A group of sudents who have begun to clean up Frederick Law Olmstead's

Question

A group of sudents who have begun to clean up Frederick Law Olmstead's Morning Park in New York City  believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but to  be returned to its former condition.

(A) believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but to

(B) believe that the park needs to not be redesigned but to

(C) believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but could

(D) believe that the park needs not to be redesigned but to

(E) believe that the park needs not to be redesigned but that it

I chose the answer "B" as "A group of people" appears singular i think it is a plural....but the answer was different.

KapTeacherEli · Accepted Answer

The solution has been properly explained, but someone earlier mentioned how "have" was there instead of "has" indicating plurality.

The subject of the sentence is "A group," which means the sentence must be correct with all descriptive phrases cut out. "A group...believes that..." is clearly correct. That leaves the descriptive phrase to be selfcontained, however. In "students who have," the "have" is describing the  students who make up the group , not the group itself, and thus is correct. Don't let the mix of plurality and singularity mislead you!

mikeCoolBoy · Answer

The only possible correct answer choices to this problem are A and D. The idiom not X but Y requires parallelism between X and Y.

Option B is not parallel

believe that the park needs to not be redesigned(X) but to be returned. The first to needs to be after not.

Between A and D, a group of .. can be singular or plural, depending on what you want to emphasize.

If you want to emphasize on the action use the plural form. If you want to emphasize on the group use the singular form.

I think that here the correct answer choice is A because all the group believe the same thing so the author emphasizes on the group.

In this GMAT OFFICIAL problem sc-as-vs-like-76300.html

The correct answer choice uses plural because the proportion of women work in different jobs in the same industry.

mrsmarthi · Answer

Wow....This really is a tricky and very good question. Here is my explanation.

A group of sudents who have begun to clean up Frederick Law Olmstead's Morning Park in New York City believes that the park needs not to be redesigned but to be returned to its former condition

Here relative phrase "A group of   students    who have begun  to clean up" is infact referring to students.Hence plural verb form - have begun.

The intended meaning of the sentence refers to the group as a whole. In these cases,the verb shouldbe singular.

A group........believes that the park......is the correct usage.

Left with A and C.

Correct idiom is NOT X BUT Y where X and Y should be parallel.

In C, needs not  to be redesigned  but  could  , X is an infinitive. So Y should also be an infinite but not the case.

Hence ans= A.

daagh · Answer

I think we have approached this i one of the students- plural or singular verb issue from Kaplan, or MGMAT's point of view. Have we looked at it from the GMAC’s point of view? If not, here is a question from GPrep that employs this structure and indicates GMAC’s views on it.

According to two teams of paleontologists, recent fossil discoveries in Pakistan show  that whales, porpoises, and dolphins are more closely related to some of the oldest known even-toed ungulates--a group of hoofed mammals that today includes cows, camels, pigs, and hippos—tha n to any other mammals.
A. that whales, porpoises, and dolphins are more closely related to some of the oldest known even-toed ungulates— a group of hoofed mammals that today includes  cows, camels, pigs, and hippos—than 
B. that whales, porpoises, and dolphins are more closely related to some of the oldest known even-toed ungulates— a group of hoofed mammals that today include  cows, camels, pigs, and hippos—as 
C. whales, porpoises, and dolphins to be more closely related to some of the oldest known even-toed ungulates—a group of hoofed mammals that today include cows, camels, pigs, and hippos—than they are
D. whales, porpoises, and dolphins as being more closely related to some of the oldest known even-toed ungulates—a group of hoofed mammals that today includes cows, camels, pigs, and hippos—as they are
E. whales, porpoises, and dolphins as more closely related to some of the oldest known even-toed ungulates—a group of hoofed mammals that today include cows, camels, pigs, and hippos—than

The correct answer is choice A, containing ‘ a group of hoofed mammals’ that today ‘includes’  cows, camels, pigs, and hippos’

Now you know what GMAC considers right.

Can we have some OG or GPrep example in which the GMAC has preferred the other choice?

marcovg4 · Answer

I chose D. So what is the takeaway?

The number of Xs -> Always singular (number is the subject)
A number of X/ Half of X/ etc. -> Singular or Plural, it depends on the subject preceding the preposition of
A group of X -> Always singular (group is the subject)
The group of X - >Always singular (group is the subject)

Am I correct? Does english has another excpetion regarding the use of "A something of" whether is singular or singular/plural.

Thanks!

KapTeacherEli · Answer

Hi marcovg,

A group is always a group, singular. Whoever, the verb "have" is not referring to the group--it's referring to the students. "A group of (students who are cleaning)..."

chetan2u · Answer

1) VERB
A group requires singular verb- believes
Only A and C possible
2) parallelism
Not X but Y
A is the answer

Helium · Answer

The verb "believes" is underlined, so determine its subject. Who's doing the believing? The group. Is it correct to say that the group believes? Yes. The stem sentence appears to be correct, but let's check out the other choices.

Three of the choices, (B), (D), and (E), use "believe" so eliminate. The verbs in choice (C) aren't parallel ("not to be…but could be"). This choice may also be eliminated. Choice (A) is parallel ("not to be…but to be") and is correct.

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

The subject is  group , which is singular, so the main verb has to be  believes . Also, the things linked by  not  and  but  have to be in parallel form: the infinitive  to be redesigned  has to be paired with the infinitive to be  returned . The answer is (A), the original structure.

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

A group of sudents who have begun to clean up Frederick Law Olmstead's

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

A group of sudents who have begun to clean up Frederick Law Olmstead's

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards