According to a recent survey on consumer spending in the greeting card

Question

According to a recent survey on consumer spending in the greeting card industry, the widespread use of digital alternatives and e-cards most  heavily, accounting for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, while the remainder of the decrease came  from the rise in greeting card prices.
 
A. heavily, accounting for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, while the remainder of the decrease came
B. heavily, which accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, with the remainder of it coming
C. heavily were what accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales; the remainder of the increase coming
D. heavily accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, the remainder of the decrease coming
E. heavily accounts for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, the remainder of which came

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ArunSharma12 · Answer

Ans: E
According to a recent survey on consumer spending in the greeting card industry, the widespread use of digital alternatives and e-cards most  heavily, accounting for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, while the remainder of the decrease came  from the rise in greeting card prices.
 
A. heavily, accounting for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, while the remainder of the decrease came;  The widespread use does not have a verb 
B. heavily, which accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, with the remainder of it coming;  similar to option A the widespread use does not have a verb 
C. heavily were what accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales; the remainder of the increase coming;  lets focus on second part of the sentence, there is a change in meaning 
D. heavily accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, the remainder of the decrease coming;  there is change in meaning it implies the use of digital and e-cards is no longer accounts for the decrease and decrease in prices is happening because of rise in prices  
E. heavily accounts for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, the remainder of which came;  This is closer to the meaning conveyed in option A, the use of digital and e-cards accounts for 3% decrease, the remainder of decrease happened once when prices of greeting cards rose

shameekv1989 · Answer

According to a recent survey on consumer spending in the greeting card industry, the widespread use of digital alternatives and e-cards most  heavily, accounting for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, while the remainder of the decrease came  from the rise in greeting card prices.
 
A. heavily, accounting for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, while the remainder of the decrease came  - Run on sentence; Subject "use" doesn't have a verb 
B. heavily, which accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, with the remainder of it coming  - Run on sentence; Subject "use" doesn't have a verb 
C. heavily were what accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales; the remainder of the increase coming  - SV disagreement - Subject "use" is singular doesn't go with plural verb "were"  
D. heavily accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, the remainder of the decrease coming  - Correct - Past tense "accounted" verb. Second part is an absolute phrase giving additional information.  
E. heavily accounts for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, the remainder of which came  - verb "accounts" distort a meaning as if to show that the use of digital alternatives is a general fact and that it always accounts for 3% decrease. Moreover, one of the decrease shown in present tense and the other decrease in past tense - doesn't make sense. - Incorrect

Answer - D

AnirudhaS · Answer

The subject is "widespread use". Where is the verb? Classic error, eliminate.

Same error as A. Also "it" is not great usage. Does "it" mean a)the sales of greeting cards. or b) the decrease in sales of greeting cards. All in all not a great choice, eliminate.

There are two massive errors here. First is SV error. "widespread use" is singular but the verb is "were" of plural form. The second obvious error is the usage of semicolon. The semi-colon should ideally split the sentence in 2 independent clauses. The first part of the sentence is good, but the second part is not independent.

This looks good, I do not think there is an obvious grammatical error here. The problems of SV agreement and Verb-tense error has also been taken care of. Looking good.

This choice also has an error in the tense. The verb should ideally be past tense. Use of "accounted" would be accepted because then the sentence makes sense - also the later part of the sentence uses the past tense "came". If we say "accounts for" then it means in STILL accounts for at present, which is not the intended meaning of the sentence.

Answer: D

thenikhilseth · Answer

Answer is  D option.

Area tested- verb-ing and verb -ed.

Between A and D option-  A is incorrect because there is no verb after heavily. Moreover the clause after the comma is modifying the whole previous clause, then what is the use of Most Heavily  ? In addition, I am also skeptical about the while usage. While is used when two events occur simultaneously and it is not the case here.

A.  heavily, accounting  for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, while the remainder of the decrease came

B. heavily,  which  accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales,  with  the remainder of it coming
Which modifying heavily and with is not a correct usage here

C. heavily  were what  accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales; the remainder of the increase coming
Grammatical Error-  were what

D. heavily accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, the remainder of the decrease coming-  CORRECT

E. heavily  accounts  for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, the remainder of which came
Accounts convey simple present which is know to be fact- wrong

aniket2045 · Answer

Answer is D..

Option A & B- there is no proper verb,so these are not sentence.
Option C - Wrongly uses were
option E - changes in tenses - 'accounts' & 'came'

Raxit85 · Answer

According to a recent survey on consumer spending in the greeting card industry, the widespread use of digital alternatives and e-cards most heavily, accounting for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, while the remainder of the decrease came from the rise in greeting card prices.

According to recent survey on consumer spending in GC industry, the widespread use of x and y most heavily, accounting for 3% decrease in GC sales, while remainder of decrease came.... What is the verb for subject; the widespread use??? So, A, and B out.

A.  heavily, accounting  for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, while the remainder of the decrease came - Incorrect as per above reason.
B.  heavily, which accounted  for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, with the remainder of it coming - Incorrect as per above reason.

C. heavily were  what  accounted  for the 3% decrease  in greeting card sales; the remainde r of the increase  coming - Distortion in meaning due to usage of increase and what.
D. heavily accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, the remainder of the decrease coming - seems no error but let's hold it.
E. heavily  accounts f or the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, the remainder  of which cam e - Incorrect usage of verb, came and accounts, changing the meaning.

Imo. D

800GMAT2019 · Answer

Going for that free trial!  EMPOWERgmatVerbal  let me know!

According to a recent survey on consumer spending in the greeting card industry, the widespread use of digital alternatives and e-cards most heavily, accounting for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, while the remainder of the decrease came from the rise in greeting card prices.

A.  heavily,  accounting for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, while the remainder of the decrease came - Adverb "heavily" needs a verb to modify.

B.  heavily,  which accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, with the remainder of it coming - - Adverb "heavily" needs a verb to modify.

C. heavily  were  what accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales; the remainder of the increase coming - Bad verb. "Use" is the subject, it is singular...so "were" is incorrect. Correct verb should be "was"

D. heavily accounted for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, the remainder of the decrease coming - correct verb tense!

E. heavily  accounts  for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, the remainder of which came - Bad verb, "accounts is present tense". "recent survey" means we need past tense..."accounted".

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation

According to a recent survey on consumer spending in the greeting card industry, the widespread use of digital alternatives and e-cards most  heavily, accounting for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, while the remainder of the decrease came  from the rise in greeting card prices.
 
 A.  heavily, accounting for  the 3% decrease in greeting card sales , while  the remainder  of the decrease came  
 B.  heavily, which accounted for  the 3% decrease in greeting card sales , with  the remainder  of it coming  
 C.  heavily were what accounted fo r the 3% decrease in greeting card sales ;  the remainder  of the increase coming  
 D.  heavily accounted for  the 3% decrease in greeting card sales ,  the remainder  of the decrease coming  
 E.  heavily accounts for  the 3% decrease in greeting card sales ,  the remainder  of which came

After a quick glance over the options, we see a few areas where we can focus our attention:

1. accounting for / which accounted for / were what accounted for / accounted for / accounts for (Verb Tense & Punctuation)
2. while the remainder/ with the remainder/ the remainder (Punctuation)
3. of the decrease came / of it coming / of the increase coming / of the decrease coming / of which came (Verb Tense/Modifiers/Punctuation) 
 
 Since there are no “either/or” splits here, the next course of action is to focus on something that all 3 list items have in common: punctuation.  If we start with #1 on our list, we can figure out if we need to add in a comma after “heavily.” If we do add one in, there still needs to be a clear subject and verb. If we don’t add one in, we need to make sure it doesn’t cause a run-on sentence. To make this easier to spot, I’ve added in the bit of non-underlined text that contains the subject:
 
A. the widespread use of digital alternatives and e-cards most   heavily, accounting for  the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, while the remainder of the decrease came 
This is  INCORRECT  because adding in the comma changes the verb “accounting” into a modifier, which means this sentence has no verb!

B. the widespread use of digital alternatives and e-cards most   heavily, which accounted for  the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, with the remainder of it coming 
This is also  INCORRECT  because changing the verb “accounted” into a modifier phrase, and now it has no verb at all.

C. the widespread use of digital alternatives and e-cards most   heavily were what accounted for  the 3% decrease in greeting card sales; the remainder of the increase coming 
This is  OKAY  for now. There is a clear verb here, and it’s not splitting up the verb into a modifier.

D. the widespread use of digital alternatives and e-cards most   heavily accounted for  the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, the remainder of the decrease coming 
This is also  OKAY  for now. There is a clear verb, and there is not punctuation to get in the way.

E. the widespread use of digital alternatives and e-cards most   heavily accounts for  the 3% decrease in greeting card sales, the remainder of which came 
This is also  OKAY  for now. The verb is clear, and there is not punctuation getting in the way.
 
 We can eliminate options A & B  because they changed the verb into a modifier phrase, and that turned them both into sentence fragments.
 
Now that we have it narrowed down, let’s look more closely at #2 & #3 on our list. We need to make sure any remaining punctuation works, and we also need to make sure the ending of each option works:
 
 C. heavily  were what accounted for  the 3% decrease in greeting card sales ; the remainder of the increase coming  
This is  INCORRECT  for a few reasons. First, the semicolon is not being used correctly – the clause after the semicolon should be independent. In this case, the clause cannot stand alone, so the semicolon is wrong here. Second, the verb “were what accounted for” is overly wordy – just saying “accounted for” means the same thing with far fewer words. Third, it says the remainder of the increase, yet we’re supposed to be talking about the decrease.
 
 D. heavily  accounted for  the 3% decrease in greeting card sales , the remainder of the decrease coming  
This is the  CORRECT  choice! The verb “accounted for” is concise and in the correct past tense, and the clause at the end is also clear and concsie.
 
 E. heavily  accounts for  the 3% decrease in greeting card sales , the remainder of which came  
This is  INCORRECT  for a couple reasons. First, it uses the present tense “accounts for” instead of the past tense “accounted for” to explain the findings of a study done in the past. Second, the phrase “the remainder of which” is too vague – what is the “of which” part referring to? The 3% decrease? Greeting card sales? It’s not 100% clear, which is a red flag on the GMAT – the GMAT hates vagueness!
 
 There you have it – option D is the correct choice! 
 
Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

You were close,  ArunSharma12 ! In option E, there is a bit of a verb-tense problem with the present tense "accounts for." It should be past tense. Check out the official explanation in the comments for more details!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done  shameekv1989 ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  AnirudhaS ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done  aniket2045 ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done  thenikhilseth ! Another great explanation! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done  Raxit85 ! Another great explanation! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done, 800GMAT2019 ! You cracked the code on this one! Make sure you are answering future questions before the OA is posted (this one went live the day before you posted). We want to make sure you're taking a guess, and not using the OA to guide your answers.

minalgambhir · Answer

ERROR ANALYSIS -

1) No verb for the subject 'use'

ANSWER CHOICE ANALYSIS -

A) INCORRECT
B) 'which' can't refer to heavily
C) wrong use of semicolon - the 2 sentences before and after the semi colon should not be dependent
D) CORRECT
E) sentence starts with present tense - 'accounts' and ends with past tense 'came'

Sneha2021 · Answer

Hi @e-gmat team  EMPOWERgmatVerbal ,

Can you please help me to understand the sentence structure for E?

As per my understanding, C1 and C2 are not connected properly (No FANBOYS). Please let me know if my understanding is correct.

According to a recent survey on consumer spending in the greeting card industry, 
 the widespread use of digital alternatives and e-cards most heavily accounts for the 3% decrease in greeting card sales(C1), 
 the remainder of which came from the rise in greeting card prices (C2)

Can,Will · Answer

Dear experts 
In the correct answer choice 'D' , what role "the remainder of the decrease coming from the rise in greeting card prices " plays ?

According to a recent survey on consumer spending in the greeting card

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According to a recent survey on consumer spending in the greeting card

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