Rising Inventories, when unaccompanied correspondingly by increases in sales, can lead to production cutbacks that would hamper economic growth.

(A) when unaccompanied correspondingly by increases in sales, can lead
(B) when not accompanied by corresponding increases in sales, possibly leads
(C) when they were unaccompanied by corresponding sales increases, can lead
(D) if not accompanied by correspondingly increased sales, possibly leads
(E) if not accompanied by corresponding increases in sales, can lead


Okay, so I narrowed by answers down to A, C, or E because the correct form is "can lead". C is incorrect because of the word "were", which I can understand, but I got confused between A and E. I don't understand why A is wrong... the OG says that "unaccompanied correspondingly" is awkward and ambigious but it doesn't seem that way to me.... any comments?

Makes so much more sense now! Thank you

The solution lies in understanding what meaning the sentence is trying to communicate.
The sentence means that
IF INVENTORIES RISE,then sales should INCREASE by the SAME quantity.
If Inventories increase by a huge proportion, then sales should increase by a huge proportion too (not small proportion) else there will be cutbacks in production.
so we are trying to modify the "increase in sales" not sales not unaccompanied but the "increase in sales"
so E
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My Answer is E and here is why

(A) when unaccompanied {Awkward }correspondingly by increases in sales, can lead
(B) when not accompanied by corresponding increases in sales, possibly leads { plural need singular}
(C) when they were {plural }unaccompanied {Awkward }by corresponding sales increases, can lead
(D) if not accompanied by correspondingly {unnecesssary }increased sales, possibly leads
(E) if not accompanied by corresponding increases in sales, can lead




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Choice A: Rising inventories, when unaccompanied correspondingly by increases in sales, can lead to production cutbacks.
To determine whether the modifier "correspondingly" is placed appropriately or not, read the sentence and ask yourself, what should correspondingly modify.

Thought process: Inventories are rising...the sentence indicates that if these rising inventories are not accompanied by increases in sales, then something happens...So rising inventories-corresponding increases in sales. Thus, corresponding should modify the increases in sales.

Now, lets check what "correspondingly" modifies - it seems to modify the verb - unaccompanied and hence the placement is not correct.

Choice D: Rising inventories, is not accompanied by correspondingly increased sales, possibly leads to production cutbacks.
In this sentence, correspondingly modifies increased sales. However, notice that in the original sentence, the author is talking about trends - rising inventories and increases in sales. Choice D, on the other hand, talks about trend in inventories but a specific value of sales - INCREASED sales. Thus, it does not communicate the intended meaning of the original sentence. And hence is incorrect.
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