The editor s team of expert writers, including her secretary

Question

The editor’s team of expert writers, including her secretary Mr. James, were present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where she delivered the keynote speech on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English.

A) The editor’s team of expert writers, including her secretary Mr. James, were present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where she delivered the keynote speech on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English. 
B) Including the editor’s secretary Mr. James, the editor’s team of expert writers were present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where the editor delivered the keynote speech on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English.
C) The editor’s team of expert writers, including her secretary Mr. James, was present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where the editor delivered the keynote speech on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English.
D) The editor’s team of expert writers, including her secretary Mr. James, was present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where the delivery of speech was done by the editor on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English.
E) The editor’s team of expert writers and her secretary Mr. James was present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where the editor delivered the keynote speech on influence of Rap Music on conversational English.

Vercules

fameatop · Answer

The editor’s team of expert writers, including her secretary Mr. James, were present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where she delivered the keynote speech on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English.  
A) The editor’s team of expert writers, including her secretary Mr. James,  were  present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English  where  she delivered the keynote speech on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English. -  Singular Verb WAS must be used. Moreover WHERE is placed too far from the word CONFERENCE,  
B) Including the editor’s secretary Mr. James, the editor’s team of expert writers  were  present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English  where  the editor delivered the keynote speech on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English.- Singular Verb WAS must be used. Moreover WHERE is placed too far from the word CONFERENCE,  
C) The editor’s team of expert writers, including her secretary Mr. James, was present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English  where  the editor delivered the keynote speech on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English.-   CORRECT   
D) The editor’s team of expert writers, including her secretary Mr. James, was present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where the delivery of speech was done by the editor on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English.-  this option uses Passive voice 
E) The editor’s team of expert writers  and  her secretary Mr. James  was  present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where the editor delivered the keynote speech on influence of Rap Music on conversational English. Plural Verb WERE must be used. Moreover WHERE is placed too far from the word CONFERENCE,

So the answer has to be C.

Fame

Dinesh2Apr · Answer

Meaning :- the editor`s team was present at the conference where the editor delivered a key note.

Error Analysis :- Subject verb error, editor`s team - were, should be was

POE :-
Option A :- Explained
Option B :- Subject-Verb error
Option C :- Correct, in this option, Relative pronoun correctly modifies the head of the noun phrase - the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English
Option D :- changes the meaning, here the conference is not specific, whereas the original choice provides a specific conference.
Option E :- Subject-Verb Error

IMO :- C

Vercules · Answer

Hey foks,
 
There was a typo, In D instead of "conference" it should be "conference on Modern Changes in Standard English". I have updated the question; you may revisit your responses in light of this change.

Vercules

jaysmokesleaves · Answer

I'd go with C on this one as it sounds appropriate. Also, the Team:Was connection seems to work best in this sentence.

Vercules · Answer

A long question with very different answer choices, but if one notices that there are a few common grammatical errors, one can quickly answer this question correctly.

A) The editor’s team of expert writers, including her secretary Mr. James, were present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where she delivered the keynote speech on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English.

Verb “were” should be singular as “the editor’s team” is singular. “She” on the other hand is an ambiguous pronoun with no clear antecedent.

B) Including the editor’s secretary Mr. James, the editor’s team of expert writers were present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where the editor delivered the keynote speech on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English.

Again the same error incorrect usage of “were”, otherwise the rest of the sentence is correct.

C) The editor’s team of expert writers, including her secretary Mr. James, was present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where the editor delivered the keynote speech on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English.

Correct. This choice addresses all the issues, “the editor” is used in place of “she” which makes it clear that it is the editor who is delivering the keynote speech.

D) The editor’s team of expert writers, including her secretary Mr. James, was present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where the delivery of speech was done by the editor on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English.

Passive construction “was done by” is less preferred to the other choice in active voice construction.

E) The editor’s team of expert writers and her secretary Mr. James was present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where the editor delivered the keynote speech on influence of Rap Music on conversational English.

This choice combines “the editor’s team” and “her secretary” thus making a plural subject, which requires a plural verb. Here the use of “was” is incorrect

Vercules

foars · Answer

confused 'cause "her" doesn't seem to have an antecedent. can anyone verify the sentence's validity?

minwoswoh · Answer

Hi, 
I agree that C is the best answer but I believe the sentence should use "in which" rather than "where" to refer to the Conference on Modern Changes in Standard English. I think a venue or a location is a phyiscal place but a conference is not.

Please correct me if I am wrong. I would really like to know more about the where-vs.-in-which difference.

Thanks!

oss198 · Answer

Same question for me!
What does "her" refer to? the team? It shouldn't be "its"?

sudd1 · Answer

what is referring to her in this question? I am little confused

JatinBhandari1 · Answer

C) The editor’s team of expert writers, including her secretary Mr. James, was present at the conference on Modern Changes in Standard English where the editor delivered the keynote speech on the influence of Rap Music on conversational English. The use of possessive noun with possessive pronoun (as in the given sentence) is fine. However, the use of possessive noun with non-possessive pronoun is considered imprecise. For example: The editor's team of expert writers was confident that she will win the competition. Here possessive noun (editor's) is used with non-possessive pronoun (she). "She" is a subject pronoun which should refer to a singular subject (female), however, "editor's" means something that belongs to the editor and thus there is no noun that the pronoun "she" can refer to. Apart from this other such combinations as non-possessive noun with possessive pronoun Or non possessive noun with non possessive pronoun are also ok. GMAC seems to be revising its explanations and omitting this rule as a primary reason for eliminating an option. This means you are not likely to see an official question with is based purely on this rule. Here too the question is based on subject verb agreement and doesn't require you to follow this rule. Hope it helps! Dolly

AJ0038810 · Answer

Split 1 : were Vs was , the editor's team (singular) hence was (singular) should be used. A & B out
Split 2 : E : changes the meaning, original meaning is eidtor's team of expert writers included her secretary. D : passive, wordy etc
IMO : C

daagh · Answer

The sore point is of course the use of ‘where’, an adverbial pronoun that is generally used mark a physical place, for probably a conference, which is rather an event. However, probably the author would like us to ignore this, as she has committed the error in all the five choices, albeit not convincingly. Or can we use ‘where’ for even events in GMAT these days?

The editor s team of expert writers, including her secretary

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The editor s team of expert writers, including her secretary

What is the difficulty level of this question

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