The number of undergraduate degrees in engineering awarded by colleges

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 this sentence is that between 1978 and 1985, the number of undergraduate degrees in engineering awarded by colleges and universities in the United States increased more than twofold.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Tenses

• The simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past.
• The past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".

A: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "increased by more than twice"; the construction of this phrase leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that between 1978 and 1985, the number of undergraduate degrees in engineering awarded by colleges and universities in the United States increased more than twofold.

B: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "increased more than two times"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that between 1978 and 1985, the number of undergraduate degrees in engineering awarded by colleges and universities in the United States increased on more than two occassions; the intended meaning is that between 1978 and 1985, the number of undergraduate degrees in engineering awarded by colleges and universities in the United States increased more than twofold.

C: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrase "more than doubled", conveying the intended meaning - that between 1978 and 1985, the number of undergraduate degrees in engineering awarded by colleges and universities in the United States increased more than twofold, by itself. Further, Option C correctly uses the simple past tense verb "doubled" to refer to an action that concluded in the past.

D: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "was more than doubled"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that between 1978 and 1985, some unspecified entity increased number of undergraduate degrees in engineering awarded by colleges and universities in the United States more than twofold; the intended meaning is that between 1978 and 1985, the number of undergraduate degrees in engineering awarded by colleges and universities in the United States increased more than twofold, by itself.

E: This answer choice incorrectly uses the past perfect tense verb "had...doubled" to refer to an action that concluded in the past; remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past, and the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



To understand the concept of "Past Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

I think C.

Twice means how many times something happens. It can also be used like "Joe has twice the peanuts that Sally has." Used like the second sentence here will be "twice" with regard to something else. Not "by twice".

Doubled is a verb (in the past tense of "double"). "He doubled the recipe." When something is doubled, there is now 2 times the amount, or 200%, or a 100% increase, etc.

The trick here is to skip the "not so important" part of the sentence. We can then write the sentence as The number of undergraduate degrees ...from 1978 to 1985

Lets find error in each of the options-
A) increased by more than twice - It should be either "increased by more than two times" or "increased more than twice". A is unidiomatic.
B) increased more than two times - Similarly, B is unidiomatic.
D) was more than doubled - Unneccessary form of "to be"
E) had more than doubled - Unnecessary change in tense to Past Perfect.

C) more than doubled - Best Answer choice since it is precise and conveys the message in the simplest way. "doubled" is the verb.

Hope this helps.

Choice A is faulty because an adverb such as twice cannot function as an object of the preposition by.

B distorts the sentence’s meaning, stating that the number of engineering degrees conferred increased on more than two distinct occasions.

D’s passive verb was…doubled suggests without warrant that some unnamed agent increase the number of engineering degrees.

The past perfect tense in E, had… doubled, is inappropriate unless the increase in engineering degrees is specifically being viewed as having occurred further back in the past than some subsequent event.

Choice C is best.

(A) increased by more than twice

(B) increased more than two times

(C) more than doubled

(D) was more than doubled

(E) had more than doubled

Answer- C

hazelnut Vyshak egmat
I have a doubt in C as I rejected it because I thought doubled is modifier here since the number is not doer of the action double

Hi teaserbae.

Actually, in the correct version, "number" is the subject, "doubled" is the main verb, and the number performed the action "doubled."

The relationship between the subject, "number," and the main verb, "doubled," is easier to see in an abridged version of the sentence.

The number of undergraduate degrees ... doubled from 1978 to 1985.

GMATNinja can you please explain why D is wrong. Is it because of conscion ?

If I plug (D) into the original sentence, it reads thus:

The number of undergraduate degrees in engineering awarded by colleges and universities in the United States was more than doubled from 1978 to 1985.

If I intend to use the "doubling" in the past tense, then "more than doubled" is sufficient, with "doubled" acting as the verb in the past tense. There is no need to use another verb "was" as a suffix, which is redundant in (D).

Alternatively, if I intend to convey the continuing impact of the "doubling", then I can use the present perfect tense "has more than doubled". This is not among the answer options provided.

Hope this clarifies.

Below is a stepwise process to do such questions

The number (SUBJ) of undergraduate degrees in engineering awarded by colleges and universities in the United States increased by more than twice from 1978 to 1985.

step1 don't focus on the crossed part . always identify subject and verb
step 2 - by = preposition . twice = adverb . never use preposition with adverbs
step 3 - eliminate wron ones . Look for verbs

(A) increased by more than twice (rejected as per our analysis above)

(B) increased more than two times (reject -changed meaning. In a period increasing more than two times is diff than 'doubling in that given time'

(C) more than doubled (correct - doubled = verb .. the number doubled = it makes logical sense as well)

(D) was more than doubled (was = verb , but doubled isn't verb+ed modifier . its another verb because it can loically refer to the number and so is was . this makes this option redundant .NOTE - 2 verbs need two subject or at least use and between them to share same subj )

(E) had more than doubled (had = past perfect . we don't need past perfect as we have one simple single event .

I hope it helped!

Hi MartyTargetTestPrep

My POE was "Increase or decrease express the change of one thing over time, so Possible contenders will be either A or B. ", So I marked B; However, B is an incorrect answer, Could you please further shed light on same?

Most of the users have mentioned "change of intended meaning" as the basis of elimination, Could you please share any other split for same?

Regards
Rohit

In answering SC questions, we have to use judgment sometimes, particularly when considering meaning. It can also help to consider what the writer of the question likely believed to be correct.

With the forgoing in mind, let's consider the version created via the use of (B).

The number of undergraduate degrees in engineering awarded by colleges and universities in the United States increased more than two times from 1978 to 1985.

What we can notice in reading that version is that it does not convey that the number doubled. It conveys that the number increased on more than two occasions. So, did the number increase on three occasions? Five occasions? Are we meant to understand that the number of degrees remained the same except on three occasions during an eight year period, as if maybe in 1978 the number was 75,027, and on June 1, 1979, it increased 75,050, and on a couple other days it increased again?

That meaning does not make sense.

So, the reason to eliminate (B) is that we can tell that the meaning that the (B) version conveys is so bizarre that the (B) version must not be the one that the question writer considered correct.

Hi AndrewN MartyTargetTestPrep

I am still hovering among options A , B , C and D
I like A over B: the number increased by more than 2 times from x to x. doesn't it sound correct? I can't figure out whats wrong in it

Between C and D: I rejected both because more than <something = some noun >but here doubled suddenly came up .
I can't figure how to understand the exact meaning in D and C. Why was is redundant in D? The number can't be doer so is it not better to say the number <was= helping verb>

i think I am missing some basic concept here.

please suggest AndrewN MartyTargetTestPrep

One basic concept that you are missing is that you don't need to find a version that matches the original version. You need only to find a version that effectively conveys a meaning makes sense.

Thus, even though (C) seems different from the original version, since it effectively conveys a meaning that makes sense, it is correct.

Hello, mSKR. The question took me 14 seconds before I knew I had the right answer. In addition to what Marty wrote above, I would suggest you focus on the sentence at a barebones level to avoid getting bogged down by all the extra nonsense that GMAC™ likes to pump into these sentences (making it easier for your ear to mislead you). This sentence can be condensed into a few words:

The number ______ from X to Y. (The dates do not really matter in the context of the sentence.)

Now, if the dates are giving you trouble, try plain old numbers instead. To fit the given constraints of each answer choice, how about 2 and 6?

(A) The number increased by more than twice from 2 to 6.

(B) The number increased more than two times from 2 to 6.

(C) The number more than doubled from 2 to 6.

(D) The number was more than doubled from 2 to 6.

(E) The number had more than doubled from 2 to 6.

Ask yourself what is wrong with (C), the most concise and, to my eye, clearest option. Nothing. We do not need to chase the best answer; we should look to get behind the safest option. Here, (C) is the hardest to argue against.

I hope this analysis proves useful to you. Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew

Hi egmat, AjiteshArun, VeritasKarishma

As per my understanding, the intended meaning of the original sentence(though it is unidiomatic) is that the number has increased increased by more than 2 times.
For instance, let's say X has increased by: 2.1 times, then the final value of X has changed to 3.1X

In contrast to the aforementioned meaning, choice C states that the number has more than doubled (final value), distorting the meaning of the original sentence.
For instance, the value of X changes to 2.1X.

I mean to say that there is a difference between increased by two times and doubled.
So, I feel that choice C alters the meaning.

Please provide your thoughts on this.