HOT Competition: As stated by a current study regarding customer spend

Crack Verbal Explanation:

A. Plural subject "increases" needs plural verb 'account'.

B. The second clause after ';' is a sentence fragment as it does not have an active verb. 'what accounted' is redundant as removing that does not change the meaning of the sentence.

C. Correct Answer. Note that the construction at the end - "the remainder + coming" is an absolute phrase.

D. Sentence fragment. Also, if we remove the intervening non-essential modifier, the sentence reads - "increases in the sales of the 20 items that were advertised most
heavily while the remainder of the increase came" - Illogical.

E. the usage of "which" is incorrect.
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As stated by a current study regarding customer spending on personal care items, increases in the sales of the 20 items were publicized most heavily accounts for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of which came from sales of the 7,231 personal care items that companies did not advertise or advertised very little.


A. increases in the sales of the 20 items were publicized most heavily accounts for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of which came -- two main verbs in one sentence and mix-up of tenses

B. increase in the sales of the 20 items was publicized most heavily were what accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter; the remainder of the increase coming -- sentence fragment after semicolon

C. increases in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of the increase coming -- CORRECT

D. increase in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily, accounting for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, while the remainder of the increase came -- sentence fragment

E. increases in the 20 items sale that were publicized heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, with the remainder of it coming -- "it" has no correct referent

The answer should be C

Things Tested:
1. SV Agreement - Increases ---> Plural; Accounts ---> Singular
2. Tenses


A. increases in the sales of the 20 items were publicized most heavily accounts for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of which came - SV Agreement Error - REJECT

B. increase[b] in the sales of the 20 items was publicized most heavily [b]were what accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter; the remainder of the increase coming - SV Agreement Error

Also, part after semi colon is not an Independent Clause - REJECT

C. increases in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of the increase coming - Correct SV Agreement and
correct tenses (stated...accounted) - KEEP

D. increase in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily, accounting for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, while the remainder of the increase came - Changing accounted (main verb) to accounting (-ing form) results in the lack of a working verb. A sentence must have a subject and working verb - REJECT

E. increases in the 20 items sale that were publicized heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, with the remainder of it coming - Increases (plural) does not agree in number with IT (singular) - SV Agreement Error - REJECT

Answer: C

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Error Analysis:
As stated by a current study regarding customer spending on personal care items - Opening modifier. It gives hint that we are going to read something for which study has done.
1. Increases in sales....accounts for-- Plural Subject and Singular (ACCOUNTS) doesn't work.
2. "Were Publicized" is referring what ? Does it refer "increases in sales" or "20 items"



Option A is wrong for above mentioned reasons



Do we need "Were WHAT". No, we don't need it. It makes sentence more wordier.
Sentence afer semicolon is not Independent sentence. There is no verb for subject "remainder of increase".
Eliminate option B.



Increases ...Accounted for - correct subject+verb pair. Correct tense
20 items were publicised-correct subject+verb pair. Correct tense
The verb-ing modifier “coming” correctly modifies the preceding noun
Option C is best so far.




There is no verb for subject -increase in the sales. Hence, we have a fragment here. Eliminate option D



1. Wordier
2. Singular pronoun “it” does not agree in number with plural “increases”.
3. No main verb. Hence, we have a fragment here.

Eliminate option E

Best option is C. IMO answer is C.

As stated by a current study regarding customer spending on personal care items, increases in the sales of the 20 items were publicized most heavily accounts for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of which came from sales of the 7,231 personal care items that companies did not advertise or advertised very little.


A. increases in the sales of the 20 items were publicized most heavily accounts for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of which came ------ "were publicized" and "accounts" are two verbs that are not placed in a parallel structure.

B. increase in the sales of the 20 items was publicized most heavily were what accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter; the remainder of the increase coming ------- "were what accounted" is a plural verb, and "increase" a singular subject.

C. increases in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of the increase coming ----- CORRECT

D. increase in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily, accounting for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, while the remainder of the increase came -------- No main verb.

E. increases in the 20 items sale that were publicized heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, with the remainder of it coming ---------- No main verb.
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A. increases in the sales of the 20 items were publicized most heavily accounts for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of which came

1. “increases in the sales of the 20 items were publicized most heavily” – illogically means that “increases were publicized”.
2. “increases in the sales of the 20 items were publicized most heavily accounts” – here “accounts refers to “increases”, creating subject-verb disagreement.
3. “accounts… last quarter” – here the present tense verb “increases” makes no sense with “last quarter”.
4. “the remainder of which” – illogically refers to “personal spending”.


B. increase in the sales of the 20 items was publicized most heavily were what accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter; the remainder of the increase coming

1. “increase… was publicized” – introduces illogical meaning
2. “increase… were” – subject-verb disagreement
3. a fragment cannot follow a semicolon


C. increases in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of the increase coming

Correct answer with the correct usage of an absolute phrase at the end.


D. increase in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily, accounting for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, while the remainder of the increase came

“while” starts a subordinate clause that cannot on its own without the main clause. This choice is a fragment.


E. increases in the 20 items sale that were publicized heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, with the remainder of it coming

Ditto to D, this choice lacks a main clause, so it is a fragment.

Hence C

Posted from my mobile device
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IMO C

As stated by a current study regarding customer spending on personal care items, increases in the sales of the 20 items were publicized most heavily accounts for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of which came from sales of the 7,231 personal care items that companies did not advertise or advertised very little.

Errors:

1) Subject Verb Agreement: - There are two verbs for Single Subject "increases in the sales of the 20 items" i.e "Were Publicized" & "Accounts" but there are not connected by proper conjunction. We need a Relative Pronoun Modifier "That" before Publicized to correct this.
2) SVA- Plural Subject "Increases" not agree in number with Singular Verb "Accounts"
3) Ambiguity: There is no clear referent of "Which"

A. increases in the sales of the 20 items were publicized most heavily accounts for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of which came - Incorrect
i) Relative Pronoun "That" is missing before "were publicized"
ii) Sub Verb Agreement Error Singular Verb "Accounts" for Plural subject Increases.
iii) Referent of which not clear. Tense is not appropriate.

B. increase in the sales of the 20 items was publicized most heavily were what accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter; the remainder of the increase coming Incorrect
i) Relative Pronoun "That" is missing before "was publicized" & "Was"publicized should be "Were publicized"
ii) Semicolonis required to start Independent clause. Here not required.

C. increases in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of the increase coming- Correct -
i) SVA - OK , "Items- Were". "Increases- accounted
ii) Relative pronoun "that" is correctly used.

D. increase in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily, accounting for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, while the remainder of the increase came Incorrect
i) There is no Independent Clause in this option (Fragment Sentence). A sentence must have at least one IC. "accounting for almost...." is acting as modifier

E. increases in the 20 items sale that were publicized heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, with the remainder of it coming Incorrect
i) There is no Independent Clause in this option (Fragment Sentence). A sentence must have at least one IC. "Which accounted....." is acting as modifier

Posted from my mobile device

As stated by a current study regarding customer spending on personal care items, increases in the sales of the 20 items were publicized most heavily accounts for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of which came from sales of the 7,231 personal care items that companies did not advertise or advertised very little.


Meaning analysis:

Original sentence doesn't convey intended meaning clearly.
But let's try to get something:
1. Something stated by current study
2. This something is - increase in sales of the 20 items
3. This sales were publicized or this 20 items were publicized not clear, but logically seems items not sales
4. Again sales (or items) account for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase
5. The remainder (of this increase) came from sales of the 7,231 personal care items
6. Items that companies did not advertise or advertised very little


Error analysis of the original sentence:



The main issue is meaning and SV agreement, all modifiers are clear in meaning.
Subject "increase" have a verb "were publicized" but even if they agree in number it doesn't make any sense.
Also verb "accounts" doesn't agree with subject in number. (A) is clearly out.

POE:


A. increases in the sales of the 20 items were publicized most heavily accounts for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of which came

B. increase in the sales of the 20 items was publicized most heavily were what accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter; the remainder of the increase coming
Here things get more complicated, we don't need semi-colon two split modifier from modifying sentence.

C. increases in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of the increase coming

D. increase in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily, accounting for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, while the remainder of the increase came
By comma + verb-ing we've lost our verb for the subject

E. increases in the 20 items sale that were publicized heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, with the remainder of it coming
whole sentence is nightmare, no verb, which as a modifier cannot go that far, with as a modifier here also vague

Seems only (C) does make sense.



(C) is the answer.

As stated by a current study regarding customer spending on personal care items, (modifying the main clause)
increases in the sales of the 20 items (main subject - increases)
were publicized most heavily (it is a dependent clause modifying items , a that is missing here, verb -were publicized)
accounts (main verb- accounts)
for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase (prepositional phrase modifying verb)
in personal spending last quarter, (prepositional phrase modifying increase)
the remainder of which came from sales of the 7,231 personal care items that companies did not advertise or advertised very little. (noun + noun
modifier,modifying the main clause)


Meaning: Increase in the sales of 20 items accounts for almost half of the $ 10.5 billion increase in personal spending.These 20 items were highly publicized The remainder of this increase came from other source.

A. increases in the sales of the 20 items were publicized most heavily accounts for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of which came
i. it is not clear , "which" refers to in the sentence.
ii. Also there seems to be a subject verb number agreement between increases and accounts, but again the use increases as a plural form is itself incorrect.
iii. Also since it is not a general fact use of simple verb tense accounts is wrong. The sentence clearly states the increase happened last quarter.

B. increase in the sales of the 20 items was publicized most heavily were what accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter; the remainder of the increase coming
i. There is a subject verb number agreement error in the clause " was publicized most heavily". The subject that is omitted here which would refer to items which is a plural.
ii. After part after semicolon should be an independent clause .but it is not.

C. increases in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of the increase coming - seems correct. Given the other option has definite error I had to go with this one.Although the use of increases looks good to me.

D. increase in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily, accounting for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, while the remainder of the increase came
i. No main verb present.

E. increases in the 20 items sale that were publicized heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, with the remainder of it coming
i. No verb present.
ii. The referent for which is placed far from it.
iii. No logical referent for it.

A. increases in the sales of the 20 items were publicized most heavily accounts for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of which came
This is a hot mess and doesn't make much sense therefore out

B. increase in the sales of the 20 items was publicized most heavily were what accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter; the remainder of the increase coming
were should be the right usage , further semicolon is unwise and distorting the meaning therefore out

C. increases in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, the remainder of the increase coming
The meaning is perfect along with the right tense therefore let us hang on to it

D. increase in the sales of the 20 items that were publicized most heavily, accounting for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, while the remainder of the increase came
Dependent clauses are seperated through commas distorting the meaning therefore out

E. increases in the 20 items sale that were publicized heavily, which accounted for almost half of the $10.5 billion increase in personal spending last quarter, with the remainder of it coming
Similar reasoning as D

THerefore IMO C

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