A decade after initiating the nation's most comprehensive

Question

A decade after initiating the nation's most comprehensive and aggressive antismoking program,  per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as  in the nation as a whole.

B. annual per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs to about 60, more than twice as great as that

C. California's annual per capita consumption of cigarettes declined from over 125 packs per person to about 60, more than twice as great as the drop

D. California has seen per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs annually to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as that

E. California has seen annual per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs per person to about 60, more than twice as great as that

skandhadarshan · Answer

It cant be A and B as the modifier being modified and talked about "California" is not there.
In C ,the modifer talks about California's pc income which is wrong.
Between D and E,choose annual per capita income which is "E".

buckkitty · Answer

Is "per capita consumption" and "per person" in E redundant?

skandhadarshan · Answer

Yes , it does look like .But I chose E over D as I thought annual per capita income was better than per capita income ... annually.What is the OA?

Professor · Answer

D is it.

E has redundancy in red marked phrases above.

buckkitty · Answer

very tricky because I too preferred "annual per capita consumption" in E.

I think the error in E is the redundancy as Professor pointed out. OA is D.

gmatmba · Answer

hmm..yea it is tricky, totally missed it :sleeping:

jaynayak · Answer

Will go with D.
A/B have modifier problem.
C/E per capita and per person is redundant

prash22 · Answer

'D' here..totally with jaynayak :-)

percapita/per person is reduntant.

GMATPsycho · Answer

Among 'D' and 'E', I go for 'D'.
Check out this part of the sentence in (E), ".....over 125 packs per person to about 60,  more than twice ...." a case of misplaced modifier.
Choice (D), "......over 125 packs annually to about 60,  a drop more than twice ...."sounds better.

Beyond700 · Answer

Between 'D' & 'E' 

'D' seems to be the winner..

'E' -  more than twice as great as that  is not the right modifier. It contradicts the original clause

selene · Answer

<img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/flower2.gif" alt=":flower" title="Happy Flower" />

likar · Answer

Clear (D)

A, C, E use "per capita" together with "per person", even though both expressions mean exactly the same.

In B, it would be neccessary to include to include the "drop"

GMATT73 · Answer

Expect an SC like this right off the bat on G-Day. Classic modifier + correct comparison (we need the second "drop"). Two rules are being tested here. Reads like a V35 level SC.

Good one!

(D)

2:20

Riya05 · Answer

A,C and E can be eliminated due to redundancy "per capita" and "per person". 

Between B and D, "drop" after comma in D makes more sense.

go with D too..

rahulgoyal1986 · Answer

I went with D :snipersmile: :arrow: :arrow: E :flower

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