As reported by The Bureau of Economic Analysis, increases in personal

C is the Winner

Area tested- Verb and Conciseness
1) As Reported - It conveys Past Form, So definitely we need a past nature here.

A. greatly accounts for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and healthcare, the rest of which came
Accounts- Simple present

B. greatly were what accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care; the rest of the increase coming

Were What- Passiveness
Coming- Present continuos

C. greatly accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care; the rest of the increase came- BINGO

D. greatly, [accounting for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care], while the rest of the increase came- Fragment
Here
1) Accounting.....Health care - This is a modifier and there is no verb present here. Fragment Sentence
2) While is not appropriate here

E. heavily, [which accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care], with the remainder of it coming- Fragment

Same as D
Because of Modifier clause [Which........Care], Sentence is Fragment.
2) It referent is unclear

Official Explanation

As reported by The Bureau of Economic Analysis, increases in personal consumption expenditures (PCE) by 3.2 percent most greatly accounts for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care, the rest of which came from sales of non-durable goods, such as cars and furniture.

A. greatly accounts for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and healthcare, the rest of which came

B. greatly were what accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care; the rest of the increase coming

C. greatly accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care; the rest of the increase came

D. greatly, accounting for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care, while the rest of the increase came

E. heavily, which accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care, with the remainder of it coming


This question has to do with verb tenses and concise wording. We need to make sure the verb used make logical sense, and we need to make sure the verbs aren’t being turned into other parts of speech, such as modifiers, appositives, or other problematic issues. The GMAT also always wants test takers to eliminate overly wordy answers. Let’s see how each option breaks down:

A. greatly accounts for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and healthcare, the rest of which came
This is incorrect. “accounts” is the wrong verb tense. Increases refers to the subject, PCE, which is plural and accounts is singular. Also, the phrase “the rest of which came” is also vague - it’s not 100% clear if that’s referring back to the increase, housing, or healthcare.

B. greatly were what accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care; the rest of the increase coming
This is incorrect. This sentence is overly wordy. “Where what accounted for” is not needed when “accounted for” has the same meaning. The phrase after the semicolon is also not a complete sentence because it lacks a proper verb (it should be “came” instead of “coming). It does, however, fix the vague phrasing from option A to make sure we know the phrase is referring back to the increase - so let’s look for more options that do this.

C. greatly accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care; the rest of the increase came
This is correct. This is the most concise answer and uses the correct past tense “accounted for.” It also makes the ending of this option clear to readers that it’s referring back to the increase.

D. greatly, accounting for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care, while the rest of the increase came
This is incorrect. Changing “accounted for” to “accounting for” turns the verb into a modifier, thus creating a fragment because there is no verb for the subject “increases.”

E. heavily, which accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care, with the remainder of it coming
This is incorrect. Changing “accounted for” to “which accounting for” turns the verb into a modifier, thus creating a fragment because there is no verb for the subject “increases.” The phrase “with the remainder of it coming” is also vague - it’s not 100% clear what the pronoun “it” is referring back to (the increase, consumer spending, housing, health care??).

There you have it - option C is the correct choice!


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Well done, jaisonsunny77! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

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

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