Because of wireless service costs plummeting in the last year, and as

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that because the cost of wireless service has plummeted in the last year and mobile phones are increasingly common, many people are now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Grammatical Construction + Parallelism

• Any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel.
• Information that is vital to the core meaning of the sentence cannot be placed between commas.

A: This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence; as "plummeting", "are...common", and "provide" are all parts of modifying phrases, and "using" is a present participle ("verb+ing") acting as a modifier, there is no active verb to act upon the subject "people". Further, Option A fails to maintain parallelism between "Because of wireless service costs plummeting in the last year" and "as mobile phones are increasingly common"; remember any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel. Additionally, Option A incorrectly places information vital to the core meaning of the sentence - the fact that mobile phones are becoming increasingly common - between commas; remember, information that is vital to the core meaning of the sentence cannot be placed between commas.

B: Trap. This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence; as "plummeted", "became common", and "provide" are all parts of modifying phrases, and "using" is a present participle ("verb+ing") acting as a modifier, there is no active verb to act upon the subject "people".

C: This answer choice fails to fails to maintain parallelism between "with the cost of wireless service plummeting" and "mobile phones have become increasingly common"; remember any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel. Further, Option C incorrectly places information vital to the core meaning of the sentence - the fact that the cost of wireless service is plummeting and mobile phones are becoming increasingly common - between commas; remember, information that is vital to the core meaning of the sentence cannot be placed between commas. Additionally, Option C uses the passive voice construction "there are many people", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D: Correct. This answer choice correctly acts upon the independent noun "people" with the active verb "are...using" to form a complete thought, leading to a complete sentence. Further, Option D uses the phrase "With the cost of wireless service...common", conveying the intended meaning - that because the cost of wireless service has plummeted in the last year and mobile phones are increasingly common, many people are now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends. Additionally, Option D correctly maintains parallelism between "the cost of wireless service plummeting in the last year" and "mobile phones becoming increasingly common". Moreover, Option D avoids the grammatical construction error seen in Option A and C, as it places no information between commas. Besides, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

E: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "While the cost of wireless service...common"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that although the cost of wireless service has plummeted in the last year and mobile phones are increasingly common, many people are now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends; the intended meaning is that because the cost of wireless service has plummeted in the last year and mobile phones are increasingly common, many people are now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Extra Information Between Commas" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

CONTENTION IS BETWEEN D AND E:

D. With the cost of wireless service plummeting in the last year and mobile phones becoming increasingly common, many people are..

WITH (THE COST OF WS PLUMETTING IN THE LAST YEAR AND
MOBILE PHONE BECOMING INCREASINGLY COMMON)
CREATES THE CONDITIONS

MANY PEOPLE ARE....
STATES THE CONSEQUENCE

E. While the cost of wireless service has plummeted in the last year and mobile phones are increasingly common, many people are
WHILE X HAS PLUMMETED AND
Y ARE INCREASINGLY BECOMING COMMON (VERB IS MISSING ANYWAY)

STATES A SET OF FACTS

MANY PEOPLE ARE,
STATES ANOTHER FACT

IN E THE 2 FACTS SEEM TO BE CASUALLY CONNECTED WHEN ACTUALLY "MANY PEOPLE ARE.." IS MEANT TO BE A CONSEQUENCE OF THE FIRST 2 CONDITIONS AS PUT FORTH CORRECTLY IN D

I found this discussion here
https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/pos ... tml#p26901
Ron says that E cannot be the answer choice, to which I agree. I'd say that you can take D as OA

(A) - Incorrect (we need "are")
(B) - Incorrect (we need "are")
(C) - Incorrect use of modifiers.
(D) - Correct
(E) - We do not need a contrast

My 2 cents:

A – Because of X and Y, many people now using.... Missing an ‘are’ there. There is also missing parallelism between X and Y. Eliminate
B – Many people ARE now using.... same issue with the ‘are’ as above. There is also a tense violation here – As...plummeted....became....now using... Eliminate
C – In the last year.... there are many people now using = tense violation. It was either last year, or now. It can’t be both.
D – Correct
E – While implies that there is an opposite event that is occurring simulatniously. This is never articulated.

If I’m to be honest, E was mostly eliminated because it sounds bad to my ear. I’d love an experts opinion on E.

B.

Always check the off-phrase after the underlined portion. Here it is clear that we need are. So A,B,C, are out right off the bat. Between D and E, while is not correctly used here. While used to expreess a time when something happened. This refers to a current context. D is better. With the cost of wireless etc...and also mantains a nice //ism

Answer is (D). I can sleep nice now

BECAUSE OF WIRELESS SERVICE COSTS…GMATPREP


Because of wireless service costs plummeting in the last year, and as mobile phones are increasingly common, many people now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends, when numerous wireless companies provide unlimited airtime for a relatively small monthly fee.
A. Because of wireless service costs plummeting in the last year, and as mobile phones are increasingly common, many people
B. As the cost of wireless service plummeted in the last year and as mobile phones became increasingly common, many people
C. In the last year, with the cost of wireless service plummeting, and mobile phones have become increasingly common, there are many people
D. With the cost of wireless service plummeting in the last year and mobile phones becoming increasingly common, many people are
E. While the cost of wireless service has plummeted in the last year and mobile phones are increasingly common, many people are
WHAT DOES THIS QUESTION TEST?

This question tests your understanding of parallelism. It also tests your skill in identifying all SV pairs in the sentence. Additionally, it tests your ability to select the choice that communicates the intended meaning without any change or distortion.
WHAT DOES THIS SENTENCE MEAN?

This sentence presents a cause and effect sequence. The stated effect is – many people are now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends. During nights and weekends, the wireless companies provide unlimited airtime at a low price. This effect has happened because of the following two reasons:
Wireless service costs have plummeted in the last year
Mobile phones have become very common
WHAT ARE THE ERRORS IN THE ORIGINAL SENTENCE?

The sentence has following structure:
Clause 1: Because of wireless service costs plummeting in the last year, and as mobile phones are increasingly common,
Clause 2: many people now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends,
Clause 3: when numerous wireless companies provide unlimited airtime for a relatively small monthly fee.
This sentence has 2 errors:
Fragment Error: Clause 1 has no verb for the subject – people. Note that verb-ing not used with is/are/was/were/am does not act as the verb of the sentence.
Parallelism Error: As discussed in meaning analysis, the two causes for the stated effect should be parallel. In this case, first cause is a phrase while second cause is a clause. Thus, this list is not parallel.
ANSWER CHOICE ANALYSIS:

Choice A: Because of wireless service costs plummeting in the last year, and as mobile phones are increasingly common, many people now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends, when numerous wireless companies provide unlimited airtime for a relatively small monthly fee.
This choice has fragment and parallelism errors.
Choice B: As the cost of wireless service plummeted in the last year and as mobile phones became increasingly common, many people now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends, when numerous wireless companies provide unlimited airtime for a relatively small monthly fee.
This choice has fragment error similar to Choice A. Note that the parallelism error of choice A has been corrected in this choice. The two elements in the list are now clauses beginning with “as”.
Choice C: In the last year, with the cost of wireless service plummeting, and mobile phones have become increasingly common, there are many people now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends, when numerous wireless companies provide unlimited airtime for a relatively small monthly fee.
This choice distorts the meaning of the sentence. In this sentence, it is no longer clear what happened “in the last year”. Did both causes happen in the last year or did the effect take place in the last year. Per the original sentence, it is clear that one of the causes – decrease in the wireless service costs – took place in the last year. This choice also has parallelism error similar to Choice A. It is also wordy – there are many people – is wordier than – many people are.
Choice D. With the cost of wireless service plummeting in the last year and mobile phones becoming increasingly common, many people are now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends, when numerous wireless companies provide unlimited airtime for a relatively small monthly fee.
No errors. The two causes are now parallel phrases.
Choice E. While the cost of wireless service has plummeted in the last year and mobile phones are increasingly common, many people are now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends, when numerous wireless companies provide unlimited airtime for a relatively small monthly fee.
This choice has parallelism error. Even though the two causes are expressed using clauses, different verb tenses have been used without a definite reason. Different verb tenses can be used but there should be a good reason for the same. Furthermore, the use of “while” is incorrect. In the context of this sentence, “while” is used to present a contrast. But the intended meaning does not express a contrast.
Thus, Choice D is the correct answer.

___________________________
WHY IS OPTION B INCORRECT ?

Choice A: Because of wireless service costs plummeting in the last year, and as mobile phones are increasingly common, many people now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends, when numerous wireless companies provide unlimited airtime for a relatively small monthly fee.
This choice has fragment and parallelism errors.

Choice B: As the cost of wireless service plummeted in the last year and as mobile phones became increasingly common, many people now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends, when numerous wireless companies provide unlimited airtime for a relatively small monthly fee.
This choice has fragment error similar to Choice A. Note that the parallelism error of choice A has been corrected in this choice. The two elements in the list are now clauses beginning with “as”.

Choice C: In the last year, with the cost of wireless service plummeting, and mobile phones have become increasingly common, there are many people now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends, when numerous wireless companies provide unlimited airtime for a relatively small monthly fee.
This choice distorts the meaning of the sentence. In this sentence, it is no longer clear what happened “in the last year”. Did both causes happen in the last year or did the effect take place in the last year. Per the original sentence, it is clear that one of the causes – decrease in the wireless service costs – took place in the last year. This choice also has parallelism error similar to Choice A. It is also wordy – there are many people – is wordier than – many people are.

Choice D. With the cost of wireless service plummeting in the last year and mobile phones becoming increasingly common, many people are now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends, when numerous wireless companies provide unlimited airtime for a relatively small monthly fee.
No errors. The two causes are now parallel phrases.

Choice E. While the cost of wireless service has plummeted in the last year and mobile phones are increasingly common, many people are now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends, when numerous wireless companies provide unlimited airtime for a relatively small monthly fee.
This choice has parallelism error. Even though the two causes are expressed using clauses, different verb tenses have been used without a definite reason. Different verb tenses can be used but there should be a good reason for the same. Furthermore, the use of “while” is incorrect. In the context of this sentence, “while” is used to present a contrast. But the intended meaning does not express a contrast.

Thus, Choice D is the correct answer.

Option (B) is missing the main verb and hence is not a sentence at all. It is just a fragment.

It should be "many people are using ... "

The use of "using" alone does not act as a main verb. You need "are" along with it too.

Between option D and E, I eliminated option D because in the question, we are talking about something that happened "last year". So, the verb tense (participle form - plummeting) is not agreeing with the event that happened in the past.

What's wrong with my logic?

"plummeting" is not used as a verb here but actually as a participle. It modifies cost. The cost was plummeting last year. When used as a verb, verb+ing needs a helping verb such as "is", "are", "was", "were" etc.

Check this post for more on participles: https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/2014/1 ... -the-gmat/

VeritasKarishma - does that mean if 'are' is added to choice B as a verb then rest of the sentence is fine ? Use of as in parallel structure and tense of both part ?

No. The major problem is that it is not even a sentence. So it makes no sense to evaluate it further.
But one would say "mobile phones are becoming increasingly common", not "mobile phones became increasingly common (last year)". Mobile phones becoming common would be a current phenomenon, not past and complete now.
Also, use of "as A was happening ..." makes one expect another action happening at the same time, since that is how it is often used.
So I would look for something better. SC is all about the best option.

(D) With the cost of wireless service plummeting in the last year and mobile phones becoming increasingly common
In this option choice, "plummeting" and "becoming" are not verbs, so shouldn't this option be incorrect? Am i missing something here?

Notice that (D) begins with the preposition "with." Prepositional phrases always serve as modifiers, and modifiers don't require a verb.

For example:

"With his patience diminishing by the minute, Dave fought the urge to take his screaming daughter to the fire station and leave her there."

Here, "With his patience diminishing" is a modifier describing what Dave was feeling as he "fought." It's fine that "diminishing" isn't a verb, because we have "fought" as the main verb in the clause.

The same basic construction is in (D): "With the cost of wireless service plummeting in the last year and mobile phones becoming increasingly common," is a long prepositional phrase describing describing the subsequent clause "many people are now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends." Again, it's fine that "plummeting" and "becoming" are modifiers because "are" is the main verb of the clause.

I hope that helps!

Hi,
I agree that verb is required for subject after comma,but
Can anyone tell me the significance of tense indicating word in the sentence, "last year"? I've also eliminated D because of tense error.

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