It is possible that no element of the many that make up our justice sy

Question

It is possible that no element of the many that make up our justice system  are more in need of repair than the  penal system, though a few states have enacted remedial changes that show promise.

(A) are more in need of repair than the

(B) is in need of repair more than is that of the

(C) is more in need of repair than the

(D) are more in need of repair than are that of

(E) has been more in need of repair than has that of the

Tapesh03 · Answer

IMO C
A & D have subject verb agreement error (no element.....are)
B - Awkward and meaning is not clear
E - I find usage of present simple better there and again the structure seems awkward

SonalSinha803 · Answer

IMO B.
I opt for B because, I guess the comparison is not between justice system and penal system, rather it is between the element of justice and element of penal...so the use of "that of" seems justified.

Please correct me if I am wrong. OA ??

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DinkarDK · Answer

Option B is incorrect as there is no reference for "that" and it makes the sentence awkward and wordy.

Option C is the best choice available.

thangvietnam · Answer

i can not dicide between b and e. 
simple present or present perfect is better

thangvietnam · Answer

thề non underlined of sentence use present perfect to show a past action without time marker. số, if we use present perfect as in choice e, it is wrong.
b must be correct because "more in need" still exists . if we use present perfect, "more in need" is in past

am i correct?

too hard.

SonalSinha803 · Answer

I guess "that" in "that of" points towards the comparison with "elements" mentioned.

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venky90 · Answer

Since the subject is singular, Options A and D are eliminated. Option E because the sentence is in Simple present tense and this option changes that. The choice remains between Options B & C, I marked option C because Option B didn't make sense with the usage of "that" and the fact that "more than is that" is wrong idiom usage.

push12345 · Answer

Here penal system is an element of Justice system so "that" is not required because we are comparing no element (i.e. single element) with penal system (other element)

Bw A and C 
"No element" is singular and require "is"

So C is correct

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Bunuel · Answer

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:

As you assess this problem before diving in, you should notice two major decision points: the sentence draws a Comparison, and there is an "is vs. are" Agreement split at the first word. So as you read the sentence you should be looking for singular vs. plural subject-verb agreement and considering which items are being compared.

The most immediate decision is "is vs. are," and you should see that the subject is the singular "element." If you remove the prepositional modifier "of the many that make up our justice system" you're left with a standard sentence:

No element is more in need...

Therefore you can eliminate the plural "are" choices, (A) and (D).

With the remaining choices, note that (B) and (E) each include "that of" in their comparison, whereas (C) does not. The sentence is comparing elements of the justice system, "the penal system" vs. other elements. There is no need for a possessive "that of" - the inclusion of it confuses the comparison - so (B) and (E) can be eliminated, leaving (C) as the correct answer.

Adi93 · Answer

Good question!
C is the correct answer here as it uses the singular verb  is  and correctly compares to the penal system i.e an element of an Justice System.

+1 if this helps!

Nightmare007 · Answer

Its not making awkward and wordy.. It is because: Penal system is one of the elements of Justice system.

I hope you get it why B is wrong now.

DharLog · Answer

1. SV agreement. "no element" - singular, need "is" ---> A, D are out.
2. In B and E we see "that of", so it means that we have element of the justice system in the first part and the element of the penal system in the second. But penal system is the element of justice system, so we do not need "that of" ---> B, E are out.

C is good.

longhaul123 · Answer

So the meaning of the sentence is that penal system is one of the subsets of the justice system that needs repair but eventually i thought the comparison is between the elements of the penal system and elements of justice system and so we need "that of" to compare .

Chitralekhakar · Answer

It is possible that no element of the many "that make up" our justice system

shouldn't it be "that makes up" instead of that make up?

Chitralekhakar · Answer

Can anyone please explain me why it is not "that makes up" in the non underlined part of the question as the no element is singular?

KarishmaB · Answer

"that make up..." is modifying "many".
Many elements make up our justice system. When we are saying "that make up ..." we are talking about the many elements (plural). 
Then when we say "is more in need .." we are saying that no element is more in need ... than the penal system (singular now).

Namangupta1997 · Answer

Hi  KarishmaB

Why is option E overlooked? E option correctly maintains the parallelism.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  Namangupta1997 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, Option E is clearly incorrect, as the pronoun "that" has no clear, logical referent.

Further, Option E incorrectly uses the present perfect tense verb "has been" to refer to an action taking place in the current time frame. The simple present tense is the appropriate tense here; the present perfect tense verb is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZj-SubJwsM

To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeqkwGHWoQQ

We hope this helps.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

KarishmaB · Answer

It is possible that no element of the many that make up our justice system is more in need of repair than the penal system, though a few states have enacted remedial changes that show promise.

What does the sentence want to convey? That many elements make up the justice system. No element is more in need to repair than the penal system (an element of justice system). The penal system is most in need to repair. A few states have enacted remedial changes that are promising. So they may make a difference. They are promising. 
Note that currently the elements are in need of repair. The remedial changes show promise. They haven't improved the system yet. So use of simple present tense is better.

Also, penal system is an element of the justice system. We are comparing it to the rest of the elements of the justice system. When we use "that of the penal system" as done in (B) and (E), it seems we are talking about the elements of the penal system. But that is incorrect. Penal system (punishment of those found guilty) is an element of the justice system.

It is possible that no element of the many that make up our justice sy

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It is possible that no element of the many that make up our justice sy

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