Although Plato's inspiration for his descriptions of the civilization

Question

Although Plato's inspiration for his descriptions of the civilization of Atlantis and its destruction  appears to have been the Minoan ruins of Crete and traditional stories of the partial destruction of the island of Thera, what remains a mystery are  how stories of events a thousand years previous were passed down to Plato's time.

(A) appears to have been the Minoan ruins of Crete and traditional stories of the partial destruction of the island of Thera, what remains a mystery are

(B) appears to have been the Minoan ruins of Crete and traditional stories of the partial destruction of the island of Thera, what remains a mystery is

(C) appear to have been the Minoan ruins of Crete and traditional stories of the partial destruction of the island of Thera, what remains a mystery is

(D) appear to have been the Minoan ruins of Crete and traditional stories of the partial destruction of the island of Thera, what remains a mystery are

(E) appear to be the Minoan ruins of Crete and traditional stories of the partial destruction of the island of Thera, that which remains mysterious is

oe to follow

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mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear avohden , I'm happy to help. :-)

This is a very straightforward SV Agreement question. See: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/subject-ve ... orrection/ Split #1 : appear / appears . The subject inside the " although " clause is " Plato's inspiration ", which is singular. Thus, we need the singular verb, " appears ." Choices (C) & (D) & (E) are incorrect. Split #2 : is / are . This is very tricky, the final verb at the end of the underline. This verb relates two substantive clauses . A substantive clause (a.k.a. a "noun clause") is a clause that acts in the role of a noun. See: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/substantiv ... -the-gmat/ The big idea is that substantive clauses, as subjects, are construed as singular (exceptions are discussed in the link). Technically, whether the " what " in the first substantive clause " what remains a mystery " is singular or plural depends on the whether its object is singular or plural. Here, its object is another substantive clause, " how stories of events a thousand years previous were passed down to Plato's time ", which is construed as singular. Thus, we need the singular verb " is ". Therefore, the answer can only be (B) . Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

avohden · Answer

Official Explanation  
   Answer B   - The underlined portion of this sentence contains three verbs—appears, remains, and are—all of which must agree in number with their subjects and follow the correct tense sequence. The subject of appears is the singular noun inspiration, the subject of remains and are is what, which, since it refers to mystery, is also singular. Thus, appears and remains are correct, but are is incorrect. We need the singular form is. Only choice (B) maintains all of the correct subject-verb agreements and is, therefore, correct.

Are in choices (A) and (D) and appear in choices (C), (D) and (E) are incorrect. Choice (E) has the additional problem of appear to be, a less precise present infinitive than the perfect infinitive of appear to have been, which shows that Plato's inspiration occurred in the past. Also, that which, is merely more pretentious and needlessly wordier than the perfectly acceptable what.

aditya8062 · Answer

B seems best:   appears to have been the Minoan ruins of Crete and traditional stories of the partial destruction of the island of Thera, what remains a mystery is

faults in bold:

A appears to have been the Minoan ruins of Crete and traditional stories of the partial destruction of the island of Thera, what remains a mystery  are 
B appears to have been the Minoan ruins of Crete and traditional stories of the partial destruction of the island of Thera, what remains a mystery is---->correct !!
C  appear  to have been the Minoan ruins of Crete and traditional stories of the partial destruction of the island of Thera, what remains a mystery is
D  appear  to have been the Minoan ruins of Crete and traditional stories of the partial destruction of the island of Thera, what remains a mystery  are 
E  appear  to be the Minoan ruins of Crete and traditional stories of the partial destruction of the island of Thera, that which remains mysterious is

aarkay · Answer

Option B. "inspiration" is singular, verb it gets must also be singular, hence appears. "a mystery" is singular, hence the verb it gets must be "is".

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EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Hi Sasindran,

I want to first start off by saying the previous two responses are on the right track - thanks urvashis09 & aarkay! Here is a short break-down of how to answer this question:

First, let's look at the difference between using appears/appear. In the sentence, this is referring back to the singular word "inspiration," so we should only consider answers that use the singular "appears." We can now rule out answers C, D, & E.

Second, let's look at the difference between using are/is. In the sentence, this is referring back to the singular "a mystery," so let's stick with the singular "is." We can now rule out answer A, leaving us with only B, which is the right answer!

Helium · Answer

The underlined portion of this sentence contains three verbs ("appears," "remains," and "are") all of which must agree in number with their subjects and follow the correct tense sequence. The subject of "appears" is the singular noun "inspiration," so this verb is correct as written. The subject of "remains" and "are" is "what," which, since it refers to "mystery," is also singular. Thus, "remains" is correct, but "are" is incorrect. Look for a choice that uses the singular is without introducing any new errors.

A vertical scan of the first word shows a 2-3 split between "appears" and "appear." You can eliminate (C), (D), and (E) immediately based on this word.

Based on the initial analysis, you know that (A) is incorrect. Only choice (B) maintains subject-verb agreement throughout and is therefore correct.

For the record, in addition to beginning with "appear," (D) ends with "are," committing the same error here as the original sentence. Choice (E) introduces the new error "appear to be," which is not only plural instead of singular but also places Plato's inspiration in the present rather than in the past, when this long-dead Greek philosopher lived. Also, "that which" is needlessly wordy here.

sayan640 · Answer

"inspiration" needs a singular verb. So choose "appears". So we are down to option A and B. "Mystery" needs singular verb "is". So discard A and choose B.
Correct ans B.

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VerbalBot · Answer

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Although Plato's inspiration for his descriptions of the civilization

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Although Plato's inspiration for his descriptions of the civilization

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