Hello Everyone!
Let's take a closer look at this question and see where we can narrow down options, so we can answer this question quickly! To get started, here is the original question with the major differences between each option highlighted in
orange:
Diabetes, together with its serious complications,
ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer
(a)
ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death,
surpassed only(b)
rank as the nation's third leading cause of death,
only surpassed(c)
has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death,
only surpassed(d)
are the nation's third leading causes of death,
surpassed only(e)
have been ranked as the nation's third leading causes of death,
only surpassedAfter a quick glance over the options, two major differences pop out immediately:
1. Verb Tense (ranks/rank/has the rank of/are/have been ranked)
2. surpassed only / only surpassed
Let's start with #1 on our list: verb tense. This should easily knock 2-3 options off our list quickly. The subject of this sentence is diabetes, which is a singular subject. Therefore, we need to make sure the verbs are also singular! Let's see how each option stacks up:
(a) Diabetes...
ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only
(b) Diabetes...
rank as the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(c) Diabetes...
has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(d) Diabetes...
are the nation's third leading causes of death, surpassed only
(e) Diabetes...
have been ranked as the nation's third leading causes of death, only surpassed
We can rule out options B, D, and E because they all use plural verbs, which don't match in number with our singular subject! See? Now we only have 2 options to deal with now! So, let's tackle #2 on our list: surpassed only / only surpassed.
These two phrases mean something slightly different:
surpassed only by heart disease and cancer = heart disease and cancer are the only diseases that surpassed diabetes as the leading cause of death
only surpassed by heart disease and cancer = heart disease and cancer only do one thing (surpass diabetes), suggests they don't have other functions?
It makes the most sense for this sentence to say that diabetes is surpassed only by heart disease and cancer as the leading cause of death.
Therefore, we can rule out option C because it doesn't convey the correct meaning.There is also another way to narrow these answers down:
(a)
ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death,
surpassed onlyThis is
CORRECT because it uses concise and clear wording to convey the correct meaning.
(c)
has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death,
only surpassedThis is
INCORRECT because the phrase "has the rank of" is overly wordy and unnecessary. It also uses the incorrect construction "only surpassed," which conveys the wrong overall meaning.
There you go - option A is the correct choice after all!Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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