From 1982 to 1987 sales of new small boats increased between five and

Question

From 1982 to 1987 sales of new small boats increased between five and ten percent annually.

(A) From 1982 to 1987 sales of new small boats increased between five and ten percent annually.

(B) Five to ten percent is the annual increase in sales of new small boats in the years 1982 to 1987.

(C) Sales of new small boats have increased annually five and ten percent in the years 1982 to 1987.

(D) Annually an increase of five to ten percent has occurred between 1982 and 1987 in the sales of new small boats.

(E) Occurring from 1982 to 1987 was an annual increase of five and ten percent in the sales of new small boats.

MichaelS · Accepted Answer

One problem with B is the verb  is . Because A and B have such different structures, you might not recognize that there is a verb tense split between them. A correctly uses the past tense  increased , while B incorrectly uses the present tense  is .

Honestly, though, I imagine that most people who reject B do so simply because it's so awkward. I don't know that it's unidiomatic, as BDSunDevil claims, but I agree that its sounds awful.

Onell · Answer

B,C "in the years 1982 to 1987". is unidiomatic .It should be in the form of "FROM X TO Y" or "BETWEEN X AND Y"
D. Misplaced modifier . occoured should be followed by "in the sales of new small boats."
E. changes the meaning "increase of five and ten percent" should not be AND

vivesomnium · Answer

I think the answer is A
(B) Five to ten percent is the annual increase in sales of new small boats in the years 1982 to 1987. Use of is brings a note of recency to the data.also in the years 1982 to 1987 is not correct usage 
(C) Sales of new small boats have increased annually five and ten percent in the years 1982 to 1987.:  five and ten percent is wrong; the value should specify a range. And doesnt fulfil this purpose  
(D) Annually an increase of five to ten percent has occurred between 1982 and 1987 in the sales of new small boats. Wordy construction, 'increase has occured' is not the most prefered form! 
(E) Occurring from 1982 to 1987 was an annual increase of five and ten percent in the sales of new small boats. Even Wordier! also use of five and ten similar to (C)

egoistwlv · Answer

From 1982 to 1987 sales of new small boats increased between five and ten percent annually.
(A) From 1982 to 1987 sales of new small boats increased between five and ten percent annually.
(B) Five to ten percent is the annual increase in sales of new small boats in the years 1982 to 1987.
(C) Sales of new small boats have increased annually five and ten percent in the years 1982 to 1987.
(D) Annually an increase of five to ten percent has occurred between 1982 and 1987 in the sales of new small boats.
(E) Occurring from 1982 to 1987 was an annual increase of five and ten percent in the sales of new small boats.

For B  
The main stucture is 5-10 percent (subject) is (be) increase (object) 
   But percent is not an 'increase'. It is a rate of the increase.   
So   B is out  
  Note: the present tense of the 'be' is allowed here . 
Actually there are two meanings of the phrase 'in the years 1982-1987' as follows:
B1, 'in the years...' is an adverbial 
B2, it is an attributive modifying 'the annual increase in sales of new small boats'
In B2, it's not modifying the sentence, but only the noun 'increase', so the tense of the 'be' is not determined by this time frame.
Examples:
#1 10 thousand is the death toll of the earthquake in 2008. 
#2 Tutankhamun is the name of a Pharaoh in the ancient Egypt
In #1, 'in 2008' is modifying the earthquake. So 'is' is allowed. 
In #2, 'in the ancient Egypt' is also an attributiive modifying 'Pharaoh', so 'is' is allowed in the sentence.

For C  
the structure of C is: 
Sales (subject) have increased (predicative) annually (adverbial) 5-10% (complement) in the years 1985-1987.
And the complement '5-10%' serves to clarify and expound the verb 'increase', namely how much 'the increase' really is.

But the expression 'in the years 1985-1987' is ambiguous.
 C1 ,   in the years 1985-1987 is also an adverbial, and it modifies the whole sentence.  
 C2 ,   in the years 1985-1987 serves as a attributive modifying '5-10%'

C1 is basically equals A. But 'have increased',   the verb in a perfect tense, doesn't match the time frame of 'in the years ...'  , which suggests the the sentence describes something in the past, not some situation at present. 
so  case 1 is out 
C2 means that the sales have increased annually, without any exception. And the sales increased 5-10% during 1985 -1987.
So C2 is substantially different from what the author wants to say. 
 C2 is out 
So   C is out  
Note

For D   , two major flaws:

1. The tense of the verb 'increase', namely the   present perfect, does not match the adverbial 'between the year 1985 and 1987'  
2. The meaning is substantially distorted.
Please consider the following sentence,
#3 annually, a burst of bubble occured in the stock market. 
In #3 'annually' is an adverbial, and it is not modifying 'a burst of bubble', but its occurrence. And it obvious doesn't th mean 'the burst' lasts the whole year and ever year.
Therefore, for   sentence D, we don't know whether the increase lasts the whole year, every year.  
we can consider the following situation:
#4 annually, a increase of sales occured; but a decrease soon succeeds.
basically the point is:     'annually, increase occurs' =/= 'annual increase  ' 
So   D is out.

For E 
E is ambiguous, since it has two meanings:
E1 = A. we consider the phrase 'in the sales of ...' as an adverbial modifier.
E2. Only 5-10 percent in the sales increases annually, leaving the rest of the sales unkown to us.
Here, we regard '5-10% in the sales of new small boats' as a whole. And the expression 'increase of something' means something's increase. 
So   E is out.

For A 
The adverbials 'from 1985 to 1987' and 'annually clearly modify the sentence, namely they show how and when the sales increase. The complement '5-10%' further explains the 'increase'. And there is no obvious ambiguity.

Choose A

ChrisLele · Answer

(B) is incorrect because we need the idiom from Year X to Year Y. (B) instead uses the unidiomatic and awkward construction, 'Five to ten percent...' Also to make (B) less awkward, we should use 'Subject increased x% annually' vs. 'x% is the annual increase in sales.

(A) The Answer

(A) uses idiomatic 'from Year x to Year y' and 'increased x% annually.

Hope that helps

.

BDSunDevil · Answer

From/Between X to Y is the correct IDIOM. B out.

Bandesha1 · Answer

Is "between five and ten percent" better than "between five to ten percent" ? I thought a range is preferred when we refer to numbers

MichaelS · Answer

Yes, Bandesha1, the standard idioms are  between X and Y  and  from X to Y .

Though  between X to Y  is common in informal English, it is nonstandard and counts as wrong on the GMAT.

thangvietname · Answer

WHY e is wrong?

progress past tense is not good here?

why, pls help

Narenn · Answer

the original sentence says  sales increased between 5 and 10 percent . that means it might have increased by any value that is between 5 and 10
whereas Choice E says  Rate of sales increase was 5 and 10 percent  that means it has only increased by either 5 or 10 and by no any other value.

Apart from above i don't find any reason to go for such awkward choice when we have a direct and concise option that is Choice A.

daagh · Answer

The whole event occurred during a particular period between x and Y, which is a closed chapter now. The correct expression for such an en event is to use simple past and no perfect tenses or present tense. That is why B, C and D are out. As you see E is too awkward in construction using passive voice. A is the one; only the OE should say why it is not

alphaseeker · Answer

(A) From 1982 to 1987 sales of new small boats increased between five and ten percent annually.>> correct answer
(B) Five to ten percent is the annual increase in sales of new small boats in the  years 1982 to 1987 .>>Wordy and from ... to ...
(C) Sales of new small boats  have increased  annually five and ten percent in the years 1982 to 1987.>>the period is over, so past tense must be used.
(D) Annually an increase of five to ten percent  has occurred  between 1982 and 1987 in the sales of new small boats.>>same with C
(E)  Occurring  from 1982 to 1987  was  an annual increase of five and ten percent in the sales of new small boats.>>Wordy, Occurring ..... was...cant happen

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

The correct idiom to use here is  ‘From X to Y’

Option A  does not seem to have any glaring errors. Let’s hold on to that while we scan the remaining options:

Option B  does not use the correct idiom.  Eliminate .

Option C  has the incorrect tense.  Eliminate.

Option D  alters the meaning.  Eliminate.

Option E  says ‘of 5 and 10 percent’. Again, alters the meaning.  Eliminate.

Option A  is the best option.

Hope this helps!

mSKR · Answer

Hi  AjiteshArun   CrackVerbalGMAT

A simple clartification idioms: 
 From X to Y: is the correct idiom.  --> it represents range but not a particular number in the range. Am i right?

(D) Annually an increase  of  five  to  ten percent has occurred between 1982 and 1987 in the sales of new small boats.

How can we present the number between 5 and 10 . e.g. 6.7
1. Usually we don't say the number from 5 to 10 . Because we are talking of a particular number in the range but not range itself. Am i right? 
even for mid numbers? ==> 6 is a number from 5 to 10? -- i think it is not correct
2. I want to confirm that  of X to Y  , no such idiom ? It doesn't represent a particular number in the range? Is it? ( Actually i choose D with this wrong thought)
3. For mid numbers, the correct expression == the number is in between 5 and 10. Any other expression/idiom that can be used for this question?

Please confirm.

mohitwadhwa28 · Answer

Hi GmatNinja, KarishmaB,

Between X and Y is a correct idiom but in this case in the correct option A ....between 5 and 10 percent isn't awkward? 
Shouldn't it be....sales of new small boats increased 5 to 10 percent annually?

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From 1982 to 1987 sales of new small boats increased between five and

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