Sentence Correction

zaarathelab wrote:According to a recent study of consumer spending on prescription medications, increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came from sales of the 9,850 prescription medicines that companies did not advertise or advertised
very little.

A. heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came

Is A wrong because of the verb "accounts" which is singular, subject is "increases" which is plural.
Second, why "the remainder of which" is problematic ?

Ali Tariq wrote: because which refers to year
whereas it was supposed to refer to increase

So, you mean to say - "x of which" and "which" have same function

for example: increase, which accounts & increase, the remainder of which

Here both which refers to same noun that is "increase"

Nina1987 wrote:Isn't C a run on sentence. I mean what kind of a modifier is 'the remainder of the increase coming'. Is the question correct and is it really from OG?

Hi - its an absolute phrase...absolute phrases have to be attached using a comma always, no a semi colon

why ? absolute phrases cannot stand alone on their own ...

Re-read B " the remainder of the increase coming from .....little" : fragment ...has to be attached to a clause ...hence cannot use a semi colon ...

B is out

Hello Everyone!

Let's take a closer look at this question, and figure out the best way to find the right answer - and quickly! Before we dive in, here is the original question, with the major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

According to a recent study of consumer spending on prescription medications, increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came from sales of the 9,850 prescription medicines that companies did not advertise or advertised very little.

(A) heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came
(B) heavily were what accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year; the remainder of the increase coming
(C) heavily accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of the increase coming
(D) heavily, accounting for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, while the remainder of the increase came
(E) heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, with the remainder of it coming

After a quick glance over the options, there are 2 major differences we can focus on:

1. How they begin: wording of the verb "account"
2. How they end: punctuation/modifiers/pronouns/conjunctions

Let's take a look at #1 on our list, and see if we can find any problematic options to rule out. We have 3 options (A/B/C) that use different verb tenses, while the other 2 options (D/E) were rewritten to create modifiers. This means we have 2 things to focus on here:

1. Proper verb tense
2. Proper use of modifiers

Here is how each option breaks down. To help you see any potential problems, we've added the rest of the clause that's not underlined.

(A) ...increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came

This is INCORRECT because it uses the wrong verb tense! The subject it's referring to is "increases," which is plural, yet the verb here is "accounts," which is singular!

(B) ...increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily were what accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year; the remainder of the increase coming

This is INCORRECT because it's over wordy! It's not necessary to say "were what accounted for" when simply saying "accounted for" would do. Remember - the GMAT prefers concise language whenever possible!

(C) ...increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of the increase coming

This is CORRECT! It's concise, and it uses past tense to properly indicate the timing of an action that happened last year.

(D) ...increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily, accounting for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, while the remainder of the increase came

This is INCORRECT because there is no main verb in the sentence, making it one very long fragment! By changing "accounted for" to "accounting for," we've changed the verb into a modifier. This means we no longer have a verb to go with the subject, "increases."

(E) ...increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, with the remainder of it coming

This is also INCORRECT because there is no main verb in the sentence! By changing "accounted for" to "which accounted for," we've changed the verb to a modifier. This means we no longer have a verb to go with the subject, "increases."

There you have it! Option C is the only one that uses the proper verb tense without creating an accidental sentence fragment!

**************
If you're wondering what would happen if we focused on #2 instead, here is how things would break down:

(A) heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came

The main problem with this is the phrase "the remainder of which." It's not 100% clear what this is referring back to: the remainder of the drugs, the sales of drugs, or increase in drug spending? If it's not 100% clear, then it's likely an INCORRECT option.

(B) heavily were what accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year; the remainder of the increase coming

While the phrase itself is okay, the punctuation is not. This is INCORRECT because the semicolon isn't necessary. Only use semicolons to separate two independent clauses - this is separating an independent clause from a dependent clause. Since the clause after the semicolon can't stand alone, you cannot use a semicolon here.

(C) heavily accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of the increase coming

This is CORRECT! The modifier is referring back to what's closest to it, which is the increase of drug spending last year. This makes sense, and it's punctuated properly, so it's all good!

(D) heavily, accounting for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, while the remainder of the increase came

This is OKAY for now because it's clear what the phrase is referring back to, and it's punctuated properly.
(However, we would later rule out option D because it's missing a verb, making it a sentence fragment.)

(E) heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, with the remainder of it coming

This is INCORRECT because the singular pronoun "it" doesn't agree in number with its plural antecedent "increases."


Option C is still the correct choice, though it may take you a little bit longer to come to that conclusion!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.

vinni.k wrote:

zaarathelab wrote:According to a recent study of consumer spending on prescription medications, increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came from sales of the 9,850 prescription medicines that companies did not advertise or advertised
very little.

A. heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came

Is A wrong because of the verb "accounts" which is singular, subject is "increases" which is plural.
Second, why "the remainder of which" is problematic ?

very good question.
it is hard to realize wrong which-clause.
which clause show a characteristics of the noun.
this means the characteristics of the noun presented by which clause exist BEFORE any action in the sentence happen . the characteristics is independent from any ideas in the sentence. focus on BEFORE help us eliminate the wrong which-clause. how to eliminate wrong which-clause is terrible to me.

For the first time in the modern era, non-Hispanic Whites are officially a minority in California, which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters only a decade ago.

in this gmatpreop problem, "which amounts" exist before any action/event in the sentence , and is a characteristics of "a minority in California". this means any minority in california amounts to less than half of population. bingo, no sense.

come back to our question.
"remainder of which "= "remainder of 20 bilion increase" exist before action "account". bingo, no sense. the remainder of increase come into existance after "amounting".

which clause if go with "A+noun" is normally wrong because it means any noun has the characteristics.
a girl, who is a friend of mine , is beautiful.
this is wrong because it means any girl is a friend of mine.
a girl who is a friend of mine is beautiful (who-clause without comma=that-clause). defining clause to separate the girl among many girls.
this is good. only the girl who is a friend of mine is beautiful.

following rule is easy to remember (above sentences are examples)
non defining noun should go with defining that-clause.
definite noun should go with non defining which-clause

wrong which-clause on gmat is tested on 2 cases
case 1, the split between noun+which clause/noun+that clause. following is an example

Although some had accused Smith, the firm's network manager, of negligence when the crucial data went missing, the CEO defused a situation that was quite tense with her public statement that the debacle was not Smith's fault.

A. a situation that was quite tense with her public statement that the debacle was not Smith's fault
B. a situation that was quite tense, by publicly stating that the debacle was not Smith's fault
C. a situation, which was quite tense, by stating publicly that Smith was not responsible for the debacle
D. a quite tense situation with a public statement about the debacle not being Smith's fault
E. a quite tense situation by publicly stating the debacle not to have been Smith's fault

skill for case 1 is that you cut of which- clause, and see whether meaning is logic. if the meaning is still logic, which clause is right. if not, that clause is righ.
case 2. you see split between which clause/adverbial
our original problem here is an example.
skill for case 2 is that think that which clause show a characteristic which exist before any action in the sentence. this skill also is applied to case 1.
if adverbial is wrong, it is easy to realize. but if which clause is wrong, you must apply skill for case 2 to realize wrong which clause.

I am not confident in what i write above. I wish all of us presents their ideas and give illustrating examples.