In contrast to ongoing!!

[gmat_perfect]

In contrast to ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States trade deficit with Mexico declined by $500 million as a result of record exports to that country.

(A) In contrast to ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States trade deficit with Mexico declined by $500 million as a result of record exports to that country.
(B) In contrast to ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States sold record exports to Mexico, reducing its trade deficit by $500 million.
(C) When compared with ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States sold record exports to Mexico, reducing their trade deficit by $500 million.
(D) Compared with ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States sold record exports to Mexico, reducing the trade deficit by $500 million.
(E) Compared to ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States record exports to Mexico caused a $500 million decline in the trade deficit with that country.

OA: Later.

[vivek1110]

Only A seems to make the right comparison.

I'll go with A.

[andrey_tsi]

Only A seems to make the right comparison.

I'll go with A.

Yes, I agree. The only A make comparison between trade imbalances and trade deficit, the others compare imbalance with export

[The Jock]

I am with A also......

[Patrick_GMATFix]

At its core the right answer must correctly compare trade imbalances with China to trade deficit with Mexico. Only A does this. The others compare the trade imbalances to what the US did (B C D) or to US exports (E)

The OA is A. This is GMATPrep question 2084. If difficult parallelism questions give you a hard time, use the Drill Engine to generate timed drills and set topic='Parallelism, Comparison' and difficulty='600-700 & 700+'

-Patrick

[martin.jonson007]

At its core the right answer must correctly compare trade imbalances with China to trade deficit with Mexico. Only A does this. The others compare the trade imbalances to what the US did (B C D) or to US exports (E)

The OA is A. This is GMATPrep question 2084. If difficult parallelism questions give you a hard time, use the Drill Engine to generate timed drills and set topic='Parallelism, Comparison' and difficulty='600-700 & 700+'

-Patrick

PAtrick

wat's rong in E... ?

[RumpelThickSkin]

At its core the right answer must correctly compare trade imbalances with China to trade deficit with Mexico. Only A does this. The others compare the trade imbalances to what the US did (B C D) or to US exports (E)

The OA is A. This is GMATPrep question 2084. If difficult parallelism questions give you a hard time, use the Drill Engine to generate timed drills and set topic='Parallelism, Comparison' and difficulty='600-700 & 700+'

-Patrick

PAtrick

wat's rong in E... ?

Martin,

Don't over-think this question. It is a simple comparison question i.e. we can compare only like things. As mentioned by Patrick there is need to compare trade imbalances with X & Y with the trade deficits with Z. Only option A does that!

[Patrick_GMATFix]

PAtrick

wat's rong in E... ?

Hi Martin,

E states: Compared to trade imbalances..., the US record exports...

The intended meaning is lost; the comparison is not logical. The author wishes to compare "trade imbalances with China" to "trade deficit with Mexico"; not trade imbalances compared to exports.

Makes sense?
-Patrick

[Mylogin]

Isn't a possessive noun needed in this case?

United States' trade deficit with Mexico........

[Patrick_GMATFix]

Isn't a possessive noun needed in this case?

United States' trade deficit with Mexico........

A possessive construct would be correct but sometimes nouns are used as adjectives to describe other nouns. The GMAT sometimes finds this as appropriate as answer A (which is correct) illustrates. "The US trade deficit" or "The US army" are ok. We don't need to say "The US' trade deficit" or "The US' army" (though they would also be correct).