Sentence Correction Practice Question

Sentence Correction Practice Question

 Question

Rising raw material costs is only one of the factors, albeit an important one, that keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did earlier in the decade.

A) keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did

B) keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did

C) keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did

D) keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like

E) keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did

Solution

Answer B

Remember the following rule

On the GMAT for sentences like this where the subject is "one of the factors ... that keeps.." you can follow this simple rule.

If you see the sentence in the form of

One of the Noun (Here Noun is always PLURAL) .... that/who ..... PLURAL VERB.

If you see the sentence in the form of (where that/who is not used in the sentence).

One of the Noun (Here Noun is always PLURAL) .......SINGULAR VERB.



The original sentence states that "a higher interest rate is only one of the
factors...that keeps..." The clause "that keeps the housing market from
spiraling out of control" is describing the word "factors." Since "factors" is plural
noun and "keeps" agrees with singular nouns, we need to find a sentence that
replaces "keeps" with "keep". Also, "like it did earlier in the decade" is
incorrect. When comparing clauses (i.e., a phrase containing a subject and
a verb), we must use "as" instead of "like." For example, "She sings like her
mother" and "She sings as her mother does" are both correct, but "She sings
like her mother does" is not.