Nearly two tons of nuclear-reactor fuel have already been put into orb

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 meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that the chances of a collision involving nuclear reactor fuel increase greatly because the amount of space debris and the number of satellites continue to rise.

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Meaning + Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• Singular nouns joined with an "and" form a plural noun phrase.

A: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "amount" with the plural verb "continue". Further, Option A incorrectly refers to the countable noun "satellites" with the term "amount"; for countable nouns, the appropriate equivalent word would be "number".

B: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "both the amount of satellites and space debris"; the construction of this phrase illogically implies that the space debris, itself, is rising; the intended meaning is that the amount of space debris is rising. Further, Option B incorrectly refers to the countable noun "satellites" with the term "amount"; for countable nouns, the appropriate equivalent word would be "number".

C: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the plural noun phrase "the amount of space debris and the number of satellites" with the plural verb "continue"; remember, singular nouns joined with an "and" form a plural noun phrase. Further, Option C uses the phrase "as the amount of space debris and the number of satellites continue to rise", conveying the intended meaning - that the chances of a collision involving nuclear reactor fuel increase greatly because the amount of space debris and the number of satellites are rising. Additionally, Option C correctly refers to the countable noun "satellites" with the term "number".

D: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "with the continually increasing...and the number of satellites"; the construction of this phrase illogically implies that the chances of a collision involving nuclear reactor fuel increase greatly alongside the amount of space debris, which is continually increasing, and the number of satellites, which is not increasing; the intended meaning is that the chances of a collision involving nuclear reactor fuel increase greatly because the amount of space debris and the number of satellites are rising.

E: This answer choice uses the needlessly wordy and passive construction "the amount of space debris continuing to increase along with the number of satellites", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "And" versus other conjunctions, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

I pick C
"as" sounds better than "with" so D, E out
debris is non-countable while satellite is countable

Nearly two tons of nuclear-reactor fuel have already been put into orbit around the Earth, and the chances of a collision involving such material increase greatly as the amount of both space debris and satellites continue to rise.

A. as the amount of both space debris and satellites continue to rise
B. as the rise continues in both the amount of satellites and space debris
C. as the amount of space debris and the number of satellites continue to rise
D. with the continually increasing amount of space debris and the number of satellites
E. with the amount of space debris continuing to increase along with the number of satellites

I agree with the OA.
However, I have two doubts:
a) In D and E, what is wrong with "with"? Is there a change in meaning?
b) Is "amount of" always singular or does it depend on the noun that is acting as object of the preposition? (amount of xxxxx)

Thanks!

Even at this level the sentence contains a bunch of things to deal with

So, here the meaning lead us to use as ( compare to action).

A) the amount of BOTH is wrong

B) in both the amount of........is ackward

C) Is clear and straight

The usage "amount of" depends on the context "amount of " or "amounts of"

Carcass,
"As" is not being used here as a comparison indicator. There are SIX uses for AS. Be careful.
A and B are wrong, in part, because satellites are countable, but "amount" is for uncountable stuff.

Do your nickname refer to the metal band Carcass ?

To simply a lot. In concrete this is the usage of Like VS As, if you keep in mind this is difficult to wrong aside the fact of SIX usage of AS (that is true, however).

..............and yup for the rest, of course

Answers A and B are incorrect. "Satellites" are countable. Therefore, it is incorrect to say "the amount of satellites."
Answer C is correct.
Answers D and E are much longer and redundant in comparison to answer C. Also they use "with" instead of "as", which is less favored in the GMAT. Moreover, answer E changes the intended meaning because of the use of "along with" instead of "and." The original sentence suggests that the number of satellites and the amount of space debris continue to rise and that these are two separate problems. Answer E states that the amount of debris is correlated with the number of satellites.

pls, explain fully why D is wrong. I think D is wrong because of meaning problem.

"with phrase" can modify noun a a clause. why "with phrase " is wrong in D.

I think intended meaning here is to give the reasoning for certain prediction using the conjunction "As". The use of "with" here gives impression that given events are the independent events that are occurring simultaneously, and hence fails to establish the causal relationship. Use of "as" is more appropriate here.

Choice (C) depicts the required reasoning and establishes the relationship between two events:
(cause) As the amount of space debris and the number of satellites continue to rise -> (effect) the chances of a collision involving such material increase greatly.

PS: Grammatically "with" can only act as a Preposition. It cannot be used as a conjunction.

If you want "continually increasing" to modify the amount and the number at the same time, you cannot have the "the" before "number of satellites". Think of it as a parallelism thing -- "the" X amount and "the" number. The parallel structure and the conjunction suggest that there are two independent entities, so the adjective of the first (increasing) cannot apply to the second.

In B, you cannot have "amount" with the countable "satellites".


--Prasad

Nearly two tons of nuclear-reactor fuel have already been put into orbit around the Earth, and the chances of a collision involving such material increase greatly as the amount of both space debris and satellites continue to rise.

Issues: Modifier

(A) as the amount of both space debris and satellites continue to rise
- "the amount of ... satellites" is incorrect as "satellites" is countable and "amount" is used for non-countable.

(B) as the rise continues in both the amount of satellites and space debris
- "the amount of ... satellites" is incorrect as "satellites" is countable and "amount" is used for non-countable.
- "amount of satellites" and "space debris" are not comparable object, whereas they should be as they are following "both"

(C) as the amount of space debris and the number of satellites continue to rise

(D) with the continually increasing amount of space debris and the number of satellites

- "continually" is redundant
- "with" fails to establish causal relationship


(E) with the amount of space debris continuing to increase along with the number of satellites
- changes meaning
- "with" fails to establish causal relationship


Answer: (C)

sayantanc2k, mikemcgarry Please explain what is the error in option D. My reasoning is that "with .....satellites" doesnot indicate the reason for the chances of collision. Instead, the modifier presents additional information.

Hello gmatacer40,

I will be glad to help you with this one.

The word as in this official sentence has been used to mean while. So the sentence presents simultaneity between the chances of collision increasing and the amount of space debris and number of satellites increasing.

The usage of with fails to communicate that sense of simultaneity between the two actions.

There is parallelism error also in Choice D. Per this choice, the list is: with

the continually increasing amount of space debris and
the number of satellites

This list fails to convey that the number of satellites is also increasing continually.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

I don't want to be too neardy, but since we are here two tons of nuclear-reactor fuel HAS, but not have

Hi Hero8888, in general, we use singular verbs with Time, Money, and Weight, when a linking verb (is/are/was/were) is used.

So, following would be correct:

Two tons of nuclear-reactor fuel is a lot.

However, here since we have an action verb (put) in the sentence under consideration, the subject two tons would be considered plural. Hence, have is the correct usage.

Hi egmat,
I am unable to understand why we cant frame the parallel structure of option-D as I shown below:


with the continually increasing 1.amount of space debris and 2.number of satellites


Thanks in advance.

Hello tamal99,


I apologize for getting back to this one so late. Sincere apologies.

For Choice D, we cannot consider the list that you have suggested in your post because the continually increasing amount of space debris is one noun phrase. We just cannot break this phrase from anywhere to force a list in the sentence.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha