Prescription medications

[zaarathelab]

According to a recent study of consumer spending on prescription medications, increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came from sales of the 9,850 prescription medicines that companies did not advertise or advertised
very little.

A. heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came

B. heavily were what accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year; the remainder of the increase coming

C. heavily accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of the increase coming

D. heavily, accounting for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, while the remainder of the increase came

E. heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, with the remainder of it coming

[spoiler]My take

A: s/v agreement error. increases 'account' for the increase and not 'accounts'
D: 'accounting' introduces a sentence fragment
E: 'which' and 'with' again introduce sentence fragments and need to be independent clauses

It's B vs C

What is wrong with B? Should 'coming' be replaced with 'came'?
In C, don't we need a semicolon after 'year'?[/spoiler]

[bubbliiiiiiii]

According to a recent study of consumer spending on prescription medications, increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came from sales of the 9,850 prescription medicines that companies did not advertise or advertised
very little.

A. heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came

B. heavily were what accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year; the remainder of the increase coming

C. heavily accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of the increase coming

D. heavily, accounting for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, while the remainder of the increase came

E. heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, with the remainder of it coming

IMO C
Source?

[zaarathelab]

Source GMATPrep

pls provide explanations

[bubbliiiiiiii]

A. Which here refers to last year and thus, changes the meaning of sentence. Ideally, which should refer to billion dollar increase.

B. were what accounted sounds awkward, illogical and is incorrect. The repetition of verb were distorts the sentence construction.

C. The error in A is eliminated here by replacing which with increase.

D. accounting, a present participle preceded by comma, modifies the subject of previous clause, which is drugs in this case. We have to modify the increase in revenue not the drugs.

E. Which does not have proper antecedent.

Hope it helps and please let me know other means by which options can be eliminated.

[GmatKiss]

IMO:C Parallel

[zaarathelab]

I got it.

B: We don't need a semicolon after last year because what follows it lacks a main verb and is not a n independent clause - Only independent clauses can be separated by a semi-colon

Hence C

[Nina1987]

Isn't C a run on sentence. I mean what kind of a modifier is 'the remainder of the increase coming'. Is the question correct and is it really from OG?

[GMATGuruNY]

Isn't C a run on sentence. I mean what kind of a modifier is 'the remainder of the increase coming'. Is the question correct and is it really from OG?

The SC above is SC52 in the OG16.
OA: Increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of the increase coming from sales of the 9,850 prescription medicines that companies did not advertise or advertised very little.
The modifier in blue is an absolute phrase.
An absolute phrase is composed of COMMA + NOUN + MODIFIERS.
Its purpose is to provide context for the preceding clause.
Here, the portion in blue explains UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending.
Conveyed meaning:
As increases in sales of the 50 most heavily advertised drugs accounted for half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending, the remainder of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending was coming from sales of drugs that were less heavily advertised.

[Nina1987]

Thanks NYGuru! I must confess though that I have very rarely seen the absolute phrase occurring at the end of a sentence and feels quite weird to my ear when it does so! I think it is more common for it to begin a sentence.

Is it a recent (a few decades old) addition to grammar books or has it been prevalent in formal language for centuries?

Thanks again

[Alchemist14]

Isn't C a run on sentence. I mean what kind of a modifier is 'the remainder of the increase coming'. Is the question correct and is it really from OG?

The SC above is SC52 in the OG16.
OA: Increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of the increase coming from sales of the 9,850 prescription medicines that companies did not advertise or advertised very little.
The modifier in blue is an absolute phrase.
An absolute phrase is composed of COMMA + NOUN + MODIFIERS.
Its purpose is to provide context for the preceding clause.
Here, the portion in blue explains UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending.
Conveyed meaning:
As increases in sales of the 50 most heavily advertised drugs accounted for half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending, the remainder of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending was coming from sales of drugs that were less heavily advertised.

Mitch,

I am not questioning the OA. But C uses the invalid 'preposition + Noun + ING' construction,right?

EG: I have evidence of my brother stealing the cookies. The sentence implies I have evidence of my brother (not of him stealing the cookies). In the same way 'reminder of increase coming' is just 'reminder of increase + Modifiers'

Could you please let me know where I am going wrong?

Thanks in advance.

[GMATGuruNY]

Mitch,

I am not questioning the OA. But C uses the invalid 'preposition + Noun + ING' construction,right?

EG: I have evidence of my brother stealing the cookies. The sentence implies I have evidence of my brother (not of him stealing the cookies). In the same way 'reminder of increase coming' is just 'reminder of increase + Modifiers'

Could you please let me know where I am going wrong?

Thanks in advance.

The two structures look the same but function differently.

I have evidence of my brother stealing the cookies.
Here, the VERBing modifier (stealing) refers to the object of of (my brother).
As a result, the following meaning is conveyed:
I have evidence of my BROTHER.
Which brother?
My brother stealing the cookies.
But the intended meaning is not that I have evidence of my brother but that I have evidence of the STEALING.
For this reason, the sentence above is invalid.

OA: the remainder of the increase coming from sales
Here, we know from context that the VERBing modifier (coming) refers NOT to the object of of but to the noun BEFORE of (the remainder).
Conveyed meaning:
The REMAINDER of the increase was COMING from sales.
This meaning is perfectly logical.

Note the following:
PREPOSITION + NOUN + VERBing can be a valid structure even if the VERBing refers to the object of the preposition.
An OA in GMATPrep:
With the cost plummeting, many people are now using their mobile phones.
Here, plummeting serves to modify the cost (object of the preposition with).

In some cases, PREPOSITION + NOUN + VERBing will yield an illogical meaning.
Eliminate an answer choice with this structure only if the intended meaning is not conveyed.

[richachampion]

The SC above is SC52 in the OG16.
OA: Increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of the increase coming from sales of the 9,850 prescription medicines that companies did not advertise or advertised very little.
The modifier in blue is an absolute phrase.
An absolute phrase is composed of COMMA + NOUN + MODIFIERS.

Sir, What I know about absolute phrases is this =

Absolute Modifiers are adverbial in nature =

They always modify the preceding clause unlike the appositives that can modify both noun and clause(in case of abstract noun modifier)
Their structure is Noun + Participial,

but I am unable to find the participial part here. Please guide me. Thanks!

[GMATGuruNY]

The SC above is SC52 in the OG16.
OA: Increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of the increase coming from sales of the 9,850 prescription medicines that companies did not advertise or advertised very little.
The modifier in blue is an absolute phrase.
An absolute phrase is composed of COMMA + NOUN + MODIFIERS.

Sir, What I know about absolute phrases is this =

Absolute Modifiers are adverbial in nature =

They always modify the preceding clause unlike the appositives that can modify both noun and clause(in case of abstract noun modifier)
Their structure is Noun + Participial,

but I am unable to find the participial part here. Please guide me. Thanks!

coming = participle.

Note that an absolute phrase does NOT have to include a participle.
The structure of an absolute phrase is as follows:
COMMA + NOUN + MODIFIER.
In many cases, the modifier will include a participle (VERBed or VERBing).
In some cases, no participle will be included.
SC100 in the OG12:
The stars are in motion, some of them at tremendous speeds.
Here, the absolute phrase in blue does not include a participle.

[richachampion]

Note that an absolute phrase does NOT have to include a participle.
The structure of an absolute phrase is as follows:
COMMA + NOUN + MODIFIER.
In many cases, the modifier will include a participle (VERBed or VERBing).
In some cases, no participle will be included.
SC100 in the OG12:
The stars are in motion, some of them at tremendous speeds.
Here, the absolute phrase in blue does not include a participle.

Thanks. Mr. Hunt, Your approach is very succinct and student friendly.
You teach something that the people can understand , remember, and implement in real exam.

This is a little bit confusing for me.
Then how to differentiate between an absolute phrase and an appositive. I think both follow the structure =

COMMA + NOUN + NOUN MODIFIER

[GMATGuruNY]

Note that an absolute phrase does NOT have to include a participle.
The structure of an absolute phrase is as follows:
COMMA + NOUN + MODIFIER.
In many cases, the modifier will include a participle (VERBed or VERBing).
In some cases, no participle will be included.
SC100 in the OG12:
The stars are in motion, some of them at tremendous speeds.
Here, the absolute phrase in blue does not include a participle.

Thanks. Mr. Hunt, Your approach is very succinct and student friendly.
You teach something that the people can understand , remember, and implement in real exam.

This is a little bit confusing for me.
Then how to differentiate between an absolute phrase and an appositive. I think both follow the structure =

COMMA + NOUN + NOUN MODIFIER

An appositive serves to explain or define the immediately PRECEDING NOUN OR NOUN PHRASE.
An absolute phrase serves to modify the PRECEDING SUBJECT AND VERB.
A helpful clue:
In an absolute phrase, the noun after the comma will generally be either PRECEDED BY A POSSESSIVE (its, their, his, her) or FOLLOWED BY of them.

From GMATPrep:
Europa has long been considered far too cold to support life, its 60 square miles of water thought to be frozen from top to bottom.
Here, the noun after the comma is preceded by a possessive (its).
It is clear from context that the phrase in blue serves not to define the immediately preceding noun (life) but to modify the preceding SUBJECT AND VERB, expressing why EUROPA HAS LONG BEEN CONSIDERED far too cold to support life.
Thus, the phrase in blue is not an appositive but an absolute phrase.

Also from GMATPrep:
An overwhelming proportion of women work, many of them in middle management.
Here, the noun after the comma is followed by of them.
It is clear from context that the phrase in blue serves to modify the preceding SUBJECT AND VERB, expressing where WOMEN WORK.
Thus, the phrase in blue is an absolute phrase.

SC42 in the OG12:
Scientists have recently discovered what could be the largest and oldest living organism on Earth, a giant fungus that is an interwoven filigree of mushrooms.
Here, the noun after the comma is NOT preceded by a possessive or followed by of them.
It is clear from context that the phrase in blue serves to modify not the preceding subject and verb but the immediately preceding NOUN PHRASE, explaining what could be the largest and oldest living organism on Earth.
Thus, the phrase in blue is an appositive.