## By integrating its two pharmaceuticals divisions, the firm

##### This topic has expert replies
Moderator
Posts: 772
Joined: 30 Aug 2017
Followed by:6 members

### By integrating its two pharmaceuticals divisions, the firm

by BTGmoderatorRO » Sun Mar 18, 2018 2:11 am
By integrating its two pharmaceuticals divisions, the firm will increase their share of the nation's $135 billion healthcare market from 5 percent to 9 percent, a market ranging from over-the-counter drugs to hi-tech medical equipment. A) their share of the nation's$135 billion health care market from 5 percent to 9 percent , a market ranging
B) from 5 percent to 9 percent its share of $135 billion health care market in the nation , which ranges C) to 9 percent from 5 percent in their share of the$135 billion health care market in the nation, a market ranging
D) in its share , from 5 percent to 9 percent, of the $135 billion health care market in the nation , which ranges E) to 9 percent from 5 percent its share of the nation's$135 billion health care market, which ranges
OA is e

What is the best approach to use here? which option is fit to be the accurate one?
Thanks in anticipation as you attend to my request. You are highly appreciated

### GMAT/MBA Expert

Legendary Member
Posts: 503
Joined: 20 Jul 2017
Thanked: 86 times
Followed by:14 members
GMAT Score:770
by ErikaPrepScholar » Sat Mar 31, 2018 2:29 pm
First, the noun "firm" is singular, as indicated by the pronoun "its" earlier in the sentence. So we can rule out A and C for using "their".

By integrating its two pharmaceuticals divisions, the firm will increase their share of the nation's $135 billion healthcare market from 5 percent to 9 percent, a market ranging from over-the-counter drugs to hi-tech medical equipment. Then we should notice that the word preceding ", which" changes between the answer choices. On the GMAT, "which" refers to the noun that immediately precedes it. So in B and D, this is "nation", while in E, this is "market". We want the market, not the nation, to range from over-the-counter drugs to hi-tech medical equipment. So we can pick E. We can also rule out D for the nonsensical phrase "increase in its share" and B for the lack of the word "the" before "$135 billion health care market".

Erika John - Content Manager/Lead Instructor
https://gmat.prepscholar.com/gmat/s/

Get tutoring from me or another PrepScholar GMAT expert: https://gmat.prepscholar.com/gmat/s/tutoring/

Learn about our exclusive savings for BTG members (up to 25% off) and our 5 day free trial

Check out our PrepScholar GMAT YouTube channel, and read our expert guides on the PrepScholar GMAT blog

### GMAT/MBA Expert

GMAT Instructor
Posts: 272
Joined: 09 Nov 2016
Location: Lahore, Pakistan
Thanked: 87 times
Followed by:203 members
by Ali Tariq » Thu Apr 05, 2018 2:27 am
BTGmoderatorRO wrote:By integrating its two pharmaceuticals divisions, the firm will increase their share of the nation's $135 billion healthcare market from 5 percent to 9 percent, a market ranging from over-the-counter drugs to hi-tech medical equipment. A) their share of the nation's$135 billion health care market from 5 percent to 9 percent , a market ranging
B) from 5 percent to 9 percent its share of $135 billion health care market in the nation , which ranges C) to 9 percent from 5 percent in their share of the$135 billion health care market in the nation, a market ranging
D) in its share , from 5 percent to 9 percent, of the $135 billion health care market in the nation , which ranges E) to 9 percent from 5 percent its share of the nation's$135 billion health care market, which ranges
OA is e

What is the best approach to use here? which option is fit to be the accurate one?
Thanks in anticipation as you attend to my request. You are highly appreciated
Hello BTGmoderatorRO,

What's the source of this SC?
Where did you get it from?
It is mimicked after the following official SC:
By merging its two publishing divisions, the company will increase their share of the country's $21 billion book market from 6 percent to 10 percent, a market ranging from obscure textbooks to mass-market paperbacks. A. their share of the country's$21 billion book market from 6 percent to 10 percent, a market ranging
B. from 6 percent to 10 percent its share of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges C. to 10 percent from 6 percent in their share of the$21 billion book market in the country, a market ranging
D. in its share, from 6 percent to 10 percent, of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges E. to 10 percent from 6 percent its share of the country's$21 billion book market, which ranges
OA: E
Plagiarism in the world of GMAT is getting uglier; It is the responsibility of all of us to discourage this menace.
_________________
www.GMAT.pk

Contact for drastic improvement in just a few days.

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 47
Joined: 22 Mar 2018
by [email protected] » Thu Apr 05, 2018 4:51 am
BTGmoderatorRO wrote:By integrating its two pharmaceuticals divisions, the firm will increase their share of the nation's $135 billion healthcare market from 5 percent to 9 percent, a market ranging from over-the-counter drugs to hi-tech medical equipment. A) their share of the nation's$135 billion health care market from 5 percent to 9 percent , a market ranging
B) from 5 percent to 9 percent its share of $135 billion health care market in the nation , which ranges C) to 9 percent from 5 percent in their share of the$135 billion health care market in the nation, a market ranging
D) in its share , from 5 percent to 9 percent, of the $135 billion health care market in the nation , which ranges E) to 9 percent from 5 percent its share of the nation's$135 billion health care market, which ranges
OA is e

What is the best approach to use here? which option is fit to be the accurate one?
Thanks in anticipation as you attend to my request. You are highly appreciated
This is a question testing the concepts of 'Singular/Plural' and Pronouns'. The main subject - 'the firm' - is singular, so the plural pronoun 'their' is incorrect. Eliminate A and C

On the GMAT, 'which' should always work - logically and grammatically - with the noun before the comma. On the GMAT, when we want to refer to a phrase, or a bunch of words, earlier in the sentence, in most cases, a simple pronoun or a relative modifier such as 'that', 'which', 'where', 'whose' etc. generally doesn't suffice. Such pronouns or relative modifiers should generally refer to the immediately preceding noun. At least, whenever there is a split among the options in terms of a modifying/descriptory phrase in such a way that a few modifying phrases begin with a generic noun, either singular or plural - for example, 'a situation', 'a phenomenon', 'an event', 'a principle', 'findings', etc. - and the others begin with a pronoun, and we want to refer to some noun (or phrase) not immediately before the comma, our initial scanning should be restricted to the options that begin with a noun. This is explained in more detail here.

This eliminates B and D, since the noun before 'which' is 'nation', and the 'nation' doesn't really range from anything.

Hence, A is the correct answer.

• Page 1 of 1