GMAT PREP 1--Currently 26 billion barrels a year

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prabsahi: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 53; Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2014 10:50 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 6 times

by prabsahi » Thu Oct 26, 2017 5:22 am

Currently 26 billion barrels a year, world consumption of oil is rising at a rate of 2 percent annually.
A. world consumption of oil is rising at a rate of
B. the world is consuming oil at an increasing rate of
C. the world's oil is being consumed at the increasing rate of
D. the rise in the rate of the world's oil consumption is
E. oil is consumed by the world at an increasing rate of

My take;
26 billion barrels per year(signifies rate..so should modify a change)
Please suggest if my thought process is right?
:I chose D initially
The rise seems to be correctly modified by 26 billion barrels per year

B. 26 billion dollars per year incorrectly modifies world
C.
1.modifier error as in A
2.the world's oil--we dont have mars oil or other cosmic oil
D:I chose D initially
The rise seems to be correctly modified by 26 billion barrels per year
E. same error as B

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Verbal Reasoning | Thu Oct 26, 2017 5:22 am

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ceilidh.erickson: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2095; Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pmFollowed by: 247 members; Thanked: 1443 times

by ceilidh.erickson » Tue Dec 12, 2017 2:57 pm

You're right that "26 billion barrels per year" is a rate - the current rate. We need something that effectively "Currently 26 bb/y, the rate of oil consumption..."

We can't use that opening modifier to modify "the rise," as a rise by definition is not something current.

If I typically eat 6 donuts a day, and I plan to increase that to 8 donuts a day, I could say:
Currently 6 donuts per day, my rate of donut consumption is already high.
or
At 33%, the proposed increase in my donut consumption is inadvisable and possibly catastrophic.

I cannot say:
Currently 6 donuts per day, the increase of 2 donuts per day will bring me to a total of 8.

Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education

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ceilidh.erickson: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2095; Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pmFollowed by: 247 members; Thanked: 1443 times

by ceilidh.erickson » Tue Dec 12, 2017 3:01 pm

Looking at each answer choice:

Currently 26 billion barrels a year, world consumption of oil is rising at a rate of 2 percent annually.

A. world consumption of oil is rising at a rate of
"consumption" is another way of saying "rate." This fits the modifier.

B. the world is consuming oil at an increasing rate of
Misplaced modifier: the rate shouldn't modify "the world."

C. the world's oil is being consumed at the increasing rate of
Misplaced modifier: the rate shouldn't modify "oil"

D. the rise in the rate of the world's oil consumption is
Misplaced modifier discussed above.

E. oil is consumed by the world at an increasing rate of
Same issue as in C.

The correct answer is A.

Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education

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oishik2910: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 11; Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2016 10:37 pm

by oishik2910 » Wed Dec 13, 2017 7:50 am

solving the question:A five second scan on answer
I see half of the first text underlined (a phrase ) therefore a modifier error
also option C : uses unnecessary Being(being is only right when placed after a comma or beginning of sentence) therefore eliminated
now
on reading the sentence I just use "what is " test : what is 26 billion per year : answer to this gives me OIL consumption rate or OIL .
scanning the answer
A. world consumption of oil is rising at a rate of
B. the world is consuming oil at an increasing rate of
C. the world's oil is being consumed at the increasing rate of
D. the rise in the rate of the world's oil consumption is
E. oil is consumed by the world at an increasing rate of

we can straight away eliminate : B and D (oil is not mentioned)
now
option C already eliminated : uses unnecessary Being(being is only right when placed after a comma or beginning of sentence)

Now between A and E there is Active vs passive issue: also A has no error so without wasting much time pondering E
GMAT prefers Active
so A is the answer

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Akrita@Jamboree: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 47; Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:08 pm

by Akrita@Jamboree » Tue Apr 17, 2018 4:44 am

prabsahi wrote:Currently 26 billion barrels a year, world consumption of oil is rising at a rate of 2 percent annually.
A. world consumption of oil is rising at a rate of
B. the world is consuming oil at an increasing rate of
C. the world's oil is being consumed at the increasing rate of
D. the rise in the rate of the world's oil consumption is
E. oil is consumed by the world at an increasing rate of

My take;
26 billion barrels per year(signifies rate..so should modify a change)
Please suggest if my thought process is right?
:I chose D initially
The rise seems to be correctly modified by 26 billion barrels per year

B. 26 billion dollars per year incorrectly modifies world
C.
1.modifier error as in A
2.the world's oil--we dont have mars oil or other cosmic oil
D:I chose D initially
The rise seems to be correctly modified by 26 billion barrels per year
E. same error as B

This is a question testing the correct subject that needs to be put after the descriptive phrase "currently 26 billion barrels a year". When the sentence begins with a descriptive phrase, the nearest noun must be something logically modified by the opening phrase. In other words, we need the noun that answers the question of "What is currently 26 billion barrels/year"? Only option A, with "world consumption of oil" as the subject, has the correct subject after the comma.

B - the world is not currently 26 billion barrels/year
C - the world's oil is not currently 26 billion barrels/year
D - the rise cannot be 26 billion barrels/year
E - same as C

Hope this helps.

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