While many of the kimberlite found recently in South Africa seem to

Question

Pack 21, Question 3 of 5:

While many of the kimberlite found recently in South Africa seem to provide evidence of the relationship between diamonds and kimberlite rock, the treasure coming from the diamond mines  seem more likely at this juncture that they will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade rather than  ease them.

A) seem more likely at this juncture that they will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade rather than
B) seem more likely that it will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade at this juncture than
C) seems more likely to provoke disagreements on the diamond trade at this juncture rather than
D) seems more likely at this juncture to provoke disagreements over the diamond trade than to
E) seems more likely that it will provoke disagreements on the diamond trade at this juncture than to

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jhavyom · Answer

While many of the kimberlite found recently in South Africa seem to provide evidence of the relationship between diamonds and kimberlite rock, the treasure coming from the diamond mines  seem more likely at this juncture that they will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade rather than ease them.

While many of the kimberlite found recently in South Africa seem to provide evidence of the relationship between diamonds and kimberlite rock,  the treasure    coming from the diamond mines    seem  more likely at this juncture that they will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade rather than ease them.

' treasure ' is singular. It should be paired with singular ' seems ,' not with plural ' seem '.
Eliminate A and B

A)  seem  more likely at this juncture that they will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade rather than
B)  seem  more likely that it will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade at this juncture than

The idiom used is:
  More likely to X than to Y  , in which X and Y are parallel

C) seems  more likely to provoke  disagreements on the diamond trade at this juncture  rather than  ease
Here, use of rather than is incorrect. ' to provoke ' is not parallel to ' ease '
Eliminate

D) seems  more likely    at this juncture    to provoke  disagreements over the diamond trade  than to  ease
'to provoke' is parallel to 'to ease'
Correct

E) seems  more likely   that  it will provoke disagreements on the diamond trade at this juncture  than to  ease
'that' is not parallel to 'to ease'
Eliminate

Choice D is the answer

winterschool · Answer

While many of the kimberlite found recently in South Africa seem to provide evidence of the relationship between diamonds and kimberlite rock, the treasure coming from the diamond mines seem more likely at this juncture that they will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade rather than ease them.

A)  seem  more likely at this juncture that they will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade rather than  Incorrect

SV error - the treasure singular, so seems required

B)  seem  more likely that it will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade at this juncture than  Incorrect

SV error - the treasure singular, so seems required

C) seems  more  likely to provoke disagreements on the diamond trade at this juncture  rather than   Incorrect

.........more .............rather than ........ - wrong idioms

D)  seems more likely at this juncture to provoke disagreements over the diamond trade than to   Correct

E) seems  more likely that it will provoke  disagreements on the diamond trade at this juncture  than to   Incorrect

parallelism error - D is better than E, ......more likely....to provoke ......than to ease .....

prateekchugh · Answer

While many of the kimberlite found recently in South Africa seem to provide evidence of the relationship between diamonds and kimberlite rock, the treasure coming from the diamond mines  seem more likely at this juncture that they will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade rather than  ease them.

A)   seem  more likely at this juncture that they will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade rather than 
B)   seem  more likely that it will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade at this juncture than 
C)  seems  more  likely  to provoke disagreements  on the diamond trade at this juncture  rather than  
D)  seems  more  likely at this juncture  to provoke disagreements  over the diamond trade  than   to  
E)  seems  more  likely that  it will provoke disagreements  on the diamond trade at this juncture  than   to 
 
After a quick glance over the options, there are a few key differences we can focus on to narrow down our options:

1. the treasure.....Seem/seems (Subject Verb Agreement)
2. More X than Y/ More X rather than Y (Comparisons & Idioms)
3. To Provoke and to ease/ to provoke and ease/ it will provoke and to ease (Parallelism)

Let’s start with an easy seem/seems split: The singular subject treasure will have singular subject Seems. If we look at the original sentence, we can look for clues:

While many of the kimberlite found recently in South Africa seem to provide evidence of the relationship between diamonds and kimberlite rock, the treasure coming from the diamond mines  seem more likely at this juncture that they will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade rather than  ease them.

Since we need seems as a subject we can cancel option A and B

B)   seem  more likely that it will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade at this juncture than 
This is  INCORRECT . This sentence do no have correct Subject Verb Agreement.

C)  seems  more  likely  to provoke disagreements  on the diamond trade at this juncture  rather than  
This is  INCORRECT . This sentence Correct Subject Verb agreement, but the Comparison issue. More X rather than Y is  INCORRECT . The correct idiom is More X than Y

D)  seems  more  likely at this juncture  to provoke disagreements  over the diamond trade  than   to  .

There you have it - option D is the correct choice!
Correct Subject Verb Agreement---The treasure... Seems
Correct Comparison Idiom---> More X than Y
Correct Parallelism---> More to provoke than to ease

E)  seems  more  likely that  it will provoke disagreements  on the diamond trade at this juncture  than   to

Option E uses correct Subject Verb agreement, Correct comparison idiom, but incorrect parallelism. More likely that it will provoke .... than to ease is  INCORRECT . Correct Way is  to provoke ... than to ease

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation

While many of the kimberlite found recently in South Africa seem to provide evidence of the relationship between diamonds and kimberlite rock, the treasure coming from the diamond mines  seem more likely at this juncture that they will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade rather than  ease them.

A)  seem  more likely at this juncture that  they will provoke  disagreements over the diamond trade  rather than  
 B)  seem  more likely that  it will provoke  disagreements over the diamond trade  at this juncture than  
 C)  seems  more likely  to provoke  disagreements on the diamond trade  at this juncture rather than  
 D)  seems  more likely at this juncture  to provoke  disagreements over the diamond trade  than to  
 E)  seems  more likely that  it will provoke  disagreements on the diamond trade  at this juncture than to  
 
 This sentence deals with subject-verb agreement and proper idiom usage.  First, the verb seem/seems needs to agree with its subject, which is the word “treasure.” Second, it needs to follow the idiom structure “more likely X than Y.” Differences are highlighted in the text.

A)  seem  more likely at this juncture that they will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade rather than 
This is  INCORRECT . The verb does not agree with the subject.

B)  seem  more likely that it will provoke disagreements over the diamond trade at this juncture than 
This is  INCORRECT . The verb does not agree with the subject.

C) seems  more likely to provoke  disagreements on the diamond trade at this juncture  rather than  
This is  INCORRECT . This sentence does not use the correct idiom usage (it says “more likely X rather than Y”). It does not sound quite right when reading it aloud.

D)  seems more likely  at this juncture  to provoke  disagreements over the diamond trade  than to  
This is  CORRECT . The verb and subject agree here, and it has the correct idiom usage (“more likely to provoke than to ease”).

E) seems more likely  that it will provoke  disagreements on the diamond trade at this juncture  than to  
This is  INCORRECT . This sentence does not use the correct idiom usage. It does not sound quite right when reading it aloud.
 
 There you have it - option D handles both the idiom and subject/verb agreement correctly!

Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Great job, jhavyom ! You cracked the code on another one, and you did a great job of showing your work! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Another stellar explanation winterschool ! Kudos to you! Looking forward to seeing how you tackle the next one!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

You've cracked the code on another one prateekchugh ! Kudos to you!

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