Verbal Diagnostic Test No : 6 – SC Q No: 13

Question

The characteristic phenomenon of mass suicide by thousands of lemmings year after year by jumping off from cliffs to great depths,  explainable only by a chosen few behavioral scientists, occur after a majority of the animals is  driven to migrate from friendly habitats to hostile environs

(A) explainable only by a chosen few behavioral scientists, occur after a majority of the animals is 
(B) explainable by a choice few behavioral scientists, only occurs after a majority of the animals are 
(C) explainable only by a choice few behavioral scientists, occurs after a majority of the animals are 
(D) is explainable only by a choice few behavioral scientists, occurs after a majority of the animals are 
(E) that can be explained only by a choice few behavioral scientists and it occurs after a majority of the animals are

OA: C
OE: SV number error; by a chosen few – is wrong idiom; Choice few is correct usage 
B: The placement of the modifier ‘only’ before occurs is inappropriate to the meaning of the topic
C: Correct Choice
D: A run-on 
E: The first part is fragment

ankurgupta03 · Answer

The characteristic phenomenon of mass suicide by thousands of lemmings year after year by jumping off from cliffs to great depths, explainable only by a chosen few behavioral scientists, occur after a majority of the animals is driven to migrate from friendly habitats to hostile environs

(A) explainable only by a chosen few behavioral scientists, occur after a majority of the animals is 
 Should be occurs as we are talking about a phenomenon 
(B) explainable by a choice few behavioral scientists, only occurs after a majority of the animals are 
 only is wrong here, there may be other reasons 
(C) explainable only by a choice few behavioral scientists, occurs after a majority of the animals are 
 Correct 
(D) is explainable only by a choice few behavioral scientists, occurs after a majority of the animals are 
 and should be in place of comma 
(E) that can be explained only by a choice few behavioral scientists and it occurs after a majority of the animals are 
 Wordy

gmatter0913 · Answer

I was confused between B and C. I picked B over C.

In such cases, how do we know which option carries the right meaning?

riskietech · Answer

gmatter0913 : The word "only" was present in the original sentence (i.e question), so one should try not to omit any of the original words.
Also you may have noticed a phrase "choice few behavioral scientists" that demands the presence of word "only"

Hope its clear..

AKG1593 · Answer

What is 'choice few behavioural scientists'?I've come across this kind of usage for the first time.
Shouldn't it be 'chosen few' as in the original sentence?

amz14 · Answer

choice few ?? Are sure there is no typo there, because it completely threw me off.

VarunBhardwaj · Answer

Yes, Couldn't understand "choice few behavioural scientists" .May be its a Native speaker thing ! can somebody please explain ?

mvictor · Answer

a majority of the animals is driven to migrate from friendly habitats to hostile environs

isn't the verb referring to the noun a majority of animals and not animals?

arijitd · Answer

Can someone please explain what is wrong with D.

daagh · Answer

D is a comma splice (a run-on). There is no proper conjunction between the two verbs. We must put an 'and' between 'scientists' and occurs.

SajjitaKundu · Answer

Hi  daagh  ,

I chose C as 'occurs' and 'are' are correct in terms of agreement to the subject, but I was completely thrown off by 'explainable only  by a choice few behavioral scientists '. Can you please tell me what this term means?

Samiun · Answer

Can anyone please explain the differences between options b and c?

Rohit1988 · Answer

Option C does not change the intended meaning whereas option B distorts by associating “Only” with the phenomenon and not with the scientists

Posted from my mobile device

Mani55511 · Answer

My understanding:

Subject and Verb : "Phenomenon" is singular, so "occurs" is correct. "Occur" would be used for plural subjects.

Modifiers :

"Explainable" modifies the whole sentence, indicating that only a few scientists can explain the phenomenon.
The "only" in "occurs" limits the reason for the mass suicide, implying it happens only after a majority of the animals migrate.
Correct Verb Agreement: In “after a majority of the animals is driven to migrate,” the subject “a majority” should take the plural verb “are driven” instead of “is.”

Between C and D: The structure in D is "The phenomenon is explainable" suggesting that the phenomenon is always explainable, which might be too strong.
Also, there should be an "and" between "students" and "occurs".

For option E: The phrase "it occurs" is less concise and adds unnecessary complexity. If the structure would have been "can be explained" and "occurs" then the sentence would be more clearer.

Verbal Diagnostic Test No : 6 – SC Q No: 13

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Verbal Diagnostic Test No : 6 – SC Q No: 13

Prep Toolkit

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

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From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

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