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Tricky Sentence Correction!

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Tricky Sentence Correction!

by dhonu121 » Sun May 20, 2012 5:22 am
The increase in unemployment rates, coupled with significantly increased retail prices as well as energy costs, are forcing many homeowners to look into alternative sources of fuel in order to save money on winter heating.


1)unemployment rates, coupled with significantly increased retail prices as well as energy costs, are


2)rates of unemployment, coupled with significant increases in retail prices and energy costs, have been


3)unemployment rates, coupled with significant increases in both retail prices and energy costs, is


4)unemployment rates, coupled with significantly increased retail prices as well as energy costs, is


5)rates of unemployment, coupled with significant increases in both retail as well as energy costs, had been

I am stuck between 3 and 4.
OA:3
I am not convinced that answer should be 3. I feel that it should be 4, since 3 alters the meaning of the sentence.
coupled with significant increases in both retail prices and energy costs is in present tense whereas
coupled with significantly increased retail prices as well as energy costs is clearly in past tense.
I most of the forums where i saw the explanation, people did not have any clear definite reason to choose 3. The reason they sighted were just abstract.
Can somebody please explain why 4 is wrong here, even though it maintains the right meaning as that of the original sentence.
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by eagleeye » Sun May 20, 2012 6:52 am
Hi dhonu121:

Since the confusion is between 3) and 4), I will only concentrate on these two.

First off the question stem is testing parallelism. The increase in X coupled with .... Increase in Y is the correct parallel idiom.
There are two problems with choosin 4) as the "best" choice
a. It is not parallel. Now, as you have done, we could disregard it sometimes but we do have a better answer in 3)
b. It is awkward with a semi-dangling modifier. "significantly" increased retail prices as well as energy costs. It is not not clear whether the adverb "significantly" modifies energy costs also, which makes for an awkward construction. 3) fixes this with the use of "both"

This is why 4) is not the best answer. This should clear up the reasons for choosing 3) as the best answer.

Now, since you raised the question, I would like to talk about the meaning change, if any.

. Look at the following two phrases
i. The increased prices
ii. The increase in the prices

Both are in the simple past tense.

In our example , the two phrases discussed require a main clause to set up the tense. By themselves, the DO NOT tell us the tense. It is decided by the main clause.

Now let me use the phrases above in sentences.

A. The increased prices led to a war. Simple past
B. The increase in prices lead to a war. Simple past
C. The increased prices lead to wars. Simple present
D. The increase in prices leads to wars. Simple present

As you can see above, phrases by themselves do not tell us the tense.

Let me know if this helps :)
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by dhonu121 » Sun May 20, 2012 7:23 am
eagleeye wrote:Hi dhonu121:

Since the confusion is between 3) and 4), I will only concentrate on these two.

First off the question stem is testing parallelism. The increase in X coupled with .... Increase in Y is the correct parallel idiom.
There are two problems with choosin 4) as the "best" choice
a. It is not parallel. Now, as you have done, we could disregard it sometimes but we do have a better answer in 3)
b. It is awkward with a semi-dangling modifier. "significantly" increased retail prices as well as energy costs. It is not not clear whether the adverb "significantly" modifies energy costs also, which makes for an awkward construction. 3) fixes this with the use of "both"

This is why 4) is not the best answer. This should clear up the reasons for choosing 3) as the best answer.

Now, since you raised the question, I would like to talk about the meaning change, if any.

. Look at the following two phrases
i. The increased prices
ii. The increase in the prices

Both are in the simple past tense.

In our example , the two phrases discussed require a main clause to set up the tense. By themselves, the DO NOT tell us the tense. It is decided by the main clause.

Now let me use the phrases above in sentences.

A. The increased prices led to a war. Simple past
B. The increase in prices lead to a war. Simple past
C. The increased prices lead to wars. Simple present
D. The increase in prices leads to wars. Simple present

As you can see above, phrases by themselves do not tell us the tense.

Let me know if this helps :)
Thanks mate for taking out time to write such a long post..
However, I have a few reservations regarding your explanation.
Are you saying that
A. The increased prices led to a war. and

B. The increase in prices lead to a war.
convey the same meaning ?
No, rite ?
On similar reasoning the two usages in 3 and 4 do NOT convey same meaning and 3 conveys meaning different from that conveyed by the sentence originally.
However, I do agree that parallelism in 4 is not as good as it is in 3 and that is the reason y 3 is correct.

Thoughts ?
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