In despite of the steady population flow out from rural areas into

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:

In despite of the steady population flow out from rural areas into urban clusters, nearly 5 million farm households are still in Japan out of a total population of some 116 million people.

(A) In despite of the steady population flow out from rural areas into urban clusters, nearly 5 million farm households are still in Japan
(B) In spite of the steady population flow out from rural areas into urban clusters, nearly 5 million farm households are still in Japan
(C) Despite the steady population flow from rural areas into urban clusters, Japan’s farm households are still nearly 5 million
(D) Despite the steady population flow from rural areas to urban clusters, there are still nearly 5 million farm households in Japan
(E) In Japan, despite the steady population flow out from rural areas into urban clusters, still there are nearly 5 million farm households

We have a few key things to focus on here:

1. In despite of / In spite of / Despite (Idioms)
2. into / to (Idioms)
3. how each option ends (Meaning; Construction)

Let's start with #1 on our list: in despite of / in spite of / despite. If you need to refresh your memory on these idioms, make sure to look over your study materials!

(A) In despite of the steady population flow out from rural areas into urban clusters, nearly 5 million farm households are still in Japan
(B) In spite of the steady population flow out from rural areas into urban clusters, nearly 5 million farm households are still in Japan
(C) Despite the steady population flow from rural areas into urban clusters, Japan’s farm households are still nearly 5 million
(D) Despite the steady population flow from rural areas to urban clusters, there are still nearly 5 million farm households in Japan
(E) In Japan, despite the steady population flow out from rural areas into urban clusters, still there are nearly 5 million farm households

The only one here that uses an incorrect phrase is option A, so let's quickly rule that one out. Now let's move onto idiom #2: into / to. The correct idiom structure we're dealing with is "from X to Y." Let's see how our options stack up:

(B) In spite of the steady population flow out from rural areas into urban clusters, nearly 5 million farm households are still in Japan
(C) Despite the steady population flow from rural areas into urban clusters, Japan’s farm households are still nearly 5 million
(D) Despite the steady population flow from rural areas to urban clusters, there are still nearly 5 million farm households in Japan
(E) In Japan, despite the steady population flow out from rural areas into urban clusters, still there are nearly 5 million farm households

There you have it - option D is the correct choice! It's the only one that handles both idioms correctly!

I see in the comments that many of you want to know how to tackle #3 on my list, so here is how you deal with the meaning/construction issue:

(A) In despite of the steady population flow out from rural areas into urban clusters, nearly 5 million farm households are still in Japan

This suggests that there may be some farm households moved outside of Japan, which isn't what we're talking about - we're talking about people moving from rural to urban areas within Japan. While you could probably assume what the writer meant, it's not 100% clear, so it's not a good option.

(B) In spite of the steady population flow out from rural areas into urban clusters, nearly 5 million farm households are still in Japan

Same problem as option A.

(C) Despite the steady population flow from rural areas into urban clusters, Japan’s farm households are still nearly 5 million

This changes the intended meaning from talking about 5 million households to 5 million people. We know that most households are comprised of more than one person, so this is incredibly misleading!

(D) Despite the steady population flow from rural areas to urban clusters, there are still nearly 5 million farm households in Japan

This works because it's conveying the clearest and closest intended meaning while adhering to all the idiom rules.

(E) In Japan, despite the steady population flow out from rural areas into urban clusters, still there are nearly 5 million farm households

By placing the phrase "despite the steady population flow out from rural areas into urban clusters" between commas, this turned the phrase into a non-essential clause. This piece of information is important to the intended meaning of the sentence, so giving readers the option to remove it is a bad idea. It's also not grammatically correct to say "still there are." It should be "there are still."

There you go - option D is still our answer, even if we focus on this issue first!


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