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Does GMAT treat the word 'data' as a plural for 'datum'? Doesn't it sound a bit odd?
This sentence is taken from OG12, Diagnostic Q36:
New data from United States Forest Service ecologists show ...
Google tells me that grammarians have been arguing about this point since 1920s!
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Hi there,
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I think they treat it as pl. because apart from the sentence you found in OG, I also found a sentence containing "data are ..." from GMAT PREP, and it does not in the underlined part. So it's right in GMAT's rule as a plural form. Maybe we just have to remember it.
The original sentence is here: Those skeptical of the extent of global warming argue that short-term temperature data are an inadequate means of predicting long-term trends and point out that the scientific community remains divided on whether significant warming will occur and what impact will it have if it does.
Is it at all possible that "data" be treated as a collective noun and hence receive the treatment of a singular noun while being a plural form itself??
For example: Our family likes to go on picnics.. Data shows that smoking is injurious to health..
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