After decreasing steadily!

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gmat_perfect: Legendary Member; Posts: 1083; Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:38 pmFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 127 times

by gmat_perfect » Fri Jul 09, 2010 1:28 am

After decreasing steadily in the mid-1990's, the percentage of students in the United States finishing high school or having earned equivalency diplomas increased in the last three years of the decade, up to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and 84.8 percent in 1998.

(A) finishing high school or having earned equivalency diplomas increased in the last three years of the decade, up to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and
(B) finishing high school or earning equivalency diplomas, increasing in the last three years of the decade, rising to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and from
(C) having finished high school or earning an equivalency diploma increased in the last three years of the decade, and rose to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and from
(D) who either finished high school or they earned an equivalency diploma, increasing in the last three years of the decade, rose to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and
(E) who finished high school or earned equivalency diplomas increased in the last three years of the decade, to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and

How I have advanced:

students in the United States finishing=> Means that the United States is finishing.
=> So, A, B, and C are out.

D=> Either XX or YY is the correct idiom, where XX and YY MUST be parallel.

Either FINISHED or they is not correct.

So, D is out.

Answer is E.

Question:
Am I right in eliminating the options A, B, and C?

Thanks.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Fri Jul 09, 2010 1:28 am

The Jock: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 207; Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 12:22 amFollowed by: 3 members; Location: India; Thanked: 5 times

by The Jock » Fri Jul 09, 2010 2:16 am

I guess you are almost right in eliminating A,B and C.
Here it seems that percentage itself is finishing not the students, so it is creating meaning error.

Thanks and Regards,
Varun
https://mbayogi.wordpress.com/

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sumanr84: Legendary Member; Posts: 758; Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 9:32 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Bangalore,India; Thanked: 67 times

by sumanr84 » Fri Jul 09, 2010 3:18 am

I agree with your below statement

students in the United States finishing=> Means that the United States is finishing.
=> So, A, B, and C are out.

In general, a noun followed directly by an -ing (no comma) is a noun modifier set up.

Refer this detailed and long thread on "-ING" Modifier for more information.
https://www.beatthegmat.com/ing-modifier ... 38943.html

I am on a break !!

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FightWithGMAT: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 364; Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2010 5:13 amFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 31 times

by FightWithGMAT » Fri Jul 09, 2010 1:11 pm

gmat_perfect wrote:After decreasing steadily in the mid-1990's, the percentage of students in the United States finishing high school or having earned equivalency diplomas increased in the last three years of the decade, up to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and 84.8 percent in 1998.

(A) finishing high school or having earned equivalency diplomas increased in the last three years of the decade, up to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and
(B) finishing high school or earning equivalency diplomas, increasing in the last three years of the decade, rising to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and from
(C) having finished high school or earning an equivalency diploma increased in the last three years of the decade, and rose to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and from
(D) who either finished high school or they earned an equivalency diploma, increasing in the last three years of the decade, rose to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and
(E) who finished high school or earned equivalency diplomas increased in the last three years of the decade, to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and

How I have advanced:

students in the United States finishing=> Means that the United States is finishing.
=> So, A, B, and C are out.

D=> Either XX or YY is the correct idiom, where XX and YY MUST be parallel.

Either FINISHED or they is not correct.

So, D is out.

Answer is E.

Question:
Am I right in eliminating the options A, B, and C?

Thanks.

Well my take on the elimination of A, B and C is little different. We are talking about 1990's so the action is no more progressive. It is completed.

Now, the percentage of students in the United States.......is a noun phrase

First of all, "% of students finishing" or "students finishing" conveys the same meaning. It is some number of students who finished.

I do not see a meaning coming out that the united states finishing. In case of prepositional phrases, we consider legitimate noun that needs to be modified.

So the strong reason, in my opinion, to eliminate A, B and C is word "finishing" itself as it show continuous / progressive action, which is not intended, rather not logical here.

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sanabk: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 174; Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 3:41 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 6 times

by sanabk » Fri Jul 09, 2010 3:32 pm

My pick E
Rearranging the answer choice E.
--> increased in the last three years of the decade, from 85.9 percent in 1999 and 84.8 percent in 1998 to 86.5 percent in 2000

Other options got the following issues.
(A) finishing high school or having earned equivalency diplomas increased in the last three years of the decade, up to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and
(B) finishing high school or earning equivalency diplomas, increasing in the last three years of the decade, rising to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and from
(C) having finished high school or earning an equivalency diploma increased in the last three years of the decade, and rose to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and from
(D) who either finished high school or they earned an equivalency diploma, increasing in the last three years of the decade, rose to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and
(E) who finished high school or earned equivalency diplomas increased in the last three years of the decade, to 86.5 percent in 2000 from 85.9 percent in 1999 and

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apex231: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 127; Joined: Mon May 11, 2009 10:04 am; Thanked: 5 times

by apex231 » Fri Jul 09, 2010 10:07 pm

Yes, use of "up to" in option A is also suspect. Also, it contains "having earned" which makes it a less attractive option.

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