Subject Verb

Question 1

Lacking information about energy use, people tend to overestimate the amount of energy used by equipment, such as lights, that are visible and must be turned on and off and underestimate that used by unobtrusive equipment, such as water heaters.

What does “that” refer here ?

Answer 1

that modifies equipment not lights

Question 2

Before Colette, the female writers of France had been aristocrats, from Mme de Lafayette to Anne de Noailles; there were no Jane Austens or Brontë sisters, perhaps because there were almost no clergymen’s daughters.

A. were no Jane Austens or
B. were not Jane Austens or
C. was not Jane Austen nor the
D. was not a Jane Austen or the
E. was no Jane Austen or no

Answer 2

1. Firstly here Jane Austens and Bronte sisters have been used as a type
2. also Bronte sisters is plural in non underlines so you need plural verb
3. Very interesting - Difference between no and not (both are used for negation)

No is an adjective so will come with a noun or noun phrase
Not is an adverb

Question 3

The English physician Edward Jenner found that if experimental subjects were deliberately infected with cowpox, which caused only a mild illness, they are immune from smallpox.

(A) which caused only a mild illness, they are immune from
(B) causing only a mild illness, they become immune from
(C) which causes only a mild illness, they are immune to
(D) causing only a mild illness, they became immune from
(E) which caused only a mild illness, they would become immune to

Answer 3

if then clause so would was correct

In general, immune to is acceptable to use. It is sometimes possible to use immune from, but become immune from is not acceptable. When using the word become, say become immune to. Eliminate choices (B) and (D) for a faulty idiom.

Note that answer (A) uses immune from but does not contain a form of the word become. This can arguably be acceptable; the OG solution does not call this out as incorrect, so assume that it is okay for the purposes of the GMAT.

Question 4

Neither of my aunts, both of whom visited Venice last spring, want to return.

(A) visited Venice last spring, want
(B) have visited Venice last spring, want
(C) had visited Venice last spring, want
(D) visited Venice last spring, wants
(E) have visited Venice last spring, wants

Answer 4

Ans = D

The underline is pretty short, so you may want to compare the answers before reading the question stem. There are two main splits in the answer choices: visited/have visited/has visited, and want/wants. In the original sentence, visited is correct.

The main verb want, however, is problematic. Any noun in a prepositional phrase, such as of my aunts, cannot be the subject of a sentence. Nor can a noun in a modifier (both of whom visited Venice last spring). The subject of the sentence must be neither, which is always singular (think of it as “neither one”), so the singular wants is the correct verb.

However, have visited is the wrong tense. It is possible in general to say that two people have visited Venice. This construction, however, should not be attached to a specific time frame (last spring). Either they visited last spring or they have visited at some unspecified time in the past.

Question 5

Added to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.

A. Added to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
B. Added to the increase in hourly wages which had been requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
C. The railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits added to the increase in hourly wages that were requested last July.
D. In addition to the increase in hourly wages that were requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
E. In addition to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.

Answer 5

Ans = E

C has SV error - THE SUBJECT OF VERBB “WERE” IS INCREASE AND NOT WAGES -> WHY ?

IT WAS NOT WAGES THAT WERE REQUESTED LAST JULY(THEY MUTS BE GETTING WAGES BEFORE), IT WAS INCREASE IN WAGES

Question 6

The new image of Stone Age people as systematic hunters of large animals, rather than merely scavenging for meat, have emerged from the examination of tools found in Germany, including three wooden spears that archaeologists believe to be about 400,000 years old.

(A) merely scavenging for meat, have emerged from the examination of tools found in Germany, including

(B) as mere scavenging for meat, have emerged from examining tools found in Germany, which include

(C) as mere meat scavengers, has emerged from examining tools found in Germany that includes

(D) mere scavengers of meat, has emerged from the examination of tools found in Germany, which includes

(E) mere scavengers of meat, has emerged from the examination of tools found in Germany, including

Answer 6

Ans = E