In 1997, despite an economy that marked its sixth full year of uninterrupted expansion with the lowest jobless rate in a quarter century, the number of United States citizens declaring themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, at 1.34 million.
A. declaring themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, at
B. declaring themselves bankrupt jumped by almost 20 percent, to
C. who declared themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, to
D. who declared themselves bankrupt jumped almost by 20percent, at
E. to declare themselves bankrupt jumped almost by 20 percent, at
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- force5
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IMO B is correctIn 1997, despite an economy that marked its sixth full year of uninterrupted expansion with the lowest jobless rate in a quarter century, the number of United States citizens declaring themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, at 1.34 million.
A. declaring themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, at
B. declaring themselves bankrupt jumped by almost 20 percent, to
C. who declared themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, to
D. who declared themselves bankrupt jumped almost by 20percent, at
E. to declare themselves bankrupt jumped almost by 20 percent, at
A) at 1.34 million is incorrect
B) to is correct and simple past tense is needed.
C) has jumped is incorrect since past event.
D) at 1.34 million is incorrect
E) at 1.34 million is incorrect
- lavinia
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Thanks Force5. Indeed the correct answer is B, but for example I don't know that I need a "to" instead of "at".
Why D is incorrect?
Why D is incorrect?
force5 wrote:IMO B is correctIn 1997, despite an economy that marked its sixth full year of uninterrupted expansion with the lowest jobless rate in a quarter century, the number of United States citizens declaring themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, at 1.34 million.
A. declaring themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, at
B. declaring themselves bankrupt jumped by almost 20 percent, to
C. who declared themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, to
D. who declared themselves bankrupt jumped almost by 20percent, at
E. to declare themselves bankrupt jumped almost by 20 percent, at
A) at 1.34 million is incorrect
B) to is correct and simple past tense is needed.
C) has jumped is incorrect since past event.
D) at 1.34 million is incorrect
E) at 1.34 million is incorrect
- force5
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percentage jumps from x ( some number) to Y (some number)
also D is saying that the united states citizens who declared.... jumped ( because of who we are talking about the citizens here) where as we need to talk about the number .... since its increasing... (B) tells us that the number jumped....
hope that helps
also D is saying that the united states citizens who declared.... jumped ( because of who we are talking about the citizens here) where as we need to talk about the number .... since its increasing... (B) tells us that the number jumped....
hope that helps
- lavinia
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It makes sense. Thanks!
force5 wrote:percentage jumps from x ( some number) to Y (some number)
also D is saying that the united states citizens who declared.... jumped ( because of who we are talking about the citizens here) where as we need to talk about the number .... since its increasing... (B) tells us that the number jumped....
hope that helps
- EducationAisle
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There is another important aspect about sentences such as these. Notice that the original sentence says: jumped by almost 20 percent. D and E change it to jumped almost by 20 percent. This is totally unwarranted change and introduces an ambiguity in the sentence, since the phrase could mean:
1. jumped by almost 20 percent (almost modifying 20 percent, the intended meaning) or
2. almost jumped by 20 percent (almost modifying jumped, making the sentence non-sensical)
Hence, D and E are not correct.
1. jumped by almost 20 percent (almost modifying 20 percent, the intended meaning) or
2. almost jumped by 20 percent (almost modifying jumped, making the sentence non-sensical)
Hence, D and E are not correct.
Ashish
MBA - ISB, GMAT - 99th Percentile
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- gmat_perfect
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A tip:lavinia wrote:In 1997, despite an economy that marked its sixth full year of uninterrupted expansion with the lowest jobless rate in a quarter century, the number of United States citizens declaring themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, at 1.34 million.
A. declaring themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, at
B. declaring themselves bankrupt jumped by almost 20 percent, to
C. who declared themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, to
D. who declared themselves bankrupt jumped almost by 20percent, at
E. to declare themselves bankrupt jumped almost by 20 percent, at
1. When we see "In + year", we use past simple tense.
--> This eliminates A and C.
2. Almost by 20% Vs By almost 20%:
Almost 20% means nearly 20% or about 20%.
Almost by 20%---> it is not correct because Almost modifies by.
So, Almost 20% is correct.
This eliminates D and E.
Answer is B.
- lavinia
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Thanks EducationAisle & Gmat Perfect!
The usage of the adverb "almost" is very tricky. Do you know other adverbs that GMAT can use with numbers or percentage?
The usage of the adverb "almost" is very tricky. Do you know other adverbs that GMAT can use with numbers or percentage?
gmat_perfect wrote:A tip:lavinia wrote:In 1997, despite an economy that marked its sixth full year of uninterrupted expansion with the lowest jobless rate in a quarter century, the number of United States citizens declaring themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, at 1.34 million.
A. declaring themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, at
B. declaring themselves bankrupt jumped by almost 20 percent, to
C. who declared themselves bankrupt has jumped by almost 20 percent, to
D. who declared themselves bankrupt jumped almost by 20percent, at
E. to declare themselves bankrupt jumped almost by 20 percent, at
1. When we see "In + year", we use past simple tense.
--> This eliminates A and C.
2. Almost by 20% Vs By almost 20%:
Almost 20% means nearly 20% or about 20%.
Almost by 20%---> it is not correct because Almost modifies by.
So, Almost 20% is correct.
This eliminates D and E.
Answer is B.