OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONQuote:
Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)
With only one percent of the world's population, the English people have dramatically altered the course of the world.
A) With
B) Although accounting for
C) Being
D) Despite having
E) As
• Approach?
The key to solving this question is to understand that it presents a contrast between the size of the English population and the activities of its citizens.
Suppose that the first time you read this question, you did not think about it as presenting contrast.
If that were the case, then
the answers would give you that hint.Options B and D use contrast words:
although and
despite.Whoever wrote this question sounds like an Anglophile or an apologist for colonialism and imperialism.
But I digress.
• Meaning?
On the one hand, the English constitute only one percent of the world's population.
(More accurately, people in the UK constitute only one percent of the world's population.)
On the other hand, these relatively few people have radically altered world history.
• Split #1 - a contrast word is neededThe word with Option A does not present contrast.→
with in this context describes a feature of the English population: it is only one percent of the world's population
Option A is also illogical: The word
with suggests that the English people
possess one percent of the population, rather than
constitute one percent.
The words being in option C and as in option E present no contrast, either. The absence of contrast is fatal.
There is no logical connection between constituting a tiny percentage of the world's population and having an enormous impact on world history.
Quite the opposite—a very few people should not have had such a drastic effect on world history.
Eliminate A, B, and E
• Split #2: Meaning must be sensibleLike the word "with" in option A, the words "despite
having" in option D confusingly suggest that English people somehow possess, rather than constitute, one percent of the population.
Compare with option B, which uses
Although accounting for to express accurately that the English
make up or
constitute one percent of the population.
GMAC tests this distinction.
The correct usage is
account for or
constitute.
Have is a strange verb to use in this instance, although that strangeness is easier to see once you compare (D) to (B).
Eliminate D
The correct answer is B.COMMENTS
mona2019 , welcome to SC Butler.
Both people who ventured an answer did very well.
In fact,
Ranasaymon , I am bumping your post to Best Community Reply.
Here's my weekend tidbit for you—it's 2 minutes long, and worth every second. Don't scroll till the end,
here.