Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
sondenso wrote:
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
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