According to a recent study of consumer spending on prescription

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 - CORRECT
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

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Tenses + Grammatical Construction + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• The simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past.
• The simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.
• Semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses; commas are used to link an independent clause with a dependent one; comma cannot be used to join two independent clauses.

A: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun "increases" with the singular verb "accounts". Further, Option A incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "accounts" to refer to an action that concluded in the past; remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.

B: This answer incorrectly uses a semicolon to join the independent clause "increases in the sales of the 50 drugs...were what accounted for...last year" and the dependent clause "the remainder of the increase coming...very little"; remember, semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses; commas are used to link an independent clause with a dependent one; comma cannot be used to join two independent clauses. Further, Option B uses the passive voice construction "were what accounted for", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

C: Correct. This answer choice acts upon the independent subject noun "increases" with the active verb "accounted" to form a complete thought, leading to a complete sentence. Further, Option C correctly uses the simple past tense verb "accounted" to refer to an action that concluded in the past. Moreover, Option C avoids the subject-verb disagreement seen in Option A, as it uses the verb "accounted", which can refer to both plural and singular nouns. Additionally, Option C correctly uses a comma to join the independent clause "increases in the sales of the 50 drugs...accounted for...last year" and the dependent clause "the remainder of the increase coming...very little". Besides, Option C is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

D: This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence; as "accounting" is a present participle ("verb+ing") that acts as a modifier and "came" is part of a dependent clause, there is no active verb to act upon the subject noun "increases".

E: This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence; as "accounted" and "coming" are both parts of modifying phrases, there is no active verb to act upon the subject noun "increases".

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of punctuation on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~9 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

A is wrong with the tense "accounts".
The use of semicolon in B is wrong because it seperates the two related clauses.
D is wrong with the incorrect usage of comma and changing the main verb " account" into "accounting for"
E is wrong coz it makes the sentence lack of main verb.
I'm left with C.

By POE it must be C.

A. accounts- wrong verb tense
B. use of the semicolon distorts the overall meaning
D. comma after heavily makes the sentence illogical.
E. with the remainder of it coming is grammatically incorrect

E is wrong.Read the full sentence now with option E.
According to a recent study of consumer spending on prescription medications, increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, with the remainder of it coming from sales of the 9,850 prescription medicines that companies did not advertise or advertised very little.
The use of the word 'which' is not correct. which is redundant here . The presence of that makes it redundant.
Instead of '.....most heavily, which accounted for....', we could have used '.....most heavily that accounts for.........'.
Hope this helps.

Plz give me kudos, if u like it !!

in C , what type of modifier is the following modifer : 'the remainder of the increase coming...'


kindly help..

We will quickly dismiss B, D and E for being fragments, as there are no working verbs in some parts of these clauses. Incidentally, they are called fragments and not run-on sentences.

A. heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came ---- The singular ‘accounts for’ is wrong; the subject 'increases' is certainly plural; secondly the use of 'accounts for' is wrong tense; it should be in past tense to avoid the shift of tense

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

It may please be noted that if a modifier is a phrase, it will not have a working verb; hence it is not called a clause. All the adverbial modifiers, adjectival –ed- modifiers or appositives that are nouns or noun phrases will not each have a verb of their own; of course, if a modifier is a relative clause, it will have verb, but you see, it is a clause while others are phrases.

A. heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came - Incorrect - Subject Verb error
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 - Incorrect - Wrong usage of ';'
C. heavily accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of the increase coming - Correct
D. heavily, accounting for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, while the remainder of the increase came - Incorrect - Missing Verb error
E. heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, with the remainder of it coming - Incorrect - Missing Verb error

Answer: C

Hi E-gmat,

I have couple of questions:

1. Is the usage of 'the remainder of which correct in option 1. If yes. what does which refers to? And what kind of structure this is.
2. Is the usage of what accounted for correct in option 2 and does this modify the increases in sale
3. Is while an appropriate connector for the clause 'while the remainder... came in option d

Also, It would be helpful if you can throw some light on the right usage of What and It in the sentence. I have often noticed that majority of the times the usage of it without an antecedent and what in a sentence are incorrect. But, I am also coming across options where it is correct. Please help.

Hi Nishat,

Thanks for posting your query here.

1. Yes, there is no issue with the usage of remainder of which = half of the $20.8 billion. What we see after comma is a DC that connects with the preceding IC with a comma.
2. Grammatically, the usage of what accounted for is not incorrect. It surely is very wordy and indirect in conveying the intended meaning. What is not a modifier that it will modify anything. But yes, it does associate with increase in sales of the 50 drugs as this is the factor that accounts for whatever is mentioned in teh sentence.
3. Yes, usage of while as the connector in Choice D is correct as it has been used to show the the factor that contributed to the increase in sales of the 50 drugs. So while has been used to present simultaneous action.

The word what is an interrogative pronoun that must be used in questions.
Apart from referring to a particular noun or a pronoun, pronoun it is also used as a placeholder in a sentence. As a placeholder, it does not refer to any entity in the sentence. For example:

a. It was very windy last night.
b. It is impossible to finish the project in two days.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

.
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.
Lexicology:
increases in the sales -- increases is a plural noun
accounts for -- singular verb
$20.8 billion increase -- the increase is a singular noun.

A. heavily accounts for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of which came ---- increases, plural noun doesn't tally with the singular 'accounts for'
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 ---1 'were accounted for' is an avoidable passive voice 2. The second part after the semi-colon is fragment.
C. heavily accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, the remainder of the increase coming--- correct choice with no fragmentation and SV error.
D. heavily, accounting for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, while the remainder of the increase came --- This choice is a blatant fragment with no verb for the noun 'increases'
E. heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, with the remainder of it coming -- This is also a blatant fragment.
A small hint; if you are thorough with the principles of fragmentation, you could easily remove B, D, and E and make it easy for you. Next, if you are aware of the basic SV number agreement, then A will be easily gone, leaving only C as the plausibly correct choice.

I was able to solve the question but still confused
about this part of the answer ", the remainder of the increase coming"
The reason i chose C because the accounts error only.
Can somebody explain ?

The part you metioned is an absolute phrase. An absolute phrase consists of a head noun/noun phrase ( "the remainder of the increase" ) and a modifier of the head noun/noun phrase ( "coming from...."). An absolute phrase modifies the main clause as a whole.

[Please read a good GMAT SC guide (e.g. Manhattan) for further details on absolute phrases.]

Hi Ma'am,

You have stated that the option D can be eliminated due to the non availability of main verb.
Can you please explain why advertised cannot be treated as the main verb for the subject increases ?

Thanks

Hi Hareesh, main verb is the verb of an Independent clause.

advertised is actually used as a Past Participle here (and not as a Verb). were is the verb in the clause that were advertised most heavily.

However, this clause is a Dependent clause and hence, were is not the main verb here.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses types of clauses (Independent/Dependent), their application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

Hello Everyone!

Let's take a closer look at this question, and figure out the best way to find the right answer - and quickly! Before we dive in, here is the original question, with the major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

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

After a quick glance over the options, there are 2 major differences we can focus on:

1. How they begin: wording of the verb "account"
2. How they end: punctuation/modifiers/pronouns/conjunctions

Let's take a look at #1 on our list, and see if we can find any problematic options to rule out.We have 3 options (A/B/C) that use different verb tenses, while the other 2 options (D/E) were rewritten to create modifiers. This means we have 2 things to focus on here:

1. Proper verb tense
2. Proper use of modifiers

Here is how each option breaks down. To help you see any potential problems, we've added the rest of the clause that's not underlined.

(A) ...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

This is INCORRECT because it uses the wrong verb tense! The subject it's referring to is "increases," which is plural, yet the verb here is "accounts," which is singular!

(B) ...increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily were what accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year; the remainder of the increase coming

This is INCORRECT because it's over wordy! It's not necessary to say "were what accounted for" when simply saying "accounted for" would do. Remember - the GMAT prefers concise language whenever possible!

(C) ...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

This is CORRECT! It's concise, and it uses past tense to properly indicate the timing of an action that happened last year.

(D) ...increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily, accounting for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, while the remainder of the increase came

This is INCORRECT because there is no main verb in the sentence, making it one very long fragment! By changing "accounted for" to "accounting for," we've changed the verb into a modifier. This means we no longer have a verb to go with the subject, "increases."

(E) ...increases in the sales of the 50 drugs that were advertised most heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $20.8 billion increase in drug spending last year, with the remainder of it coming

This is also INCORRECT because there is no main verb in the sentence! By changing "accounted for" to "which accounted for," we've changed the verb to a modifier. This means we no longer have a verb to go with the subject, "increases."

There you have it! Option C is the only one that uses the proper verb tense without creating an accidental sentence fragment!

**************

If you're wondering what would happen if we focused on #2 instead, here is how things would break down:

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

The main problem with this is the phrase "the remainder of which." It's not 100% clear what this is referring back to: the remainder of the drugs, the sales of drugs, or increase in drug spending? If it's not 100% clear, then it's likely an INCORRECT option.

(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

While the phrase itself is okay, the punctuation is not. This is INCORRECT because the semicolon isn't necessary. Only use semicolons to separate two independent clauses - this is separating an independent clause from a dependent clause. Since the clause after the semicolon can't stand alone, you cannot use a semicolon here.

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

This is CORRECT! The modifier is referring back to what's closest to it, which is the increase of drug spending last year. This makes sense, and it's punctuated properly, so it's all good!

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

This is OKAY for now because it's clear what the phrase is referring back to, and it's punctuated properly.
(However, we would later rule out option D because it's missing a verb, making it a sentence fragment.)

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

This is INCORRECT because the singular pronoun "it" doesn't agree in number with its plural antecedent "increases."

Option C is still the correct choice, though it may take you a little bit longer to come to that conclusion!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.

I read all of the explanations provided, but still haven't understood why (C) is the right answer.
GMATNinja GMATNinjaTwo and EMPOWERgmatVerbal
can you please explain?

If I incorporate option choice (C) we get:
According to a recent study of consumer spending on prescription medications, 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.

If the phrase starting with “the remainder of the increase coming...” is a new sentence - dont we need a verb?
if it doesnt, how can it modifies a subject ("the remainder of the increase") that has been mentioned for the first time in the sentence?