As sources of electrical power, windmills now account for only about 2

Question

As sources of electrical power, windmills now account for only about 2,500 megawatts nationwide, but production is expected

(A) almost expected to double by the end of the year, which would provide

(B) almost expected that it will double by the end of the year, thus providing

(C) expected that it will almost double by the end of the year to provide

(D) expected almost to double by the end of the year and thus to provide

(E) expected almost to double by the end of the year, which would thus be providing

https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Upsurge-in-demand-for-wind-turbine-power-1065099.php

Windmills now account for only about 2,500 megawatts of generating capacity nationwide, but production is  expected almost to double by the end of 2001 to provide  enough electricity for 1.3 million households. The industry anticipates that in two decades wind power will grow to 100,000 megawatts and account for 6 percent of the country's electricity.

Megawatt Windmills

(A) Meaning / Modifier ( almost ); Modifier ( which )

(B) Meaning / Modifier ( almost ); Meaning / Idiom ( expected that )

(C) Meaning / Idiom ( expected that )

(D) CORRECT

(E) Modifier ( which )

First glance

Two choices begin with  almost expected  and two others begin with  expected almost . Check the meaning of the sentence to see where the modifier  almost  should be placed.

Issues

(1) Meaning / Modifier:  almost

Meaning / Idiom:  expected that

The original sentence says that  production is almost expected to double . In this construction,  almost  modifies the word  expected . This meaning is illogical—there either is an expectation or there is not an expectation.

Choices (D) and (E) offer a more clear meaning:  production is expected almost to double . In this case,  almost  modifies  to double , and this meaning is logical. Production will almost double but not quite. Eliminate choices (A) and (B) for   faulty meaning   based on the placement of  almost .

While dealing with the  almost  issue, you might spot another meaning issue.

(A), (D), (E)  production is … expected to double

(B), (C)  production is … expected that it will double

It is possible to use both of these constructions, but they have different meanings. For example, it is acceptable to say  It is expected that she will work hard . It is also acceptable to say  Her hard work is expected to result in a promotion . In the latter case, the sentence is conveying a cause-effect relationship: Her hard work will lead to a promotion. When this is the intended meaning, use the structure  X is expected to (lead to Y) . Answers (A), (D), and (E) properly use this structure to convey a cause-effect relationship. Eliminate choices (B) and (C).

(2) Modifier:  which

The original sentence has a  comma-which  modifier. These modifiers should refer to the main noun before the comma.

In this case, that noun is  year  or  end of the year , but neither one makes sense. Logically, the entire action (the fact that  production is expected to double ) will result in  enough electricity for the 1.3 million households —but a comma-which modifier is supposed to refer to a noun, not an entire clause. Eliminate (A) and (E).

The Correct Answer

Correct answer (D) conveys correct meaning ( expected almost to double ) and avoids the which error by changing that portion of the sentence entirely.

Rhetorical construction; Idiom

The intended meaning of the sentence seems to be that the electricity production of windmills is expected to approximately double by year's end. But instead of saying  almost double , we have  almost expected , which is an unclear idea. Also unclear is what the relative pronoun  which  refers to.

(A) The placement of  almost  makes it nonsensically modify  is expected . What the relative pronoun  which  refers to is ambiguous: for example, does it refer to the expectation, the possible doubling, or the year?

(B) The resulting sentence misplaces the adverb  almost .

(C) The phrase  production is expected that it will . . .  makes no sense—as opposed to, for example,  it is expected that production will. . . .

(D) Correct . This sentence clearly conveys the expectations of production: almost to double and thus to provide. There is no ambiguity as to what will be providing enough electricity.

(E) The referent of the relative pronoun  which  is ambiguous, and the conditional verb form  would thus be providing  is unnecessarily wordy.

pqhai · Accepted Answer

As sources of electrical power, windmills now account for only about 2,500 megawatts nationwide, but production is expected

a)almost expected to double by the end of the year,  which  would provide
Wrong. "which" is placed wrongly --> modifies "year".

b)almost expected that  it  would double by the end of the year,thus providing
Wrong. "it" is redundant because "it" refers to production --> the sentence becomes: " production  is expected that  production  would double....." <-- we don't need the second "production".

c)expected that  it  will almost double by the end of the year to provide 
Wrong. Same as B. "it" is redundant.

d)expected almost to double by the end of the year and thus to provide
Correct. Parallel and concise --> Production is expected almost  to double  ....and  to provide ......

e)expected almost to double by the end of the year,  which  would thus be providing
Wrong. Same as in A. "which" is placed wrongly.

Hope it helps.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one issue at a time, and narrow it down to the right choice quickly! First, let's take a look at the original question and highlight any major differences in  orange :

As sources of electrical power, windmills now account for only about 2,500 megawatts nationwide, but production is expected

(A)  almost expected to double  by the end of the year,  which would provide 
(B)  almost expected that it will double  by the end of the year,  thus providing 
(C)  expected that it will almost double  by the end of the year  to provide 
(D)  expected almost to double  by the end of the year  and thus to provide 
(E)  expected almost to double  by the end of the year,  which would thus be providing

After a quick glance over the options, a couple key differences jump out that we can focus on:

1. almost expected vs. expected almost ( Adverbs & Meaning )
2. which would provide / thus providing / to provide / and thus to provide / which would thus be providing ( Modifiers )

Let's start with #1 on our list because it will eliminate 2-3 options rather quickly.  What we're dealing with here is adverb placement. We need to figure out what the adverb "almost" SHOULD be paired up with to determine which one we need:

almost expected  to double = refers to the likelihood that production will double at all
expected  almost to double  = refers to the amount by which production will change

It makes more sense to say that the amount of production might double, and not that production might be expected. So let's rule out any options that don't clearly place the adverb "almost" with "double/s":

(A)  almost expected  to double by the end of the year, which would provide
(B)  almost expected  that it will double by the end of the year, thus providing
(C) expected that it will  almost double  by the end of the year to provide
(D) expected  almost to double  by the end of the year and thus to provide
(E) expected  almost to double  by the end of the year, which would thus be providing

We can eliminate options A & B because they don't have the adverb "almost" in the proper place to convey the meaning we're after.  Now that we have things narrowed down, let's take a closer look at each remaining option with the non-underlined parts plugged in and determine which is the best one:

(C) As sources of electrical power, windmills now account for only about 2,500 megawatts nationwide, but production is expected that  it  will almost double by the end of the year to provide enough electricity for 1.3 million households.
 
This option is  INCORRECT  because it contains a vague pronoun! It's not clear at all what the pronoun "it" is referring to here - windmills, production, megawatts? If we read this sentence through, the phrase "production is expected that it will almost double" sounds incredibly clunky and awkward as well.

(D) As sources of electrical power, windmills now account for only about 2,500 megawatts nationwide, but  production is expected almost to double  by the end of the year and thus  to provide  enough electricity for 1.3 million households.
 
This is  CORRECT ! The adverb "almost" is in the right place, there are no issues with parallelism (to double/to provide), and there are no modifier issues.

(E) As sources of electrical power, windmills now account for only about 2,500 megawatts nationwide, but production is expected almost to double by the end of the year , which  would thus  be providing  enough electricity for 1.3 million households.
 
This option is  INCORRECT  for a couple reasons. First, it has a ", which"modifier that's being used incorrectly. "Which" modifiers are NOUN modifiers, and they can only modify the noun closest to them. In this case, the modifier is trying to modify the noun "year," which isn't right. The modifier should refer back to "production." It's also incorrect because the two things that production accomplishes aren't written using parallel format (to double / be providing).

There you have it - option D is the correct choice!  By focusing on the obvious differences between the options, we can easily weed out wrong choices to get to the right one quickly!

Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.

chetan2u · Answer

Hi,
i'll just replace the underlined portion with C and lets test the choice then

As sources of electrical power, windmills now account for only about 2,500 megawatts nationwide, but production is expected

The usage of that after expected requires a subject and production cannot be the subject for it.. 
production is expected that it will almost double by the end of the year.. THIS DOES NOT MAKE SENSE

If I write :-
It is expected that production will almost double by the end of the year... would be ok if there is an antecedent for "it"..
but than "to provide" is to parallel with ''expected almost to double ", which requires a different construction ..

so two ways to speak is..
 production is expected to double..
OR it is expected that the production will double

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

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 core meaning of this sentence is that it is expected that production will almost double by the end of the year and thus provide enough electricity for 1.3 million households.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Pronouns + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.
• The introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “providing” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.

A:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "almost expected to double"; the construction of this phrase illogically implies that it is   almost expected   that production will   fully double   by the end of the year; the intended meaning is that it is   fully expected   that production will   almost double   by the end of the year. Further, Option A incorrectly modifies "end of the year" with "which would provide", illogically implying that the end of the year would provide enough electricity for 1.3 million households; the intended meaning is that the "production (of energy from windmills)" would provide enough electricity for 1.3 million households; please remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.

B:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "almost expected that it will double"; the construction of this phrase illogically implies that it is   almost expected   that production will   fully double   by the end of the year; the intended meaning is that it is   fully expected   that production will   almost double   by the end of the year. Further, Option B suffers from pronoun ambiguity, as "it" lacks a clear referent. Additionally, Option B uses the passive voice construction "expected that it will double", leading to awkwardness and redundancy. Besides, Option B redundantly uses "thus" alongside the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing" - "providing" in this sentence)" construction, leading to further awkwardness; this usage is redundant, as both terms imply a cause-effect relationship; please remember, the introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “providing” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.

C:  This answer choice suffers from pronoun ambiguity, as "it" lacks a clear referent. Further, Option C uses the passive voice construction "expected that it will almost double", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D:   Correct.  This answer choice uses the phrase "expected almost to double", conveying the intended meaning - that it is   fully expected   that production will   almost double   by the end of the year. Further, Option D uses the phrase "and thus to provide", avoiding the modifier error seen in Options A and E and conveying the intended meaning - that the "production (of energy from windmills)" would provide enough electricity for 1.3 million households. Additionally, Option D avoids the pronoun error seen in Options B and C, as it uses no pronouns. Besides, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

E:  This answer choice incorrectly modifies "end of the year" with "which would thus be providing", illogically implying that the end of the year would provide enough electricity for 1.3 million households; the intended meaning is that the "production (of energy from windmills)" would provide enough electricity for 1.3 million households; please remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma. Further, Option E uses the passive voice construction "would...be providing", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Comma + Present Participles for Cause-Effect Relationships" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~3 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVLneikI70Q

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

This question is based on Construction.

The modifier ‘almost’ is misplaced in Options A and B. As it is placed, the adverb modifies the verb ‘expected’. However, it is supposed to modify the adjective ‘double’.

The relative pronoun ‘which’ seems to modify the noun ‘year’. Since this is illogical,  Option A  can be ruled out.

The pronoun ‘it’ is redundant in Option B as the antecedent ‘production’ is what is expected to double and it is already mentioned in the sentence. So,  Option B  can also be eliminated.

The same error of a redundant pronoun has been repeated in Option C. So,  Option C  can also be ruled out.

The pronoun ‘which’ refers to the noun ‘year’. The meaning thus conveyed is illogical. So,  Option E  can also be ruled out.

In Option D, the modifier ‘almost’ modifies the adjective ‘double’. The last part of the sentence conveys the two aspects of production – that it is expected  to double  and thus  to provide . Parallelism is thus maintained.  Therefore, D is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

ravsg · Answer

A and B 
-almost is incorrectly modifying expected implying it may or may not happen
-modifying double implies it may or may not double.
C - unidiomatic
E - wordy
D - parallel and concise

vivesomnium · Answer

what is to happen 'almost'? doubling of production, or the expectation of doubling of production. Since expectation being almost is awckward, while a figure getting almost double is alright, all answer choice with almost expecte are rejected rightaway. This gets rid of A and B

C. says that ' production is expected that it will almost double by the end of the year to provide' This is clearly wrong usage of pronoun it- either it should be 'it is expected that production will almost double', or 'it is expected about production that it will almost double' (wordy but gramatically sensical)
Therefore, C is rejected.

Between 'thus to provie' and 'which would thus be providing' I choose D. Thus to provide.
production is the subject f this clause- it is expected to double and thus to provide for blah blah..
use of 'which would thus be providing' makes this more wordy, changes the tatructure of the sentence, and also use of which is confusing.
hence D is the correct option.

Narenn · Answer

Choice D keep the phrases parallel. Production expected  to double by the ...........  and  (expected) to provide enough electricity.......

While in Choice E, The usage of   which   creates ambiguity. which/that refers to the closest noun i.e.  year  in this case.

For other Choices

A) Incorrect Placement of ALMOST. Misplaced Modifier WHICH

B) Incorrect Placement of ALMOST. Unidiomatic Usage  Production is expected that it would double  CORRECT USAGE IS  Production is expected to double  OR  It is expected that Production will double

C) Same Unidiomatic Usage here too.

Hope That Helps!

him1985 · Answer

As sources of electrical power, windmills now account for only about 2,500 megawatts nationwide, but production is  almost expected to double 
by the end of the year, which would provide  enough electricity for 1.3 million households.

ALMOST EXPECTED is wrong modifier.Author intend to say almost double and which is used incorrectly 
 This also clear out B and E
We are left with C and D

The problem with C is the THAT clause.
THAT begin a new clause and sentence is now incomplete. Production is expected THAT.... household .. Production is expected what and THAT is modifying expected
Hence D is the correct answer

A.  almost expected  to double by the end of the year , which  would provide
B.  almost expected  that it will double by the end of the year, thus providing
C.  expected that it  will almost double by the end of the year to provide
D.  expected almost to double by the end of the year and thus to provide 
E. expected almost to double by the end of the  year, which  would thus be providing

apolo · Answer

which  : cannot modify a whole clause

almost  expected :  almost  is misplaced.

Abhishek009 · Answer

a)almost expected  to double  by the end of the year, which  would provide    - Incorrect

b)almost expected that it would double by the end of the year,thus providing

c)expected that  it will  almost double by the end of the year  to provide   - Incorrect

d)expected almost  to double  by the end of the year and thus  to provide    - Correct

As sources of electrical power, windmills now account for only about 2,500 megawatts nationwide, but production is expected

e)expected almost  to double  by the end of the year,  which  would thus  be providing    - Incorrect

D correctly maintains parallelism Hence IMO (D)..

AngelV · Answer

You cannot "almost expect". You either expect or you dont. There is no middle ground. Therefore, "almost" is placed incorrectly in A and B. Both out.

"production is expected that" is incorrect. "production is expected to" or "it is expected that production" is correct. C out.

"which" is incorrect in E.

D it is.

A more comprehensive POE:

A. 1. "almost" placed incorrectly.
2. "which" is incorrect.
3. "would" the past future tense is incorrect. We need a future tense since the sentence is written in the present tense ("production is")

B. 1. "almost" placed incorrectly.
2. The verb of intention "to" is preferable. This is not very crisp in meaning.

C. 1. "production is expected to" is correct not "production is expected that"
2. Meaning error. The production is expected to double with an intention to provide electricity?

D. 1. "almost" placed properly
2. "to double" correct.
3. Parallelism good. expected...to double || to provide.

E. 1. "which" is wrong.
2. Who is providing?

Answer: D

vishwaprakash · Answer

As sources of electrical power, windmills now account for only about 2,500 megawatts nationwide, but production is almost expected to double by the end of the year, which
would provide enough electricity for 1.3 million households.

Split 1 : Almost expected Vs Expected almost
both are correct but in this context, Almost expected creates illogical meaning . Expected almost is correct

Option A, B, C are wrong on this basis.

Lets do POE, to eliminate rest.

A. almost expected to double by the end of the year, which would provide
split 1 discussed above and Which - refers to year, year will not provide anything - incorrect

B. almost expected that it will double by the end of the year, thus providing
Split 1

C. expected that it will almost double by the end of the year to provide
It will almost double - Production wont double anything - Incorrect.

D. expected almost to double by the end of the year and thus to provide
expected 
to double and
to provide 
no error in parallelism - correct

E. expected almost to double by the end of the year, which would thus be providing
Which refers to year - incorrect

PrakharGMAT · Answer

Hi  chetan2u  /  daagh ,

Can you please explain why C is wrong...??

vingmat001 · Answer

Its the meaning..

"... expected..... it will...."

How can you expect an event and be sure that it will happen too? This is an oxymoron.

I expect that I will score 700 in GMAT. -- Incorrect.
I expect to score 700 in GMAT. -- Correct.

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

Meaning of the sentence: Production is expected to almost double and this would provide energy 
In options A and E, usage of which illogically conveys the meaning that years would provide the energy.

In options B, C and D, we need to check for parallelism.
We can negate B because of two reasons: 1) incorrect parallelism between account and providing and 2) almost expected distorts the meaning
Coming to C, what will almost double?

Hence Correct Option: D

pikolo2510 · Answer

Hello  GMATNinja ,  daagh  and other experts,

In option D, when we are considering parallelism, do we ignore "almost" and "thus" in the list? I eliminated D because I thought parallelism cannot fit here. The two things is the list are

1. Production is expected  almost   to double  by the end of the year
2. Production is expected  almost thus   to provide  enough electricity.....

I repeated "almost" because the first list started after "almost"

the #2 in the list doesn't make any sense at all. But upon reading other replies on this thread I found that others have ignored "almost" and "thus" . So do we need to exclude "adverbs" (I am assuming they are adverbs, i can't think of anything else:-( ) when we check for parallelism?

Please throw some light on this

egmat · Answer

Hello pikolo2510 , I will be glad to help you out with this one.

First of all, it is imperative to identify the correct parallel list. Following is the sentence with the correct answer choice D: As sources of electrical power, windmills now account for only about 2,500 megawatts nationwide, but production is expected almost to double by the end of the year and thus to provide enough electricity for 1.3 million households. The thing to understand here is that the words almost and thus are adverbs = action modifiers. Hence, their presence before the core parallel entities to double and to provide does not affect the intended parallelism because the modifiers attached to the core parallel entities have no bearing on parallelism. Hence, Choice D is perfectly parallel. We do cover this point about modifiers of core parallel entities not affecting the parallel list in our concept named Parallelism: Helpful Tips . Hope this helps.

Thanks. Shraddha

Sarjaria84 · Answer

Hi  daagh ,  GMATNinja ,  GMATninja2   VeritasKarishma

My doubt is that in the original sentence as well as in the correct choice 'D' there's an expectation of production doubling and with an expectation comes uncertainty. Therefore shouldn't the correct answer choice need to have the conditional 'would' in it.
As in, 'would' provide enough electricity for 1.3 mn households.

Thanks
Saurabh

As sources of electrical power, windmills now account for only about 2

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

As sources of electrical power, windmills now account for only about 2

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