GMATPrep Question

[CocoL212]

In Scotland, the number of wild salmon have been reduced because of uncontrolled deep-sea and coastal netting, by pollution, and by various other threats to the fish's habitat.

A number of wild salmon have been reduced because of uncontrolled deep-sea and coastal netting
B number of wild salmon is reduced because deep-sea and coastal netting is not controlled
C numbers of wild salmon has been reduced because of uncontrolled deep-sea and coastal netting
D wild salmon's numbers are reduced by deep-sea and coastal netting that is not controlled
E wild salmon's numbers have been reduced by uncontrolled deep-sea and coastal netting

Answer: E

@ Hi Ron,
My question is: besides parallelism, some people say that the logic subject of "by pollution, by various..." should be "wild salmon", instead of "the number". So ABC are wrong not just because they violate the parallelism. What is the difference between "the numbers of wild salmon" and "wild salmon's numbers"?

Thank you in advance.

Coco

[RonPurewal]

that difference is a distraction.
in your case, it appears to have worked. (:

you can eliminate all three of those choices for VERY basic, VERY straightforward, and VERY fundamental reasons.

* all of them are non-parallel (because xxxxx || by yyyyy & by zzzzz)

* in A and C, the subject and verb don't agree. (the number have? the numbers has?)

if the distractions are diluting your focus on these basic fundamentals... well, that's not good.

[gmatkiller_24]

Hi, Ron:

can you tell me how to eliminate choice D?

it is only because of " that is not controlled" is much more wordy than "uncontrolled" in choice E?

Thank you

[thanghnvn]

Why present simple in D is wrong? pls, help

[sahilk47]

Hi, Ron:

can you tell me how to eliminate choice D?

it is only because of " that is not controlled" is much more wordy than "uncontrolled" in choice E?

Thank you

Hi

As per my understanding ( Ron would correct me if I am wrong), the original sentence suggests that:

the number...have been reduced because of uncontrolled deep-sea and coastal netting .....

That is, both deep-sea and coastal netting were uncontrolled.

However, option D suggests that numbers were reduced by (i) deep-sea and uncontrolled (or not controlled) coastal netting. I believe this option changes the original meaning.

Thank you

[RonPurewal]

However, option D suggests that numbers were reduced by (i) deep-sea and uncontrolled (or not controlled) coastal netting. I believe this option changes the original meaning.

Thank you

three points here.

1/
not necessarily.
if i talk about 'lost and stolen inventory that is deductible' on a business tax return, it's quite clear that i'm referring to both lost and stolen items. ('inventory' is still a singular noun.)

2/
even if 'the original meaning' is changed... so what?
nothing is special about 'the original meaning'. choice A is a random answer choice, just like the other four.
when it comes to meaning, the only dispositive issue is 'sensible meaning vs. nonsense meaning'.

[RonPurewal]

...and

3/
there's no reason to make this decision so difficult—it's perfectly straightforward as a COMPARISON between answer choices (= a 'beauty contest').
uncontrolled deep-sea and coastal netting --> FAR better
deep-sea and coastal netting that is not controlled --> FAR worse
this is not a matter of opinion; the difference is very clear and completely objective. the former is more efficient; the latter is less efficient.

[CrystalSpringston]

that difference is a distraction.
in your case, it appears to have worked. (:

you can eliminate all three of those choices for VERY basic, VERY straightforward, and VERY fundamental reasons.

* all of them are non-parallel (because xxxxx || by yyyyy & by zzzzz)

* in A and C, the subject and verb don't agree. (the number have? the numbers has?)

if the distractions are diluting your focus on these basic fundamentals... well, that's not good.

Hi Ron, this "distraction" did dillute my focus. would you pls help to explain more about why "wild salmon’s numbers" is legitimate ? And is there any diffirence from the numbers (number) of wild salmon?
Thank you!

[RonPurewal]

"x's numbers" is the same as "the population of x". this is the only thing worth saying about that construction.

...but, again, look for more fundamental things first.

[QIAND24]

Hi, Ron,
i understand what you have said, but I found that another difference between D and E is that D uses "are reduced" while E uses "have been reduced". I found it hard for me, sometimes, to attack an option with "verb tense". Could you help me figure out whether "are reduced" here is used correctly, or worse than "have been reduced"? In addition, since D is worse than E in "the beauty contest", does it mean we can pay less attention to this difference of verb tense?
Thanks in advance!

[RonPurewal]

the present tense (e.g., "are reduced") is used for 2 things:
1/ GENERALITIES that are true regardless of the timeframe (Blood flows through veins and arteries)
2/ STATES or CONDITIONS (NOT events or actions!) that are true AT PRESENT (I am happy)

this present tense CANNOT be used for EVENTS or ACTIONS. if an event is happening right now, then you use "is/are __ing". (The factory is operating at reduced capacity because its machines are undergoing routine maintenance.)

__

in general, it's a good idea to consider only MAJOR verb-tense issues. you absolutely will NOT need SUBTLE verb-tense differences to solve the problems.

this difference is pretty plain—"are reduced" is written in a tense that can NEVER be used for something like that (a single instance; an event). that's not "subtle".