Sc problem

[shaleengaurav]

Edited

[RonPurewal]

go read this post (from another forum):
http://www.beatthegmat.com/one-of-the-t ... tml#174075

that post should answer all of your questions about this issue.

source- self made
Example 1- Efforts to increase recycling among consumers, a major goal of many american communities throughout the past decade,has not abundantly reduced the number of plastic water bottles being discarded annually into landfill
the doubt is between
(D) have not reduced the abundant number of plastic water bottles that has been discarded annually into landfills
(E) have not reduced the abundance in the number of plastic bottles that have been discarded annually into landfills.

this should be have, since it's the bottles (not the number) that have been discarded.
there are other problems with this sentence -- for instance, none of the uses of "abundant" are correct -- but that's to be expected in a user-made problem (especially assuming that english is not your first language).

Example 2 - with its plan to develop seven and a half acres of shore land, cleveland is but one of a large number of communities on the great lakes that is looking to its waterfront as a way to improve the quality of urban life and attract new business.

this should be "are", since there are many communities that are looking to their waterfronts, and cleveland is just one of them.
the post cited above explains all of this in great detail.

[shaleengaurav]

Thanks Ron. I'm sorry for being a little slow but the answer for example 1 should be choice (E) then. because we will use a plural verb "have".
Also the relative pronoun "that" would it not modify the noun before it?? hence in that case the verb (after "that") should take singular or plural form according to the referent of the relative pronoun (that).

the following examples
(1) he is one of the people who bake special cakes.
(2) he is the only one of the people who bakes special cakes.
(3)with its plan to develop seven and a half acres of shore land, cleveland is but one of a large number of communities on the great lakes that is looking to its waterfront as a way to improve the quality of urban life and attract new business.

in these questions what is who (relative pronoun) and that referring to? we have both a singular and a plural before them. Then wouldn't it become ambiguous??

I am having trouble understanding the sentence with the relative pronoun. Is there a easier way to understand this concept?

[tim]

once you connect the "who" to the verb after it, there is no longer any ambiguity in these examples, because we now know whether "who" is singular or plural. at that point you need only to look to whether the sentence makes logical sense with the antecedent you are stuck with..

"that" does not have to modify the noun immediately before it. if two modifiers follow a noun, by definition they cannot both touch the noun, but the modifier rule is not violated as long as the only thing between a modifier and its noun is another modifier of the same noun..

[shaleengaurav]

thanks tim: please answer this question

source- self made
Example 1- Efforts to increase recycling among consumers, a major goal of many american communities throughout the past decade,has not abundantly reduced the number of plastic water bottles being discarded annually into landfill
the doubt is between
(D) have not reduced the abundant number of plastic water bottles that has been discarded annually into landfills
(E) have not reduced the abundance in the number of plastic bottles that have been discarded annually into landfills.


My question is here "that" is refering to "the number" or "water bottles". how do you actually find out the referent of a relative pronoun like "that"

thanks

[tim]

the sentence says "that has been discarded". so the question to ask yourself is what has been discarded, a number or bottles? :)

[shaleengaurav]

thanks tim so the key is to find out who is the referent and that doesnt have to be the noun immediately preceding "that". Thanks a lot it really Helped.

[tim]

glad to hear it!