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18 Apr 2010, 11:14
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Question Stats:
50% (00:42) correct
50%
(00:27)
wrong
based on 7
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OA A
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Although I frequently advise students to deal with Idioms last, I definitely felt the impulse to use the "increase of/increase in" split on this one. “Increase in (a certain year)” sounded better; I wondered, “Does ‘increase of the previous year’ suggest that the year stretched in duration??” At best, trying to recall idiom examples can take more time than grammar splits. At worst, your ear can bias you toward one split and blind you to the others.
Here are some idiom examples:
"the increase of X" could mean the increase of a thing (e.g. the increase of security forces followed the recent conflicts). But the idiom is also used for an increase that occurred in a certain time period (e.g. the sharp increase of 1998 was followed by the sudden decline of 2001)
“the increase in X” seems more commonly used for an increase in the size/amount/number of a thing (e.g. the increase in mortality rates, or the increase in the number of female ambassadors). However, “the increase in X” can also mean an increase in a certain time period (e.g. the increase in March actually exceeded the record increase in February.)
So, either idiom is fine here, I think.
Some might say that there is a case for “in the previous year” in order to be parallel with “in 1990” earlier in the sentence. I don’t think that’s required, because “of the previous year” modifies the noun “increase,” whereas “in 1990” modifies the verb “rose”; these modifiers are already used in a non-parallel way.
What are the other (better) splits?
(1) doubling/double/twice
“double/twice” after the comma is a noun modifier. Examples of correct usage:
--These cookies have 500 calories, twice as many calories as the low fat cookies. (modifies “calories”)
--The tickets cost $20, double what they cost in 1990. (modifies “$20”)
In this GMATPrep sentence, such modifiers would belong closer to “the number of people.” Partly because of the distance, the math is a little unclear. Are we comparing (the number of people flying in 1990) OR (the rise (increase) in the number of people flying in 1990) TO (the increase in 1989)?
In contrast, “doubling” is an adverbial modifier. It modifies the verb of the main clause, “rose.” How sharply did the number of people flying rise? So much that it doubled the increase of the previous year. Eliminate CDE.
(2) “double as much as” is redundant. Reusing one of my examples from above:
--The tickets cost $20, double as much as what they cost in 1990. (“as much as” is unnecessary and awkward). A second reason to eliminate C.
(3) “doubling the increase” vs. “doubling that of the increase”
The pronoun "that" doesn’t have a clear antecedent. The only singular candidate is “the number,” but that fails the logic test when we replace the pronoun with the antecedent:
“The number of people … rose sharply in 1990, doubling the number (of people) of the increase in the previous year.” Number of people of the increase? Eliminate B.
So without even touching the idiom, you could arrive at A.
Here are some idiom examples:
"the increase of X" could mean the increase of a thing (e.g. the increase of security forces followed the recent conflicts). But the idiom is also used for an increase that occurred in a certain time period (e.g. the sharp increase of 1998 was followed by the sudden decline of 2001)
“the increase in X” seems more commonly used for an increase in the size/amount/number of a thing (e.g. the increase in mortality rates, or the increase in the number of female ambassadors). However, “the increase in X” can also mean an increase in a certain time period (e.g. the increase in March actually exceeded the record increase in February.)
So, either idiom is fine here, I think.
Some might say that there is a case for “in the previous year” in order to be parallel with “in 1990” earlier in the sentence. I don’t think that’s required, because “of the previous year” modifies the noun “increase,” whereas “in 1990” modifies the verb “rose”; these modifiers are already used in a non-parallel way.
What are the other (better) splits?
(1) doubling/double/twice
“double/twice” after the comma is a noun modifier. Examples of correct usage:
--These cookies have 500 calories, twice as many calories as the low fat cookies. (modifies “calories”)
--The tickets cost $20, double what they cost in 1990. (modifies “$20”)
In this GMATPrep sentence, such modifiers would belong closer to “the number of people.” Partly because of the distance, the math is a little unclear. Are we comparing (the number of people flying in 1990) OR (the rise (increase) in the number of people flying in 1990) TO (the increase in 1989)?
In contrast, “doubling” is an adverbial modifier. It modifies the verb of the main clause, “rose.” How sharply did the number of people flying rise? So much that it doubled the increase of the previous year. Eliminate CDE.
(2) “double as much as” is redundant. Reusing one of my examples from above:
--The tickets cost $20, double as much as what they cost in 1990. (“as much as” is unnecessary and awkward). A second reason to eliminate C.
(3) “doubling the increase” vs. “doubling that of the increase”
The pronoun "that" doesn’t have a clear antecedent. The only singular candidate is “the number,” but that fails the logic test when we replace the pronoun with the antecedent:
“The number of people … rose sharply in 1990, doubling the number (of people) of the increase in the previous year.” Number of people of the increase? Eliminate B.
So without even touching the idiom, you could arrive at A.
19 May 2010, 23:50
Kudos
Bookmarks
here you can't use the construction twice as many as, because that's an appositive modifier ... appositives modify a noun that comes directly before the comma .... which in this case is 1990.. since 1990 is not a figure but a year, you can't use this construction.
so eliminate D & E
-ing followed by comma modifies the entire action of the preceding clause .. because you're comparing the increase in the number of people flying first class
so A it is
so eliminate D & E
-ing followed by comma modifies the entire action of the preceding clause .. because you're comparing the increase in the number of people flying first class
so A it is
