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In contrast to the ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the

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27 Sep 2018, 10:08

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Hi Pallavi, the core of the sentence is:

Deficit declined.

Hopefully it is clear that deficit is the subject and declined is the verb. This is similar to:

Inflation declined.

Again, inflation is the subject and declined is the verb.

Please note that all verbs don't necessarily need an object. So, deficit declined something is not required.

On the other hand, if the sentence is:

Michael declined the offer.

Here, the offer is the object (declined still continues to be the verb).

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26 Jun 2019, 22:08

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Why is there no " 'S " in choice A --- "the United State's trade deficit" (please notice " 's ").

Please help on this.

It would definitely be wrong to write "the United State's" here, since the country's full name is "the United States" with an "s" on the end. (Similar: if we're trying to say that some weirdo named Charles has a huge appetite, it would be wrong to refer to "Charle's huge appetite.")

Beyond that: well, there's some grey area with the possessive here, but it's completely irrelevant on the GMAT. The GMAT will never test you on the correct placement of an apostrophe for a possessive noun that already ends in "s." The GMAT really doesn't care if you'd write "Charles's amazing appetite" (correct), "Charles' amazing appetite" (often considered incorrect a generation ago, but generally accepted now), or "Charle's amazing appetite" (definitely wrong). The test has more important things to worry about.

If we're talking about the trade deficit of the United States, though, we have a funny habit of omitting the apostrophe completely. I'm not sure why we do that, to be honest. We would talk about "Mexico's economy" (with an apostrophe to indicate that "Mexico" is possessive) or "the Mexican economy" (with "Mexican" functioning as an adjective), but we tend to just say "the United States economy" or "the United States trade deficit." Technically, an apostrophe would be fine for those last two, but we tend to omit it.

But again: this isn't anything to worry about, since it's not ever going to be a deciding factor on a GMAT question.

I hope this helps!

Hi GMAT Ninja,

Can you throw some light on why in E. the comparison between trade imbalances and United states record exports incorrect? Is it because logically trade imbalances must be compared with trade imbalances/deficit in comparison to exports?

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02 Jul 2019, 18:04

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nishatfarhat87

Quote:

(E) Compared to the ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States record exports to Mexico caused a $500 million decline in trade deficit with that country.

If I'm interpreting your post correctly, you have the right idea: we can't compare "the ongoing trade imbalances..." with "the United States record exports to Mexico" because exports aren't actually a type of trade imbalance! Answer choice (A) compares "the ongoing trade imbalances..." with "the United States trade deficit..." Much clearer.

I hope this helps!

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29 Sep 2019, 19:53

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daagh

It is common that the trade deficit of a particular country with another country will shrink when exports to that another country go up. Here the exporter is the US and the importer is Mexico. Therefore, exports to 'that' country will only mean exports to Mexico; After all, can the US have a trade deficit with itself?

Hello daagh,

Would also like to know if 'selling exports' is a correct phrase. Shouldnt it be 'exporting' only ?

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29 Sep 2019, 22:38

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Sid
Hi
As you say, after all, "sold exports' or 'selling exports' are mentioned in B,C, and D which are also wrong chocies, probably becuase they are not correct expressions. But the primary reason are the faulty comparisons.

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09 Dec 2019, 13:16

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daagh egmat
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I feel declined is a v-ed modifier not a verb

Per egmat litus test

lfthe Supect of the senlence ls the "doer' of the action presented by
the Verb-ed fom, then the Verb form is the verb of the sentence.

Here, subject of this main clause is deficit wich is not the doer of action declined. Deficit cant decline itself.

How is this not a run-on sentence ?

Kindly guide.

Regards

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10 Dec 2019, 09:51

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Hi Shank

Quote:

In contrast to the ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States trade deficit with Mexico declined by $500 million as a result of record exports to that country.

(A) In contrast to the ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States trade deficit with Mexico declined by $500 million as a result of record exports to that country.

(B) In contrast to ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States sold record exports to Mexico, reducing its trade deficit by $500 million.

(C) When compared with ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States sold record exports to Mexico, reducing their trade deficit by $500 million.

(D) Compared with ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States sold record exports to Mexico, reducing the trade deficit by $500 million.

(E) Compared to the ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States record exports to Mexico caused a $500 million decline in trade deficit with that country.

Your contention is that since the US is not the doer of the comparison, 'declined' is not a verb but a past participle modifier, and hence the US cannot be the modifyee.

1. One set of verbs involves direct action such as sing, jump, swim etc. The subject is the doer of the action. They are called the action verbs.

2. Then there are another set of nouns, which are called 'the linking verbs'. Their function is simply to link the subject with the rest of the predicate.

1. He appeared nervous when he entered the exam hall.
Did he do anything to appear nervous?

2. Attracting everybody's attention, the Jumbo-sized Watermelon fetched the highest bid.
Did the fruit do anything to attract the attention?

3. Then there are another set called the status verbs just to indicate the state of being of the subject.
In all these cases, the subject is not the doer of the action

Let's look at another kind of 'status' verbs.

1. Born in India, several people immigrated to the US with no intention of returning to the motherland.
Here the subject 'people' are not the doers of the function of 'being born." Still the modification is all right.

2. Situated on top of the Tirumala hills, Tirupathi is a great religious center of India.
Do the Tirupathi hills do anything to be modifies by the word situated?

3. Dried on the sunny open terrace, the cloths are ready for ironing.
Do the clothes do anything for drying?

Please also take another hint. A modifier in the middle of a sentence will mostly be separated by a comma from the previous part, But, a verb will not be separated. If not preceded by a comma, it may still be a modifier modifying the noun before. However, in the given context it doesn't hold any sense to say Mexico declined.

Therefore, please rest assured that 'declined' is the verb of the noun 'trade deficit' and not a modifier.

Your query--How is this not a run-on sentence? I hope you are referring to choice A.
(A) In contrast to the ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States trade deficit with Mexico declined by $500 million as a result of record exports to that country.
In contrast to the ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan-- a prepositional modifier.
the United States trade deficit with Mexico declined by $500 million as a result of record exports to that country. -- This is the main clause.
This is a simple sentence with only one clause in it. Therefore, there is no question of a run-on.

HTH

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13 Nov 2020, 03:06

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Sold record exports seems redundant. option b,c and d can be expelled based on this argument

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25 Feb 2021, 01:37

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daagh

A question of comparison! What is being compared is the trade imbalance of the US with those of China and Japan. It is improper to compare a trade imbalance or deficit with the some country. Except A, all other choices indulge in this mis-comparison. Hence A is the correct choice.

I agree that comparisons are clearly improper in B, C and D. But how is the comparison improper in E?
A) ongoing trade imbalances < compared with> the United States trade deficit with Mexico
E) ongoing trade imbalances < compared with> the United States record exports to Mexico
both seem similar to me.
Can anyone clarify?
Any other reason to rule out E?

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18 Mar 2021, 12:39

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pany

daagh

While the comparison in (E) isn't as obviously horrible as the comparisons in (B), (C), and (D), it still doesn't make much sense. I'll steal from our earlier post:

We can't compare "the ongoing trade imbalances..." with "the United States record exports to Mexico" because exports aren't actually a type of trade imbalance! Answer choice (A) compares "the ongoing trade imbalances" with "the United States trade deficit." A deficit IS a kind of trade imbalance, making (A) the much clearer comparison.

I hope that helps!

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16 May 2021, 14:11

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Hi experts, MartyTargetTestPrep GMATNinja AjiteshArun VeritasKarishma

I have a doubt about this question. What is the best way to know when the comparison is illogical (with the various comparison markers)?

E.g., Whereas Tom loves cookies, the likelihood that the class would like them is low.
- To my understanding, "whereas," "while," and "although" do NOT need to be identical between the two comparisons; therefore, the comparison above would be logical.

However, it seems as though the GMAT seems to believe that "in contrast," "when compared," and "compared to/with" need to be identical..

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16 May 2021, 14:45

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samgyupsal

In each case you have to consider the logic of what is expressed.

For instance, if you think about it, "in contrast with" indicates that two things are being contrasted. Those things don't have to be identical or described in the same way in the sentence, but it does have to make sense to contrast them. Notice that the following sentence does not work.

In contrast with the flight of birds, fish swim slowly.

So, fish are being contrasted with the flight of birds.

Notice that "when compared" also has to connect things that would logically be compared.

When compared with the flight of birds, fish swim slowly.

So, now fish are compared with the flight of birds, and they swim slowly when compared with the flight of birds, as if they swim quickly when nobody is comparing them.

Logic is the key here. From what you said, it sounds as if you are looking for a rule, but really, you don't need a rule. You more need to understand what the words mean and consider the logic of what each sentence conveys.

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12 Aug 2022, 00:37

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Can we cross out B,C,and D because important information is placed between two commas making the sentence unessential modifier? Experts please give your input.

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12 Aug 2022, 05:59

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AbhishekDhanraJ72

Can we cross out B,C,and D because important information is placed between two commas making the sentence unessential modifier? Experts please give your input.

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Hello AbhishekDhanraJ72,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, no; the rule of information between commas does not apply here because "the United States sold record exports to Mexico" is the main clause of the sentence; we say that important information has been included between commas if the information is presented in the form of a non-essential modifier offset by a pair of commas.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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18 Sep 2022, 22:23

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mbaapp1234

A. Correct.
B. "Trade imbalances" are incorrectly compared to a country.
C. "Trade imbalances" are incorrectly compared to a country.
D. "Trade imbalances" are incorrectly compared to a country.
E. B. "Trade imbalances" are incorrectly compared to "record exports" instead of other trade deficits.

Thanks mbaapp1234, for clearly and correctly calling out the actual error in option E.

Quote:

(E) Compared to the ongoing trade imbalances with China and Japan, the United States record exports to Mexico caused a $500 million decline in trade deficit with that country.

Quote:

E. "Trade imbalances" are incorrectly compared to "record exports" instead of other trade deficits.

E, as it's written, compares trade DIFFERENCES with ABSOLUTE trade value.

Say, trade imbalances is 2B, whereas the Absolute trade value is 200B, then it's wrong to compare the difference with the absolute. We should compare apples with apples.

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22 Jan 2023, 09:48

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ExpertsGlobal5

In the original sentence,what is the role of "declined by 500...."
is it a modifier or verb for the subject ?
not able to comprehend the structure.

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ExpertsGlobal5

In the original sentence,what is the role of "declined by 500...."
is it a modifier or verb for the subject ?
not able to comprehend the structure.

Hello AnujL,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in the original sentence "declined by 500..." is an active verb phrase that acts upon the subject "United States trade deficit with Mexico"; here "declined" is the simple past tense form of the verb "decline".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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