean, and land surfaces

cricketlover7777 · Answer

Twenty-two feet long and 10 feet in diameter, the AM-1 is one of the many new satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces to detailed scrutiny from space.

(A) satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces
 This option is incorrect as there is S-V agreement issue. Singular verb "is" is coupled with plural noun "Satellites". Additionally it is also year to say 15 years effort. It is better written as 15-year effort (Note the usage of singular year).
(B) satellites, which is a part of a 15-year effort to subject how Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces interact
 This option is also incorrect. It uses non-essential modifier which when that (essential modifier is required-though not a deal breaker). Here also verb "is" is incorrectly paired with "Satellites". 
(C) satellites, part of 15 years effort of subjecting how Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces are interacting
 This is also an incorrect option. Again "15 years effort" is wrong for the reasons mentioned above. Use of present continuous verb tense (i-ing form) "are interacting" is not required here. Simple tense is preferred when we express facts or general truth.
(D) satellites that are part of an effort for 15 years that has subjected the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces
 This option is also incorrect. The use of the modifier "that has subjected....." incorrectly modifies years. Additionally "15 years that" is again incorrect again for the reasons mentioned before.
(E) satellites that are part of a 15-year effort to subject the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, ocean, and land surfaces
 Finally this is the correct answer. It uses correct S-V pair, correct tense and conveys the meaning appropriately. To verb form is generally preferred when we express the intention for doing some action.

Twenty-two feet long and 10 feet in diameter, the AM-1 is one of the

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Twenty-two feet long and 10 feet in diameter, the AM-1 is one of the

Prep Toolkit

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

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

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