SC : MGMAT CAT

[Khalid]

Could someone please help me with this:

Poor weather in early 14th-century Europe created meager harvests, causing the result of mass starvation in some areas and the elimination of as many as 15 percent of the population.

A causing the result of mass starvation in some areas and the elimination as many as
B causing the result of mass starvation in some areas and eliminating as much as
C resulting in mass starvation in some areas and the elimination of as much as
D and resulted in mass starvation in some areas and the elimination of as many as
E causing mass starvation in some areas and the elimination of as many as

I chose D which is incorrect. One of the reasons listed is that population is uncountable and hence using as many as is incorrect. I know C, which is the correct answer makes sense but I am having problems with the "as many as" explanation given. Population is a countable noun..or isn't it

[RonPurewal]

we are enjoined from answering questions unless you post a source, so please post a source.

if you don't post a source, we'll have to kill the thread. sorry :(

[Khalid]

Sorry Ron, I did post the source in he Subject line MGMAT CAT. I should have been more explicit.

Khalid

we are enjoined from answering questions unless you post a source, so please post a source.

if you don't post a source, we'll have to kill the thread. sorry :(

[RonPurewal]

population, as used in the sense in which it's used here, is not countable.

population can be countable - meaning that you can, in some circumstances, say one population, two populations, etc. - but its meaning in those contexts is different (implying populations of different ethnic groups, species, or whatever). in this case, population is definitely not countable.

if you don't want to rely on meaning to make that distinction, then just note that it appears in the singular. if it were countable, it'd have to be populations for the 15% to make any sense.

[RonPurewal]

by the way, another major problem in choice d is that its meaning is markedly different from that of the original. viz., choice d says that the weather caused the poor harvests, and that the weather caused starvation and death (and that there is not necessarily any connection between these two events!).

as an analogy, consider the following two sentences.
1. the accident caused a traffic jam on the freeway, ruining my day. --> the traffic jam ruined my day
2. the accident caused a traffic jam on the freeway and ruined my day. --> the accident ruined my day, but not necessarily by means of the traffic jam (maybe i was one of the drivers in the accident)

same deal in choice d.

[dataiwandude]

Hi Ron,

I have an "extension" question about this SC question. Assuming that I could not determine whether or not population is an uncountable noun, would answer choice (C) still be better than answer choice (E) because of what I think a subtle difference in meaning of the sentence between (C) and (E)?

To me, that (E) used causing implies that the effect of that 14th century weather is still ongoing. That would be illogical.

In (C), resulting in implies that the effect is done and over with, which makes sense.

To illustrate my point, let's say that (E) is modified as follows and (C) remains the same:

(C) resulting in mass starvation in some areas and the elimination of as much as
(E) causing mass starvation in some areas and the elimination of as much as

Would (C) still be the best answer?

Thanks!

[RonPurewal]

To me, that (E) used causing implies that the effect of that 14th century weather is still ongoing.

no such implication.

two germane points:
1. causing and resulting appear in the same form (present participle), so the same logic would presumably apply to resulting as well, thus rendering both choices equally 'incorrect'.
2. there's nothing wrong with a present participle here; it's by far the most concise way to express the linkage. as an analogy, consider the following sentence:
the fires from the 1906 earthquake ravaged san francisco, destroying large swaths of downtown but at the same time clearing the way for the construction of safer, more modern buildings.
- we certainly aren't trying to say that the destruction from the 1906 fires is still ongoing (!)
- if you try to express this idea without present participles, you will need either (a) multiple sentences or (b) circumlocution.

hope that helps

[Guest]

Here, why resulting is modifying 'harvest' but not 'weather'. Isnt the particple modify the subject and the action in the sentence?

Thanks!

[StaceyKoprince]

"resulting" modifies the entire previous clause. An "ing" word modifies clauses (a string of words that includes a verb). So, in this case, Poor weather created meager harvests, and that sequence of events resulted in mass starvation, etc.

[narendra.chokshi]

population, as used in the sense in which it's used here, is not countable.

population can be countable - meaning that you can, in some circumstances, say one population, two populations, etc. - but its meaning in those contexts is different (implying populations of different ethnic groups, species, or whatever). in this case, population is definitely not countable.

if you don't want to rely on meaning to make that distinction, then just note that it appears in the singular. if it were countable, it'd have to be populations for the 15% to make any sense.

Dear Ron,

I have a doubt. Since population takes a singular verb, therefore we use 'as much as' instead of 'as many as'. Please clarify.

[JonathanSchneider]

The idea is that we use the word "much" for uncountable nouns (like "water") whereas we use "many" for countable nouns (like "bottles"). Ron was illustrating that "population," in the given context, is not countable.