According to scientists at the University of California, the

Question

According to scientists at the University of California, the pattern of changes that have occurred in human DNA over the millennia indicate the possibility that everyone alive today might be descended from a single female ancestor who lived in Africa sometime between 140,000 and 280,000 years ago.
(A) indicate the possibility that everyone alive today might be descended from a single female ancestor who
(B) indicate that everyone alive today might possibly be a descendant of a single female ancestor who had
(C) may indicate that everyone alive today has descended from a single female ancestor who had
(D) indicates that everyone alive today may be a descendant of a single female ancestor who
(E) indicates that everyone alive today might be a descendant from a single female ancestor who

MA · Answer

(E) ...............descendant from..........

ywilfred · Answer

pattern is singular, so it requires singluar 'indicates'
We're left with D and E.

Descendent from seems to be the correct idiom. So I'll go with E

nocilis · Answer

A, B, C have S-V error verb  indicate  does not agree with the subject  pattern  in number

E)  descendant from X  is wrong. If it said  descended from X  it would have been right

D) correct use of idiom  descendant of  

D it is

prep_gmat · Answer

I prefer D.
Narrowed it to D and E for reasons already cited.
Cant really rule out D as descendant of is also a valid idiom?. I checked bartleby after I picked D:

SYLLABICATION: deÂ·scenÂ·dant 
PRONUNCIATION: d-sndnt 
NOUN: 1. A person, animal, or plant whose descent can be traced to a particular individual or group. 2. Something derived from a prototype or earlier form: Today's bicycles are descendants of the earlier velocipede. 3. In astrology, the point of the ecliptic or the sign of the zodiac that sets in the west at the time of a person's birth or other event.

swath20 · Answer

OA is D

jpv · Answer

I dont like to give answer choices in favour of Idioms :wink:

. However, I got it wrong. Here ,I got something interesting from webster site. Avoid confusing the sense of possibility in may with the implication of might, that a hypothetical situation has not in fact occurred . For instance, let's say there's been a helicopter crash at the airport. In his initial report, before all the facts are gathered, a newscaster could say that the pilot " may have been injured ." After we discover that the pilot is in fact all right, the newscaster can now say that the pilot " might have been injured " because it is a hypothetical situation that has not occurred. Another example: a body had been identified after much work by a detective. It was reported that "without this painstaking work, the body may have remained unidentified." Since the body was, in fact, identified, might is clearly called for.

praveen_rao7 · Answer

good one I fell for that may/might trap. Completely over looked idiomatic usage :cry:

rahulgoyal1986 · Answer

Oh yeah it's D it's D it's D :twisted:

x2suresh · Answer

Its between D & E

descendant of Vs Descendant from

Descendant from  INCORRECT
 Descended from  CORRECT
 
He was  descended from  a roayl family Correct
He is  descendant of  a roayl family Correct

D is correct here.

According to scientists at the University of California, the

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