In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given

Question

In human hearing, subtle differences  in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine  the qualities of that sound.

(A) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine

(B) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining

(C) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine

(D) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining

(E) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/09/science/observatory.html

In human hearing, subtle differences  in the sound that reaches the two ears help the listener determine  the qualities of the sound. Now, researchers at Stanford University have shown that the nose works in stereo too.

SaraiYaseenGMAT · Accepted Answer

Just to sum up the important issues you have all brought up here:

(A) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine
  .... "differences" (plural subject) "in how...." (prepositional phrase-- skip this to find the verb for the subject) "determine" (plural verb). GOOD! 
 
(B) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining

"differences" (plural subject).... "help" (plural verb)--> outside structure is fine, but we need to check the details!

TIP: Use the possessive before a gerund!! 
 
 Incorrect:  The teacher was annoyed with  them  talking during class.
 Incorrect : The teacher was annoyed with the  students  talking during class.
 Correct:   The teacher was annoyed with  their  talking during class.
 Correct:   The teacher was annoyed with the  students'  talking during class.

Idiom: help (verb) ...someone/something... do/to do something

(C) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine

"differences" (plural subject).... "determine" (plural verb)--> outside structure is fine, but we need to check the details!

"by the two ears" --> signals passive voice!  Always go for active voice, so long as the 'doer/s' (in this case the ears) appear/s in the sentence!

Passive voice is used with the 'doer' is not present.
  
 Correct:   The car was stolen on Tuesday. 
 Incorrect:    The car was stolen by John on Tuesday.

(D) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining

"differences" (plural subject).... "helps" (singular verb)--> There's no need to read the details.

(E) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining

"by the two ears"-->passive voice
Idiom for "help" (see B)

daagh · Answer

In the above passage, s ubtle differences  is the plural subject. Its verb should be plural (help) Determine is neither a part of the main verb nor another new verb. It is simply an infinitive –t o determine-  with the  to  being elliptical.

Second question is which is better – whether the infinitive  ‘to determine’  or the prepositional ‘ in determining’ . The infinitive is the right kind of idiom. 
 So let’s look forward to a combination of the plural verb help and the idiomatic to determine / determine.

Hence A is the only choice

r019h · Answer

A for me.

 differences  need  help , not  helps .

using between will not be idiomatic.

urchin · Answer

IMO A

(A) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine -  CORRECT 
(B) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining -  as if differences in the ears  
(C) in how a sound is heard by the two ears  helps  the listener determine -  differences is plural  
(D)  between  how the two ears hear a given sound  helps  the listener in determining
(E)  between  how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining

MHIKER · Answer

A. in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine  CORRECT 
B. in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining.  Awkward construction 
C. in how a sound  is  heard by the two ears helps the listener determine  Subject and Verb agreement issue. 
D. between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining  Usage of between is wrong idiom correct idiom is between X and Y.

E. between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining. Usage of between is wrong idiom correct idiom is between X and Y.

pqhai · Answer

In human hearing, subtle differences  in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine  the qualities of that sound.

(a) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine
 Correct. S-V agreement "differences......help".
 
(b) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining
 Wrong. change meaning "differences in the two ears"
 
(c) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine
 Wrong. differences is plural, so "helps" is incorrect. 
 
(d) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining
 Wrong. "differences between how the two ears hear" is wrong idiom. Should be "differences between how X and how Y". Also, "helps" is incorrect.
 
(e) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining
 Wrong. "differences between how the two ears hear" is wrong idiom. Should be "differences between how X and how Y". Also, "help in doing something" is wrong idiom.

vijaisingh2001 · Answer

First, it shouldn't be "help the listener to determine" (although that is how lots of people would say it). You don't need the "to" - and, if you don't need it, then it's not going to be in the correct answer!

Be careful about deciding based upon what sounds good or bad. The test will fool your ear. Go based upon the specific rules you KNOW are true.

You may read an original sentence and think it sounds awkward (in fact, this will happen quite a lot!), but if you cannot point to a specific area that you KNOW is an actual grammatical error, don't eliminate A. It stays in as a possibility.

The in vs. between issue is an idiom. I say differences in X (just one thing) or differences between X and Y (two things). This sentence has one thing: how the two ears hear a given sound. So, I need "differences in." Elim D and E.

B says "differences in the two ears hearing" - that makes it sound like the two ears themselves are different (as in, they look different or something), as opposed to a difference in the way the two ears perceive a sound. That's not the original meaning (and doesn't even make a lot of sense), so elim B.

C says "differences... helps" - that's a subj-verb mismatch. Elim C. (you can also use this to elim D, if you haven't already eliminated it).

Only A is left. (And, usually this will be the process for getting yourself to A. There won't be anything wrong with it but you'll be suspicious of it b/c 80% of the time there IS something wrong with it, so you'll find some reason to say it sounds bad. But DO NOT eliminate A unless you can point to a specific error. Leave it in and test the others.)
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director of Online Community
ManhattanGMAT

Youraisemeup · Answer

Still not sure on A. 'to' has to be there..

sayantanc2k · Answer

No, "to" is not mandatory. The following is an excerpt from Manhattan SC guide from the chapter Idioms:

RIGHT: 
He HELPS RAKE the leaves.
He HELPS TO RAKE the leaves.
He HELPS me RAKE the leaves.
He HELPS me TO RAKE the leaves.
His HELP IN RAKING the leaves has been welcome.

WRONG: 
He HELPS me IN RAKING the leaves.
I need him AS HELP TO RAKE the leaves.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

In human hearing, subtle differences  in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine  the qualities of that sound.

(A) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine  Correct answer.

(B) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining  "help...in determining" is incorrect, "help... to determine " is the correct idiom. Eliminate.

(C) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine  Singular verb "helps" is incorrectly associated with plural "differences". Eliminate.

(D) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining  Same error as in (C). Eliminate.

(E) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining  Same error as in option (B). Eliminate.

Hope this helps.

kntombat · Answer

AndrewN , I was confused between  A  and  C  but chose  C  and got it wrong. I understood where I went wrong based on what the others before me have written but the question I have is in  C  if the verb    "helps"    would have been    "help"    would the sentence still been wrong?

Anybody else who reads this is also welcome to solve the dilemma.

Thank you.

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  kntombat . To answer your question, no, option (C) would not have been incorrect had it incorporated a proper subject-verb agreement. It would still have been less preferable to (A), since the active voice of the original sentence beats out a passive construct, but at least (C) would not have been dismissible. (I am sure the sentence was carefully crafted to ensure that (C) would be undeniably  incorrect .)

Thank you for thinking to ask me about the question.

- Andrew

Vishalcv · Answer

Hello Sir,
 EducationAisle 
Can you shed some light on "difference in" vs "difference between" ?

Thank you!

EducationAisle · Answer

Difference between   indicates dissimilarity between two entities. For example: There are many differences between a car and a truck.

Difference in   is generally used to emphasize a  specific characteristic  that is different between two entities. For example: There is a difference in the way one drives a car vs the way one drives a truck.

tt147 · Answer

Hi  AjiteshArun   GMATNinja   VeritasKarishma

If "helps" would have been modified to "help" in option choice C-

(C) in how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener determine

then would option choice A still be the correct answer ?

I understand option choice C is in passive voice, but in terms of meaning wouldn't the modified version of C be the better choice rather than A ?

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  tt147 ,

Perhaps, but we should avoid taking that call, because generally speaking, we prefer the active voice to the passive voice.

In your own writing you can absolutely choose the passive if you want to shift emphasis away from the agent, but fine calls like that are unlikely to be tested on the GMAT, which is most likely why they ensured that test takers would not be forced to take that particular call in this question.

Raman109 · Answer

In human hearing, subtle differences  in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine  the qualities of that sound.

Option Elimination - 
A bit of basics first 
What is the difference between "help in ING" and "help to"
"Help in" is used when we want to say that the assistance contributes to achieving a specific goal. E.g., The new software will help in improving productivity. Here, "the new software" contributes to achieving a specific goal which is improving productivity.

"Help to" is used when we say that the assistance enables someone to perform a specific task. E.g., The tutor helps to develop student's problem-solving skills. Here, the assistance provided by the teacher enables the students to develop problem-solving skills)

(A) in how the two ears hear a given sound help the listener determine - here, "subtle differences" enable the listener to perform a particular task. What task? "to determine the qualities of that sound." "to" before "determine" is skipped and that's ok.

(B) in the two ears hearing a given sound help the listener in determining - "determining the qualities of that sound" is not some goal, so we need "to determine."

(C) in how a sound is heard by the two ears helps the listener determine - SV Issue. "subtle differences" plural and "helps" singular verb.

(D) between how the two ears hear a given sound helps the listener in determining - same as C.

(E) between how a sound is heard by the two ears help the listener in determining - same as B.

kpop1234567890 · Answer

Is option E wrong because of between idiom?
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KarishmaB · Answer

Because of both 'between' and 'in determining'

It is much better to use 'differences... help the listener determine' than to say 'differences... help the listener in determining' because in the second case, it is not clear who is doing the determining. It is acting as a noun, an object for the preposition 'in'. Whereas when we use the infinitive form 'determine/to determine' we know that the listener is doing the action of determine.

A helps B do something. (infinitive when B is doing the action)
A helps B in his projects. (prepositional phrase when nouns are involved)

In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

In human hearing, subtle differences in how the two ears hear a given

Prep Toolkit

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

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