Despite the increased interest in automobile racing, the plummeting at

Question

Project SC Butler: Day 155: Sentence Correction (SC1) 
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Despite the increased interest in automobile racing, the plummeting attendance figures at local races  fell so low that the owner was forced to close the speedway .

A) fell so low that the owner was forced to close the speedway

B) fell low enough that the owner was forced to close the speedway

C) forced the owner to close the speedway

D) fell so low that the owner had been forced to close the speedway

E) closed the speedway when they fell so low

generis · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Day 155: Sentence Correction (SC1)

Despite the increased interest in automobile racing, the plummeting attendance figures at local races  fell so low that the owner was forced to close the speedway .

• Redundant. The word  plummeting  already establishes that the attendance figures  have fallen  and  are low . 
•  Plummeting  means  decreasing quickly by a large amount,   HERE  
• Either "fell so low" or "plummeting" must go. "Plummeting" is not underlined. "Fell so low" should be removed.
•  so low that the owner was forced to close  is a trap. The idiom  So X that Y  would be fine if it were not redundant.

• also redundant as in (A)
•  low enough that + clause  is a different kind of trap. T
Be careful with  enough.  I do not know of a single official question in which the correct answer included "enough that." I know of three in which the correct answer did not include  enough that . 
One official question is  HERE.  Another is  HERE 
In the last example, the OE writer mentioned vaguely that "enough that" was not as idiomatic as  So X as to Y  HERE

• correct

• redundant as in A and B
• no reason exists to use  had been forced,  the past perfect tense

]
• the attendance figures did not close the speedway. The owner closed the roadway.

Answer C

Redundancy may be difficult to catch in this question.
When redundant words are separated from each other, catching the redundancy is harder than when the words are close together.

We can eliminate D for its use of past perfect and E for illogical meaning.
Option B is not idiomatic. ("Enough that" is very common in speech and in informal writing. The construction is not correct on the GMAT.)
Now, A or C?

Remember that plummeting is an adjective. It tells us that attendance figures had fallen very quickly and were low.
Plummet is a dramatic verb.
In English we say, "Skyrocketing interest rates hurt the housing market."
We also say, "Plummeting attendance rates forced the owner to close the roadway."
We don't need the extra words in A, let alone redundant extra words.

COMMENTS

vaibhav1221  ,  Peddi  , and  rimkahan  , welcome to SC Butler.

As always, I am please to see familiar usernames, too.

I am glad to see that so many people track on meaning.

A couple of you slid in after the OA posted. I haven't been explicit, so you get kudos. I will be clearer about time constraints. 
If you posted before my edit, you get kudos.
Correct answers with explanations get kudos. Finally, if you got the answer wrong but I think you demonstrated good effort, you also get kudos. 
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Ashokshiva · Answer

IMO C

Despite the increased interest in automobile racing, the plummeting attendance figures at local races fell so low that the owner was forced to close the speedway.

''Plummeting'' and ''fell low'' mean the same thing, hence inorder to avoid redundancy selecting option-c.

A)  fell so low  that the owner was forced to close the speedway

B)  fell low  enough that the owner was forced to close the speedway

C) forced the owner to close the speedway

D)  fell so low  that the owner had been forced to close the speedway

E) closed the speedway when they  fell so low

J2S2019 · Answer

IMO the correct answer is C

Despite the increased interest in automobile racing, the plummeting attendance figures at local races fell so low that the owner was forced to close the speedway.

Analysis of the sentence:

Despite the increased interest in automobile racing, - This is a modifier phrase modifying the next following IC.
 the plummeting attendance figures   at local races   fell  so low that the owner was forced to close the speedway -   the plummeting attendance figures   - Subject of the sentence - Plural subject should take the plural verb; " at local races " - Prepositional phrase;"fell" - Plural verb- correct usage; "so low..." - the usage of so low is redundant as "plummeting" itself denoting a sharp decline figure. - 
Hence original option is incorrect.

A) fell so low that the owner was forced to close the speedway - Incorrect

B) fell low enough that the owner was forced to close the speedway - Incorrect

C) forced the owner to close the speedway - Correct

D) fell so low that the owner had been forced to close the speedway - Incorrect

E) closed the speedway when they fell so low - Meaning error; - "the plummeting attendance figures" are not closing the speedway. - Incorrect

Annet1524 · Answer

Despite the increased interest in automobile racing, the plummeting attendance figures at local races fell so low that the owner was forced to close the speedway.

A)  fell  so low that the owner was forced to close the speedway - redundancy

B)  fell  low enough that the owner was forced to close the speedway - redundancy

C) forced the owner to close the speedway - correct answer,  clear meaning, correct structure

D)  fell  so low that the owner had been forced to close the speedway - redundancy

E) closed the speedway when they fell so low - changed meaning

ahabib · Answer

A) fell so low that the owner was forced to close the speedway

I don't think there's a redundancy issue here, and everything else looks fine as well, therefore  keep it .

B)  fell low enough  that the owner was forced to close the speedway

The GMAT prefers "Fell so low that" over other constructions

C) forced the owner to close the speedway

I think there's a subtle meaning change here, and prefer (A).

The way I see it, and I would love a veteran to chime in: It was not the plummeting figures that caused the owner to close shop, it was that they fell to such a low level (They could have plummeted from a super high number but been sufficient to keep the business running)

D) fell so low that the owner  had been  forced to close the speedway

Unnecessary verb tense

E) closed the speedway when they fell so low

The plummeting figures didn't close the freeway.. Big meaning change

vaibhav1221 · Answer

Despite the increased interest in automobile racing, the plummeting attendance figures at local races  fell so low that the owner was forced to close the speedway .

Redundant. Fell low and plummeting.

No redundancy here. Correct

Redundant. Fell low and plummeting.

Doer01 · Answer

Hi,
 Two things here:
1. Sequence of events: plummeting attendance fell so low....then the closing of race course 
2. Contrast: Despite...., plummeting...closing

Now, both the events, plummeting and closing, are in simple past but earlier event, falling low, should be in past perfect followed by closing in simple past.
Since none of the options has this construction, it is better to look for an option that delivers a crisp and clear meaning without any error. 
C is the only option that conveys the author’s intent and is the winner.

Posted from my mobile device

TheNightKing · Answer

Hello, I know I have not attempted this question during the 24 hour window but I will mention my approach anyway.
At first read there seems to be no issue in the sentence so you should just move on to answer choices.
Between A and B, "so low" vs "low enough" is not necessarily a breaking point as per me. Both should be okay so let's just move forward.
After reading option C, you should ask yourself: do you really need the phrase fell so low or whatever it is? The moment you ask this you should go to the word plummeting and realise you don't need this phrase at all.
Eliminate A B D.
Between C and E, C is more concise. E also commits the mistake of "they". 
Hence C.

generis · Answer

TheNightKing  , maybe I confused people.

I welcome posts at  any  time!

The 24-hour mark (when the OA is revealed) is simply the cutoff for absolute eligibility for kudos.

It is still possible to get kudos after that; such kudos depend on many factors.

I hope people  do  keep posting answers if they feel inclined to do so. 
(Not non-explanatory answers.)
Posting answers is one of the best ways to learn, and others may benefit from different strategies and phrasing.

I did not articulate what you wrote in the highlighted part, although I thought about its content as I was writing.
What you wrote is spot on.

In addition, when you could not decide quickly whether A and B were correct, you moved on. 
I use this strategy. It works for many people. It is very efficient.
And a subsequent answer choice may suggest why other answers might be or are wrong, just as C did in this question.

P.S. Option E suggests that the plummeting rates rather than the owner closed the roadway. 
In a roundabout way, that connection is true. But (C) is better: a person closes down the business. 
Option E is redundant, too.

altairahmad · Answer

generis   GMATNinja   daagh

I want to share my doubt on the redundancy point of option (A) and how there appears to be a big difference in meaning between (A) and (B).

Isn't there a subtle yet important difference in meaning between the two ?

(A) ->The track was closed because  the plummeting figures crossed a certain threshold and not just because of falling attendance figures alone.

(B) -> The track was closed because  the figures started plummeting .

I understand that 'plummeting' means a big dip, still option (A) adds a trigger point (for closing the racing circuit) in addition to plummeting figures.

Based on this reasoning, I chose (A). (It makes more sense to convey a meaning that someone would close something down once their threshold has been met)

Any comments will be most appreciated.

generis · Answer

altairahmad , I agree that there may be a subtle difference. (I think you mean (C), btw.) I think that C is the better answer. When we say that "despite increased interest in automobile racing, plummeting attendance figures forced the owner to close the roadway" we know that . . . the figures got so low that the owner had to close the place. I used the examples in my OE for that reason. "Skyrocketing interest rates are hurting the housing market" already indicates that the threshold for harm has been reached. That signal is included in the verbal "skyrocketing." "Plummeting attendance figures forced the owner to close the roadway" similarly indicates that the threshold (of "so low that") was reached. The signal is contained in the verbal "plummeting," (an adjective, but derived from a verb). You make a fair point. In addition to what I just wrote, I always urge people to wonder: what, exactly, are these people testing me on? In this instance, I think the answer is fairly clear: the writer is testing redundancy. Does (C) do the job? Yes. Do we NEED to say more as is the case in (A)? Not if we understand meaning as expressed by the whole sentence in (C). Is (C) redundant? No. Is (C) shorter? Yes. Do I think that this case I just made is slam-dunk? Not sure. When some (often dramatic) verbs are coupled with a result, it is understood that the effect of the dramatic verb WAS to cross the threshold and create the final result. -- The mushrooming population of loggers in areas of the Amazon forest destroys vital sources of the earth's oxygen. (We don't know what the threshold is, but we know that it has been reached.) For strategic reasons related to what is being tested as well as for overall meaning, I would still choose (C). I used to know an official question that reminds me of this one. I can't remember it. If I do remember, I will update this post. You make a very reasonable argument. In the end, to run a project like SC Butler requires that I use non-official questions. Good non-official questions are very hard to find. This source is reliable, but it is not GMAC. Takeaway? The question is not official. Be aware of the issue that it raised (an issue that will crop up in a less equivocal way), but do not worry too much.

Hope that helps.

Sneha2021 · Answer

GMATNinja 
@e-gmat
I often get confused with the verb-ed modifier. 
Verb-ed can act as a verb or a modifier. To check its functionality as a verb, we check who's doer of the action.
In option C, how can attendance figures (doer) forced anything? IMO, subject doesn't make sense with the verb (forced). 
Despite the increased interest in automobile racing, the plummeting attendance figures (subject) at local races forced (verb) the owner to close the speedway.
Please help me to understand verb-ed role.

VerbalBot · Answer

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Despite the increased interest in automobile racing, the plummeting at

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