are/is

[RonPurewal]

remember—
there are NO 'tricks' on this exam.
really, none.
this is a core principle upon which the exam is built. the presence of even a single 'trick question' would greatly compromise the value, and integrity, of the test.
(even if a 'trick question' were created purely by accident, it would fail the experimental phase and thus would be tossed before it could affect anyone's score.)

here, specifically, this means that things that look plural are plural, and things that look singular are singular.

the ONLY exceptions will be...

1/
exceptions that are, UNQUESTIONABLY, common knowledge
e.g.,
• any educated english speaker knows that 'the United States' is singular
• any educated english speaker knows that 'physics' is singular
etc.

2/
exceptions that are VERY clearly implied by context
e.g.,
The French typically drink wine; the British generally prefer beer.
Ordinary people cannot afford the standard of healthcare that the rich take for granted.
here it is 100.0000 percent crystal-clear that 'the French', 'the British', and 'the rich' are plural—even if you have never before seen such a construction.

3/
exceptions demonstrated by existing grammar
look at #85 in the 13th/2015 edition of OG (can't reproduce here).
in that problem, 'owning and living' is singular.
this is not necessarily obvious in context (it's reasonable to regard these as one idea, but it's also reasonable to regard them as two ideas), but it is established by the fact that 'owning and living' is the subject of 'is'.

[sahilk47]

remember—
there are NO 'tricks' on this exam.
really, none.
this is a core principle upon which the exam is built. the presence of even a single 'trick question' would greatly compromise the value, and integrity, of the test.
(even if a 'trick question' were created purely by accident, it would fail the experimental phase and thus would be tossed before it could affect anyone's score.)

here, specifically, this means that things that look plural are plural, and things that look singular are singular.

the ONLY exceptions will be...

1/
exceptions that are, UNQUESTIONABLY, common knowledge
e.g.,
• any educated english speaker knows that 'the United States' is singular
• any educated english speaker knows that 'physics' is singular
etc.

2/
exceptions that are VERY clearly implied by context
e.g.,
The French typically drink wine; the British generally prefer beer.
Ordinary people cannot afford the standard of healthcare that the rich take for granted.
here it is 100.0000 percent crystal-clear that 'the French', 'the British', and 'the rich' are plural—even if you have never before seen such a construction.

3/
exceptions demonstrated by existing grammar
look at #85 in the 13th/2015 edition of OG (can't reproduce here).
in that problem, 'owning and living' is singular.
this is not necessarily obvious in context (it's reasonable to regard these as one idea, but it's also reasonable to regard them as two ideas), but it is established by the fact that 'owning and living' is the subject of 'is'.

Thank you.

[RonPurewal]

you're welcome.

[PulkitA315]

The Sports Medicine Programs of the Olympic Training Center, a complex where final tryouts are held for athletes representing the United States in the Olympics, is geared toward enhancing athletes' performance and toward their preparation for international competition.

(A) is geared toward enhancing athletes' performance and toward their preparation
(B) is geared to enhance the performance of athletes and to prepare them
(C) are geared to enhance athletes' performance and their preparation
(D) are geared toward the enhancement of athletes' performance and toward preparing them
(E) are geared toward enhancing the performance of athletes and preparing them

Between option C and E. Option E was preferred because of parallelism. And I removed option C because of 2 reasons-

1- are geared to enhance athletes' performance and their preparation. Though it appears to be parallel but "their" is redundant.
2- If we check the meaning of the sentence- the sports medicine programs ( which are already started) are geared towards blah blah!!. But in option C it appears as if the the sports medicine programs are geared ( Read as started- as in engine is started) to enhance blah blah!! And i believe the meaning got changed there, It was never started to enhance but were NOW directed toward another goal ( maybe initially goals were wider)

Please correct me if I am wrong here.

[RonPurewal]

^^ please read the entire discussion thread. these parts of the problem have already been addressed.