In the last few years, the no. of convicted criminals given community service sentenes, which allow the criminals to remain unconfined while they perform specific jobs benefitting the public, have risen dramatically.

a. sentences ___ have
b. sentences, performing specific jobs that benefit the public while being allowed to remain unconfined, have

c. sentences, performing specific jobs beneficial to the public while they are allowed to remain unconfined, have

d. sentences which allow them to remain unconfined in their performing of specific jobs beneficial to the public has

e. sentences allowing them to remain unconfined while performing specific jobs that benefit the public has

My answer was a bt its wrong :-(
according to me it is gramatically correct sentence. with no problem in has or have tense.
pls can some1 help me with their opinion?

(answer : e)

"the number of" is singular while "a number of" is plural
so we must use singular (has) and this eliminates a, b. & c
between d & e , d is wrong because "which" must preceded by comma and also "which" refer to "community service sentenes" and "community service sentenes" doesnt allow criminals to unconfined but rather their action "convicted criminals given community service sentenes" allows criminals to unconfined. So in case where we require to refer to action of previous clause we require present participle (allowing in this case)

Hi,

Can you be more specific about the original author of the question? Which Center's test paper are you referring to? Without the specific source, we cannot respond to your question, and will have to delete your post.

Thanks,

_________________
Ben Ku
Instructor
ManhattanGMAT

hi Ben,
This q is from OG-10.

178. In the last few years, the number of convicted criminals given community service sentences. which allow
the criminals to remain unconfined while they perform specific jobs benefiting the public, have risen
dramatically.
(A) sentences, which allow the criminals to remain unconfined while they perform specific jobs benefiting
the public, have
(B) sentences, performing specific jobs that benefit the public while being allowed to remain unconfined,
have
(C) sentences, performing specific jobs beneficial to the public while they are allowed to remain unconfined,
have
(D) sentences which allow them to remain unconfined in their performing of specific jobs beneficial to the
public has
(E) sentences allowing them to remain unconfined while performing specific jobs that

Now, a,b,c - eliminated b'coz of subject verb agreement.

But why e?
If I re-phrase the orig. question with (e) inserted into it
In the last few years, the number of convicted criminals given community service sentences allowing them to remain unconfined while performing specific jobs that risen dramatically.


Now, "that risen dramatically" is not proper.

Your thoughts?

Thanks.

Looks like option [e] is incomplete.

Checked here : http://gmatclub.com/forum/sc-criminals-88999.html

Sorry, but GMAC questions are not allowed; please review the forum guidelines folder for more information.

_________________
Jamie Nelson
ManhattanGMAT Instructor