November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light truck

Question

November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks,  but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers , accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.

(A) but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers,

(B) but even when it is compared with previous Novembers, this past November’s sales

(C) but even when they are compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November

(D) so that compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November

(E) so that this past November’s sales, even compared with previous Novembers’ sales,

November Sales

(A) CORRECT

(B) Pronoun ( it ); Comparison ( compared with )

(C) Comparison ( compared with )

(D) Meaning ( so that ); Comparison ( compared with )

(E) Meaning ( so that )

First glance

The underline starts with the conjunction  but , so this sentence may be testing sentence structure, meaning, or an idiom.

Issues

(1) Pronoun:  it

Answers (B) and (C) both use a pronoun in the same location in the sentence, but (B) uses  it  and (C) uses  they . Check for a singular-plural match.

In both cases, logically, the pronoun should refer to the plural noun  sales  (later in the sentence); in other words, the pronoun should be plural. Eliminate answer (B).

Note: if you say that  it  refers to the singular  November  in answer (B), then the comparison is faulty.  Previous Novembers  aren’t supposed to be compared with the month of November in general; they are supposed to be compared with this  past November .

(2) Comparison:  X compared with Y

When you see a comparison marker, make sure that the comparison is apples to apples.

(A)  sales this past November…  compared with  sales in previous Novembers

(B)  it    is compared with  previous Novembers

(C)  they    are compared with  previous Novembers

(D) compared with  previous Novembers, sales…this past November

(E)  this past November’s sales , …compared with  previous Novembers’ sales

Fix: Answers (B), (C), and (D) compare  sales  to  previous Novembers . This is a   faulty comparison  . Answers (A) and (E) correctly compare  sales  from one period to  sales  from another period. Eliminate answers (B), (C), and (D).

(3) Meaning:  so that

Answers (A), (B), and (C) all start with  but ; answers (D) and (E) start with  so that . What’s the difference?

The sentence is trying to convey a surprising fact. It is already the case that November is typically a strong month for light truck sales. Surprisingly, this past November was even stronger than usual. The contrast word  but  can appropriately link these two sentence together: you already knew something was true,  but  it was even more true this past November!

The phrase  so that  conveys a cause-effect relationship: She studied hard  so that  she would get a good score on the test. This isn’t the right meaning for the official sentence; it isn’t the case that November is traditionally the strongest month  so that  (in order to cause) it would be even stronger this past November. Eliminate answers (D) and (E) for   faulty meaning  .

The Correct Answer

Correct answer (A) makes a valid comparison between sales this past November and sales in previous Novembers. Note that some people may dislike this choice because it can seem wordy; wordiness by itself is not a good enough reason to cross off an answer. Look for errors in grammar or meaning!

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

As has been our habit with the QOTDs lately, this question also appeared in a recent YouTube webinar on comparisons. So if you prefer your explanations in video form, head on over here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsa-RaX765o

Quote:

(A) but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers,

On these comparison questions, you always want to ask yourself: what, exactly, is the heart of the comparison? In this case, look at the stuff that surrounds the phrase “when compared with”: “sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers…” Hm, that looks pretty good.

Not much else going on here besides the comparison, so let’s keep (A) for now.

Quote:

(B) but even when it is compared with previous Novembers, this past November’s sales

The word “it” is the first thing that jumps out at me in (B), so we need to look for a nice, singular noun that “it” could refer back to. The only thing that could possibly make sense is for “it” to refer to “this November”, but that’s not an option, because of the structure of the phrase after the comma: “this past November’s sales” is plural, and “November’s” is possessive.

So “it” can’t refer to “this November” since that phrase is possessive, and “it” can’t refer to “this November’s sales” because “sales” is plural. For that reason, (B) is out.

And for what it’s worth: even if you do assume that “it” somehow refers to “this past November”, the sentence still wouldn’t be great. We’d have “…even when [this past November] is compared with previous Novembers, this past November’s sales…” That’s weird: it would be sooooooo much more direct to just compare the sales to each other, instead of comparing the “Novembers”, and then restarting the sentence about the sales.

Quote:

(C) but even when they are compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November

Once again, the pronoun “they” should jump off the page at us. “They” seems to refer to “sales of light trucks”, and that gives us “…even when [sales of light trucks] are compared with previous Novembers…” This literally compares sales to months. That’s nonsense. Let’s ditch (C).

Quote:

(D) so that compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November

If we look at (D) very strictly and literally, the comparison still doesn’t make sense. “…compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November…” We can’t compare “previous Novembers” to “sales of light trucks.” So (D) is gone, too.

Quote:

(E) so that this past November’s sales, even compared with previous Novembers’ sales,

In a vacuum, I guess the comparison is OK here: “this past November’s sales” are compared with “previous Novembers’ sales.” I can live with that.

But let’s talk about “so that.” The phrase “so that” suggests some sort of purpose, or at least expresses a rationale for accomplishing something. You could say “I eat burritos so that I will someday weigh as much as an aircraft carrier” or “Domenico posts regularly on GMAT Club so that other people can kick ass on this ridiculous exam.” In both cases, a purpose or effect follows the phrase “so that.”

But there’s no good reason to use “so that” in this particular sentence: “November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks, so that this past November’s sales… accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.” That makes no sense at all, because the second phrase, “this past November’s sales… accounted for a remarkably large share…” is definitely NOT the purpose or effect of the first phrase, “November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks.”

For that reason, we can ditch (E), and we’re left with (A).

alphaseeker · Answer

+1 another victim of e-gmat rule

I explicitly remember (even in my notes) that we cannot use "when compared with"

We need an explanation from an e-gmat expert.

Divyadisha · Answer

Meaning wins over all the rules.

The meaning of the sentence is that Sales in November are usually high, but the sales during the recent November overtook all previous Novembers and accounted for remarkable large share of sales.

A but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers,.  Meaning looks pretty clear. We have contrast by the word 'but'. Sales is compared with sales.  
B but even when it is compared with previous Novembers, this past November’s sales.  'it' is singular and is used wrongly with plural 'sales' 
C but even when they are compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November.  Replace 'they' with Sales- but even when sales are compared with previous Novembers. Sales are compared with Novembers.  
D so that compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November.  'so that' shows result, whereas we want contrast 
E so that this past November’s sales, even compared with previous Novembers’ sales,.  'so that' shows result, whereas we want contrast

A is the answer

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation of this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem: 
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks, but even when compared with sales in previous Novembers, sales this past November accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Pronouns + Comparison + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• A comparison must always be made between similar elements.

A:   Correct.  This answer choice avoids the pronoun error seen in Option B, as it uses no pronouns. Further, Option A uses the phrase "but...even when", conveying the intended meaning - that November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks,   but even   when compared with sales in previous Novembers, sales this past November accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales. Additionally, Option A correctly compares "sales this past November" with "sales in previous Novembers". Besides, Option A is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

B:  This answer choice incorrectly uses the singular pronoun "it" to refer to the plural noun "sales". Further, Option B incorrectly compares "it ("sales")" to "previous Novembers"; please remember, a comparison must always be made between similar elements. Additionally, Option B uses the needlessly wordy clause "it is compared", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

C:  This answer choice incorrectly compares "they ("sales" in this sentence)" to "previous Novembers"; please remember, a comparison must always be made between similar elements. Further, Option C uses the needlessly wordy clause "they are compared", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D:  This answer choice incorrectly compares "previous Novembers" to "sales"; please remember, a comparison must always be made between similar elements. Further, Option D alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "so that compared with previous Novembers"; the use of "so that" incorrectly implies that November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks,   and for this reason   when compared with sales in previous Novembers, sales this past November accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales; the intended meaning is that November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks,   but even   when compared with sales in previous Novembers, sales this past November accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.

E:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "so that this past November’s sales"; the use of "so that" incorrectly implies that November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks,   and for this reason   when compared with sales in previous Novembers, sales this past November accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales; the intended meaning is that November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks,   but even   when compared with sales in previous Novembers, sales this past November accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

dominicraj · Answer

"sales" should be compared with "sales".

Only A and E do that.

In E we dont have contrast. We need it to highlight that the sales are better this time.

Only A does it.

Regards,
Dom.

Pjp · Answer

November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks, but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers, accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.

A but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers,
B but even when  it is compared with previous Novembers , this past November’s sales-Wrong comparison(sales with month)
C but even when  they are compared with previous Novembers , sales of light trucks this past November-Again same mistake
D so that compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November-so that makes no sense
E so that this past November’s sales, even compared with previous Novembers’ sales,--so that makes no sense

Acc to @e-gmat ,"when compared with" is incorrect.
But A is the best option we have.
Anyway,looks like we can't blindly apply that rule here.
Explanation needed @e-gmat.

Michael KC Chen · Answer

another victim of the @e-gmat rule.. we just need to learn the GMAT rules... GMAT rules will never go wrong... :roll:

g3lo18 · Answer

As per e-gmat my notes indicate the following;

You cannot use the following:
When compared to
When contrasted to
As compared with

Here the correct answer uses when compared with (as compared with would be incorrect or when compared/contrasted to)

Hope this helps!

@e-gmat could you advise if answer choice C is incorrect because of the ambiguous pronoun 'they'? May refer to the trucks themselves and the sales . . .

manlog · Answer

Regarding @e-gmat:
I've also got to the trap. E-gmat states that "when compared/contrasted to" and also "as contrasted with" is incorrect. Not a single word about "when compared with". However, they state not to used this word with as/with, so one might imply that "when compared with" is incorrect, which is not true, as we see in this example. Be diligent!

pakasaip · Answer

I don't understand why we need to use "but" to contrast 2 ICs here.
First sentence says that "November is traditionally the strongest month for selling truck"
Second sentence says that "Sales of past November accounted for a remarkable large share of total vehicles"
Doesn't it mean "past november's sales is really high just as it used to be"

sayantanc2k · Answer

No, "just as it used to be" is not meant. You omitted the part "even when compared with sales in previous Novembers". This part validates the use of "but". An outstanding or exceptional occurrence calls for the usage of a contrasting word such as "but".

Sachin generally plays well,  but  his last innings was just out of the world.

Nightmare007 · Answer

Hi  Payal  
 According to e-gmat verbal comparisons , isn't - when compared/contrasted to/with is non-idiomatic ?

I eliminated all options based on this .

Can you please throw some light on this question.
 Thank you

egmat · Answer

Hi Nightmare007 , Thank you for the query. :-)

It is true that generally on GMAT SC, when compared to/with is deemed incorrect. However, the context of this official sentence makes this idiom work. Let's evaluate what this sentence intends to convey. The sentence says typically, light trucks sell the most in November. However, the past November experienced a remarkable increase in total vehicle sales. The sales was remarkable even when it is compared with sales in previous Novembers. So the expression even when compared with presents the condition that even if the comparison is made with the sales previous Novembers, the sales of the past November accounted for very high total vehicle sales. Hence, the context of this sentence, the usage of even when compared with is correct. Hope this helps. :-)

Thanks. Shraddha

BillyZ · Answer

First glance

The underline starts with the conjunction  but , so this sentence may be testing sentence structure, meaning, or an idiom.

Issues

(1) Pronoun:  it

Answers (B) and (C) both use a pronoun in the same location in the sentence, but (B) uses  it  and (C) uses  they . Check for a singular-plural match.

In both cases, logically, the pronoun should refer to the plural noun  sales  (later in the sentence); in other words, the pronoun should be plural. Eliminate answer (B).

Note: if you say that  it  refers to the singular  November  in answer (B), then the comparison is faulty.  Previous Novembers  aren’t supposed to be compared with the month of November in general; they are supposed to be compared with  this past November .

(2) Comparison:  X compared with Y

When you see a comparison marker, make sure that the comparison is apples to apples.

(A)  sales this past November…  compared with  sales in previous Novembers

(B)  it    is compared with  previous Novembers

(C)  they    are compared with  previous Novembers

(D) compared with  previous Novembers, sales…this past November

(E)  this past November’s sales, …  compared with  previous Novembers’ sales

Fix: Answers (B), (C), and (D) compare  sales  to  previous Novembers . This is a faulty comparison. Answers (A) and (E) correctly compare  sales  from one period to  sales  from another period. Eliminate answers (B), (C), and (D).

(3) Meaning:  so that

Answers (A), (B), and (C) all start with  but ; answers (D) and (E) start with  so that . What’s the difference?

The sentence is trying to convey a surprising fact. It is already the case that November is typically a strong month for light truck sales. Surprisingly, this past November was even stronger than usual. The contrast word  but  can appropriately link these two sentence together: you already knew something was true, but it was even more true this past November!

The phrase  so that  conveys a cause-effect relationship : She studied hard  so that  she would get a good score on the test. This isn’t the right meaning for the official sentence; it isn’t the case that November is traditionally the strongest month  so that  (in order to cause) it would be even stronger this past November. Eliminate answers (D) and (E) for faulty meaning.

The Correct Answer

Correct answer (A) makes a valid comparison between  sales this past November  and  sales in previous Novembers . Note that some people may dislike this choice because it can seem wordy; wordiness by itself is not a good enough reason to cross off an answer. Look for errors in grammar or meaning!

gmatexam439 · Answer

November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks,  but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers,  accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.

(A) but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers, - Correct

(B) but even when it is compared with previous Novembers, this past November’s sales - no referent for "it" -- "it" can't refer to plural sales

(C) but even when they are compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November - ambiguous "they" -- does it refer to trucks or sales? Nevertheless, it would have been an invalid comparison

(D) so that compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November - no referent for "that" --"that" can't refer to plural sales

(E) so that this past November’s sales, even compared with previous Novembers’ sales, - We need to show contrast so we need "but"

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one item at a time, and narrow it down to the right choice! To start, here is the original question with the major differences between the options highlighted in  orange :

November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks,  but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers,  accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.

(A)  but  sales this past November, even when  compared  with  sales in previous Novembers ,
(B)  but  even when  it is compared  with  previous Novembers , this past November’s sales
(C)  but  even when  they are compared  with  previous Novembers , sales of light trucks this past November
(D)  so that   compared  with  previous Novembers , sales of light trucks this past November
(E)  so that  this past November’s sales, even  compared with   previous Novembers’ sales ,

There is a LOT you could focus on here, but if you look carefully, you'll notice that this is a COMPARISON question!  Whenever we see 2 or more items being compared to each other, what do we focus on?

PARALLELISM!!

So - let's take a close look at each option, and make sure that the two things being compared are parallel in number, type, or wording style:

(A) but  sales this past November , even when compared with  sales in previous Novembers , -->  PARALLEL

(B) but even when  it  is compared with  previous Novembers , this past November’s sales -->  NOT PARALLEL  
( First, it's unclear what the pronoun "it" is referring to. Even if it is referring to "this past November's sales," this sentence is still trying to compare sales to the actual month of November, which isn't the same thing. )

(C) but even when  they  are compared with  previous Novembers , sales of light trucks this past November -->  NOT PARALLEL 
( Again, this sentence is trying to compare the sales of trucks in November to the months of November from the past. Those two things aren't parallel at all! )

(D) so that compared with  previous Novembers ,  sales of light trucks  this past November -->  NOT PARALLEL 
( Yet another case of trying to compare months to sales, which are not parallel! )

(E) so that  this past November’s sales , even compared with  previous Novembers’ sales , -->  PARALLEL

We can eliminate option B, C, & D because they create non-parallel comparisons!

Now that we have this narrowed down to only 2 options, let's take a closer look at each option and see if we can find any other problems:

(A)  but  sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers,

This is  CORRECT ! It is a parallel comparison, and the conjunction "but" creates a strong contradiction for the reader.

(E)  so that  this past November’s sales, even compared with previous Novembers’ sales,

This is  INCORRECT  because the phrase "so that" is misleading and changes the meaning. By using the cause-effect conjunction "so that," the sentence now suggests that November is the strongest month for selling light trucks,  which leads to  sales in the past being larger? That doesn't make sense, does it? Let's rule this out because the conjunction "so that" is the wrong one for this situation.

There you have it - option A was the right choice all along!

Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.

Smitc007 · Answer

November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks,but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers, accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.

1St IC 
November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks,but  sales this past November  ------- "November" is subject and "is" is helping verb which is sufficient to make it Independent clause
but what is the subject and verb of second clause after "Comma but"-----------------------isn't it just a fragment.

Please help me out with this query 
 egmat  
 ChrisLele   AjiteshArun

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  Smitc007 ,

There are two subject-verb pairs there (around the word  but ):

November   is   traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks , but  sales   this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers,   accounted for   a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales .

November  (←sub)  is  (←verb) X,
but
 sales  (←sub)  accounted for  (←verb) Y.

AnirudhaS · Answer

November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks, but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers, accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.

(A) but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers, 
 Looks good.
 
(B) but even when it is compared with previous Novembers, this past November’s sales
 Pronoun error 'it'

(C) but even when they are compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November
 Pronoun error 'they'

(D) so that compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November
 Wrong comparison 'so that'

(E) so that this past November’s sales, even compared with previous Novembers’ sales,
 Similar to D. Wrong comparison.

Answer: A

November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light truck

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light truck

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