GMAT PREP SC: One of the "Middleman"?

[ddohnggo]

Hi,

I have a question regarding a SC question that uses 'One of the...' The following question utilizes it:

"With a new park, stadium, and entertainment complex along the Delaware River, Trenton, New Jersey, is but one of a large number of communities that is looking to use its waterfront as a way for it to improve the quality of urban life and attract new businesses"

while I was solving the problem I was conflicted with either 'is' or 'are'. In the MGMAT class we learned about removing the 'of' middleman. In this problem we see 'one of a large number of communities.' My first instinct was to remove the of portion, but this proved incorrect. Is the phrase 'one of ...' an exception to the rule? [/u]

[StaceyKoprince]

Good question. The issue here is not the "one of" phrase but the fact that you have "communities that." The "that" is the key. The text following the word "that" refers back to the noun immediately preceding it - in this case, communities.

This is not your standard "subject-verb" set up - for those, yes, you don't want to find the subject within a prepositional phrase. In this problem, though, you can think of the "that" clause as a part of the "of the communities" prepositional phrase - it is subordinate to the word communities.

[ddohnggo]

Thanks for the info Stacy. I actually saw a problem in the OG GMAT 10th edition that is somewhat similar:

"Minnesota is the only one of the contiguous forty eight states that still has a sizeable wolf population, and where this predator remains the archenemy of cattle and sheep.

Should this also be HAVE rather than HAS because 'THAT' follows forty eight states? I know that the answer key does not make any mention about this so I'm assuming that because there is 'ONLY' then 'HAS' is ok to use?

[RonPurewal]

hey - go ahead and post this problem in its own thread, and then we'll answer it.

thanks.