A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, 20 percent

In the original sentence, we have some faulty modification. The phrase "A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing" should be modifying 'university press books.' This same error occurs in answer choices (C) and (D). Just like that we can get rid of (A), (C) and (D).

WIth (E) the 'Since 1950' and 'from then on' are redundant. Since already means 'from then on.'

Therefore, (B) is the answer.
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A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, 20 percent of all the National and American Book awards since 1950 have gone to university-press books.

(A) A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, 20 percent of all the National and American Book awards since 1950 have gone to university-press books.
Incorrect: "A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing" is modifying "university-press books," so "university-press books" should come directly after the comma

(B) A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, university-press books have won 20 percent of all the National and American Book awards since 1950.
Correct: "university-press books comes after the clause that modifies it. Also "have won" is the correct tense to use since it is talking about an event "since 1950" (not sure if this is necessary, but I thought I'd throw that out there)

(C) Increasingly influential as a large sector of publishing, 20 percent of all the National and American Book awards since 1950 have gone to university-press books.
Incorrect: Same problem as in choice A.

(D) Since 1950, a large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, 20 percent of all the National and American Book awards have gone to university-press books.
Incorrect: Award phrasing

(E) Since 1950, university-press books, a large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, won 20 percent of all the National and American Book awards from then on.
Incorrect: Seems like awkward phrasing. Also, i'm not 100% sure, but is the tense on the verb "won" incorrect? Should it be "have won" or does it not matter?

I remember reading somewhere, may be not true, that when you use a time frame until and unless there are no two even describes in the statement, it is preferred to use simple past... Is that true. Because of this, since and thereon was an oversight and I selected E. Please confirm.

@Puneet-

I read 300 books since December 2011. - Am I done reading books?
I have read 300 books since December 2011. - No. "since December 2011" signifies that I am still reading.

since last 3 days, I lived in hut. - So I dont live in hut anymore!
Since last 3 days, I have been living in hut. - Not really. "since last 3 days" means that I am still living in hut.

Hence (E) is incorrect from tense perspective. Of course let's not to discount the redundancy issue.

Reading the sentence and then the options, it looks closer to a 700 level question.

A - Pretty straightforward. "...of publishing 20 percent of all..." Too awkward. Just doesn't make sense.
B - "A large and..." correctly works as a modifier to modify uni press books.
C - Incorrect modifier
D - Incorrect modifier
E - Subject-Verb error, redundant.

Let me know if this helps.

A,C, and D are having modifier issue.
And in E tense issue : It should be in present perfect tense since the sentence is true, even in the present time.

My take on this -

A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing 20 percent of all the National and American Book awards since 1950 have gone to university-press books.

(A) A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing 20 percent of all the National and American Book awards since 1950 have gone to university-press books.
- Misplaced modifier. Read RED.
(B) A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, university-press books have won 20 percent of all the National and American Book award since 1950.
- CORRECTLY MODIFIED. Read RED.
(C) Increasingly influential as a large sector of publishing, 20 percent of all the National and American Book award since 1950 have gone to university press book.
- Misplaced modifier. Read RED.
(D) Since 1950, a large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, 20 percent of all the National and American Book award have gone to university-press book.
- - Misplaced modifier. Read RED.
(E) Since 1950, university-press book, a large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, won 20 percent of all the National and American Book award from then on.
- RED is redundant.

[quote="alokkumargupta"]My take on this -

A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing 20 percent of all the National and American Book awards since 1950 have gone to university-press books.

(A) A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing 20 percent of all the National and American Book awards since 1950 have gone to university-press books.
- Misplaced modifier. Read RED.
(B) A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, university-press books have won 20 percent of all the National and American Book award since 1950.
- CORRECTLY MODIFIED. Read RED.
(C) Increasingly influential as a large sector of publishing, 20 percent of all the National and American Book award since 1950 have gone to university press book.
- Misplaced modifier. Read RED.
(D) Since 1950, a large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, 20 percent of all the National and American Book award have gone to university-press book.
- - Misplaced modifier. Read RED.
(E) Since 1950, university-press book, a large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, won 20 percent of all the National and American Book award from then on.
- RED is redundant.[/quote
Am i right that the only problem in E is the red part? Otherwise E is correct?

Thank you for your question.

The main difference between answers is where they place the modifying phrase "a large and increasingly influential sector of publishing." It is supposed to modify "university-press books," but in many of the answers, it's not. So let's figure out which answers place the modifier phrase next to what it's supposed to modify (aka the antecedent):

(A) A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing 20 percent of all the National and American Book awards since 1950 have gone to university-press books.

Antecedent: 20 percent of all the National and American Book awards (WRONG)
This is also INCORRECT because there should be a comma after "publishing."

(B) A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, university-press books have won 20 percent of all the National and American Book award since 1950.

Antecedent: university-press books (CORRECT)
This is the CORRECT answer because the modifier is in the correct place and it uses the proper plural format "university-press books."

(C) Increasingly influential as a large sector of publishing, 20 percent of all the National and American Book award since 1950 have gone to university press book.

Antecedent: 20 percent of all the National and American book award (WRONG)
This is also INCORRECT because it says award instead of awards.

(D) Since 1950, a large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, 20 percent of all the National and American Book award have gone to university-press book.

Antecedent: 1950 (WRONG)
This sentence is also INCORRECT because it uses the singular "university-press book" instead of "university-press books."

(E) Since 1950, university-press book, a large and increasingly influential sector of publishing, won 20 percent of all the National and American Book award from then on.

Antecedent: university-press book (CORRECT)
While this answer does place the modifier in the right place, it is INCORRECT because it uses the singular phrases "university-press book" and "National and American book award" instead of their plural counterparts. The sentence is talking about many books and 2 awards, so they both need to be plural.

After looking at the placement of the modifying phrase and making sure it uses plural phrases properly, B is clearly the correct answer.
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Although Option B has correct modifier placement, the "university-press books" is "a sector" (singular) so shouldn't it be followed by the verb "has" rather than "have"?

GMATNinja Please advice.

"A large and increasingly influential sector of publishing," is a modifier describing the subject "university-press books." Because the subject, "books," is plural, we need a plural verb too.

Put another way, it doesn't matter if the modifier contains a singular noun. It's always the subject that dictates the verb.

I hope that clears things up!
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