Whether everyone, from children to senior citizens, benefits similarly

Everyone is Singluar, hence benefits is the appropriate choice here. C, D and E are out
Between A and B, A is the clear winner.

Whether everyone, from children to senior citizens, (benefits similarly from consuming added protein while weight training and just how much protein is ideal, as well as what that protein should consist of and) when it should be eaten, are all open questions.
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(A) benefits similarly from consuming added protein while weight training and just how much protein is ideal, as well as what that protein should consist of and (proper structured)

(B) benefits similarly from consuming added protein while weight training and just how much protein is ideal, what that protein should consist of, (We would require "and" before the last part of the sentence for proper listing, Worng)

(C) benefit similarly from consuming added protein while weight training, how much protein is ideal, what that protein should consist of, and (Singular Plural Error, it should be benefits not benefit)

(D) benefit similarly from consuming added protein while weight training and just how much protein is ideal, as well as what that protein should consist of and (Singular Plural Error, it should be benefits not benefit)

(E) benefit similarly from consuming added protein while weight training and just how much protein is ideal, what that protein should consist of and (Singular Plural Error, it should be benefits not benefit)

Ans: A

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:

Anytime you have a choice relating to subject-verb agreement such as “benefit” vs. “benefits”, start by analyzing that decision point. Using the slash-and-burn technique to find the proper subject for that verb, you see that it is the singular “everyone.” it should be “Whether everyone benefits” NOT “Whether everyone benefit”. This allows you to eliminate (C), (D), and (E).

The choice between (A) and (B) is more complicated and takes some time to sort out. With such a complex structure, simplify the elements to see what is really going on. For (A) the sentence is really. “This question and this question, as well as this question and this question, are all open...” This is a properly constructed series of questions. (B) gets it wrong: “This question and this question, this question, this question, are all..” The elements are not linked logically in a parallel fashion so (B) can be eliminated. Only (A) uses the proper verb “benefits” and links together the different elements correctly, so (A) is the correct answer.

SV agreement:-

Everyone [+comma+appositive (non-essential modifier)+comma]+ Verb

Everyone(subject) agrees with singular verb. So, Everyone.......benefits.

C,D & E out.

B)Whether everyone,from children to senior citizens, benefits similarly from consuming added protein while weight training and just how much protein is ideal, what that protein should consist of, when it should be eaten, are all open questions.

The correct structure is:- X and Y,and Z. In B, proper listing is not maintained.
So, B out.

'A' uses the correct list structure.

So Ans (A)

Everyone which denot es singular subject calls for singular verb i.e. benefits. So, c,d and e are out.
We need "and" before the last item of a collectiob to group them up . B lacks "and" before "when it should be taken". So,B out.
Answer: A


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[quote="SudhanshuSingh"]Whether everyone, from children to senior citizens, benefits similarly from consuming added protein while weight training and just how much protein is ideal, as well as what that protein should consist of and when it should be eaten, are all open questions.

A) benefits similarly from consuming added protein while weight training and just how much protein is ideal, as well as what that protein should consist of and

B) benefits similarly from consuming added protein while weight training and just how much protein is ideal, what that protein should consist of,

C) benefit similarly from consuming added protein while weight training, how much protein is ideal, what that protein should consist of, and

D) benefit similarly from consuming added protein while weight training and just how much protein is ideal, as well as what that protein should consist of and

E) benefit similarly from consuming added protein while weight training and just how much protein is ideal, what that protein should consist of and

Request all to provide explanation along with the answers.

Whether everyone -we need benefits not benefit. CDE out
Now, B does not have 'and' after consist of since it is a list-so B out
Answer A

I am skeptical of the OA.
as well as is not a substitute for and.
Whereas and + NOUN in a list implies that the NOUN is essential to the meaning of the sentence, an as-well-as modifier is NONESSENTIAL.
If we remove the as-well-as modifier and other nonessential modifiers from the OA, we get:
Whether everyone benefits similarly from consuming added protein while weight training and just how much protein is ideal are all open questions.
Here, the usage of all implies that there are more than two open questions, but the portions in red convey only TWO.
As a result, the core of the sentence seems to convey an illogical meaning.

Well you might be right GMATGuruNY. I was also confused to see the OA and OE. And that is why I posted this question here.
I was not surprised to see that 45% of people getting it right, although total number of members attended this question is pretty low.

What should be right OA here. Could you please explain in detail?


Hi GMATNinja, egmat and VeritasPrepKarishma - Please clarify the doubt. The list presented in the question is quite confusing.

Whether everyone,
from children to senior citizens, (Non-essential)
benefits similarly from consuming added protein while weight training
and just how much protein is ideal,
as well as what that protein should consist of and when it should be eaten (Non-essential).
are all open questions.

Because we have used "are all open questions" . Does this take into account - the non-essential (starting with as well as) part also?

Also do we have officials question of this pattern, it would also help us understand what GMAT think of such sentence structure?

Thanks in advance for sharing your understanding!!

C, D and E: Whether everyone...benefit similarly
Here, benefit (singular) does not agree with everyone (singular).
Eliminate C, D and E.

B: Whether everyone benefits, what that protein should consist of, when it should be eaten, are all open questions.
Here, a conjunction such as and is required before the last entry in the list of open questions (when it should be eaten).
Eliminate B.

Option A is the best of the five options.
For the reason discussed in my earlier post, I would prefer that the word all be omitted, as follows:
Whether everyone, from children to senior citizens, benefits similarly from consuming added protein while weight training and just how much protein is ideal, as well as what that protein should consist of and when it should be eaten, are open questions.


The closest official analog I can think of:
The Sun, which is 400 times larger than the Moon, is also 400 times farther away from Earth.
Here, the usage of also refers to the nonessential which-modifier in blue.

If option C were to be modified to correct 'benefit' to 'benefits' in spirit of OA, how well would it stack against option A? Should we prefer option A with two lists joined by 'as well as' or option C, a general comma denominated list?

Hello AbhishekRaut95,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, if the subject-verb error in Option C were corrected, Option C would be the superior option, as it would be slightly more concise and straightforward.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

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