Sales of wines declines in the late 1980s, but they began to grow agai

Regarding comma + "and" combination, remembering the following two rules would be enough in my opinion:

1. In a list comma before "and" is optional.
I like the colors red, blue and green.... correct
I like the colors red, blue, and green.... correct

2. When joining two independent clauses comma + "and" is mandatory. When joining two verbs "and" WITHOUT comma is mandatory.

I play and sing... correct
I play, and sing... wrong
I play and I sing... wrong
I play, and I sing... correct

Sales of wines declines in the late 1980s, but they began to grow again after the 1991 report that linked moderate consumption of alcohol, and particularly of red wine, with a reduced risk of heart disease.

A)they began to grow again after the 1991 report that linked moderate consumption of alcohol, and particularly of red wine, with a reduced risk of heart disease
Correct.
B)after the 1991 report that linked a reduced risk of heart disease with a moderate alcohol consumption, particularly red wine, they began growing again.
"red wine" incorrectly refers to consumption.
C)in a 1991 report, moderate alcohol consumption, and particularly of red wine, which was linked with a reduced risk of heart disease, caused them to begin to grow again.
moderate alcohol consumption - caused them to begin to grow again. Changes the meaning because the report, not the consumption caused the growth.
D)with a reduced risk of heart disease linked in a 1991 report with moderate alcohol consumption, in particular red wine, they began growing again
"red wine" incorrectly refers to consumption.
E)a reduced risk of heart disease linked to moderate alcohol consumption in a 1991 report, and in particular red wine, started them growing again.
reduced risk started them growing again.

Ans: "A"

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that there was a report in 1991 that linked moderate consumption of alcohol, particularly the consumption of red wine, with a reduced risk of heart disease, and after this report was made sales of wine began to grow.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Grammatical Construction

• In a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
• Information vital to the core meaning of the sentence can never be placed between commas.

A: Correct. This answer choice uses the clause “they began to grow again after the 1991 report”, conveying the intended meaning – that sales of wine began to grow after a report on moderate alcohol consumption was made. Further, Option A correctly modifies “moderate consumption of alcohol” with “and particularly of red wine”, conveying the intended meaning – that the consumption of red wine is a form of alcohol consumption. Additionally, Option A only places extra information between commas. Besides, Option A is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

B: This answer choice incorrectly modifies “a moderate alcohol consumption” with “particularly red wine”, illogically implying that red wine is a form of alcohol consumption; the intended meaning is that the consumption of red wine is a form of alcohol consumption; please remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun.

C: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the clause “moderate alcohol consumption...caused them to begin to grow again”; the construction of this clause incorrectly implies that moderate alcohol consumption caused sales of wine to grow; the intended meaning is that sales of wine began to grow after a report on moderate alcohol consumption was made. Further, Option C incorrectly modifies “a moderate alcohol consumption” with “particularly red wine”, illogically implying that red wine is a form of alcohol consumption; the intended meaning is that the consumption of red wine is a form of alcohol consumption; please remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Additionally, Option C presents information that is vital to the core meaning of the sentence – the fact that moderate consumption of alcohol was linked with a reduced risk of heart disease – between two commas; remember, information vital to the core meaning of the sentence can never be placed between commas.

D: This answer choice incorrectly modifies “a moderate alcohol consumption” with “particularly red wine”, illogically implying that red wine is a form of alcohol consumption; the intended meaning is that the consumption of red wine is a form of alcohol consumption; please remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun.

E: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the clause “a reduced risk of heart disease…started them growing again”; the construction of this clause illogically implies that a reduced risk of heart disease made sales of wines grow; the intended meaning is that sales of wine began to grow after a report on moderate alcohol consumption was made. Further, Option C incorrectly modifies “a moderate alcohol consumption” with “particularly red wine”, illogically implying that red wine is a form of alcohol consumption; the intended meaning is that the consumption of red wine is a form of alcohol consumption; please remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Additionally, Option E uses the passive voice construction “started them growing again”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the use of commas on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~4 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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i thought that ,and was used only in 2 situations-
1. X,Y,AND Z - parallel
2. IC ,AND IC - separate independent clause

can you please clarify why not a simple (without comma) and was used to draw parallel b/n alcohol and red wine ?
thanks a lot !

I'm not an expert. I also ask question in this forum so as to get response from expert.
As far i know, comma (,)+'and' is used for 3 reasons.like below:
1) to make list (where at list 3 things of list)
2) 'comma+ coordinated conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet)+subject' to make independent clause.
3) to make parallelism
also, the use of only 'and' (not comma+and) is used to make parallelism though they treats as 2 different ideas.
if i make any mistake please help expert.
Thanks...
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Please help me to identify clauses and subject verb in the question stem.
Please review below:
Sales- Subject
of wines- prepositional phrase
declined- verb
in the late 1980s- prepositional phrase
Sales......1980s- this is IC
IC, but IC- after but we need an independent clause

After but- 'they' refers to sales- they is subject?
began- Is this verb here?
to grow- is not a verb
again...1991 report - prepositional phrase
that- Subject?
linked- verb?

Please confirm

After but- 'they' refers to sales- they is subject?... yes - it is the subject of the second IC.
began- Is this verb here?.... yes - it is the verb of the second IC.
to grow- is not a verb
again...1991 report - prepositional phrase
that- Subject?.... yes - it is the subject of the relative clause "that linked moderate consumption ... reduced risk of heart disease."
linked- verb?... yes - it is the verb of the above-mentioned relative clause.

Sales of wines declined in the late 1980s, but they began to grow again after the 1991 report that linked moderate consumption of alcohol, and particularly of red wine, with a reduced risk of heart disease.

A)they began to grow again after the 1991 report that linked moderate consumption of alcohol, and particularly of red wine, with a reduced risk of heart disease- Correct
B)after the 1991 report that linked a reduced risk of heart disease with a moderate alcohol consumption, particularly red wine, they began growing again - Modifier " moderate alcohol consumption, particularly red wine, ..." is incorrect - "(particularly) red wine" is not an example of "alcohol consumption". note that it's an example of alcohol itself, but not an example of alcohol consumption.
C)in a 1991 report, moderate alcohol consumption, and particularly of red wine, which was linked with a reduced risk of heart disease, caused them to begin to grow again-
moderate alcohol consumption did not grow in the 1991 report
D)with a reduced risk of heart disease linked in a 1991 report with moderate alcohol consumption, in particular red wine, they began growing again- Modifier in particular red wine does not modify anything . Red wine is not a type of alcohol consumption but is an alcohol
E)a reduced risk of heart disease linked to moderate alcohol consumption in a 1991 report, and in particular red wine, started them growing again - in particular red wine isn't parallel to anything . If we remove the modifier a reduced ... report, we get a nonsensical sentence

Answer A
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I don't understand why 'and' is present in option A.
I think without the 'and' the sentence would be correct, that's why I eliminated it.
What am I missing here?

Hello DIII,


I will be glad to help you out with this one.


The reason we see and in the correct answer choice is that there is a list in the sentence. The parallel elements in the list are of alcohol and (particularly) of red wine.

Please note that particular;y is just a modifier associated with the core parallel element of red wine. Such modifiers of the core parallel elements do not affect the parallelism. As long as the core parallel elements are grammatically and logically correct, they make a perfect list.

Since every list has a connector, this one has too - and.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Hello GMATNinja,

Can I safely select A just on the basis of parallelism? -- Sales ..... but they ....
No other option is parallel. All the options start with a prepositional phrase except A, in which but is followed by a pronoun.

Regards

No, your reasoning is not correct. The parallelism is between two independent clauses. An independent clause may as well start with a prepositional phrase - parallelism is not broken because a clause starts with a prepositional phrase.

To help clear things up for you, gmatexam439, let's look at how to tackle this question if it showed up on your test. The main problem I see with this question is the placement of the phrase "they began to grow again." Since this is referring to the "sales of wines," it's best for it to be placed directly before or after it. Otherwise, readers might get confused about what "they began to grow again" is really referring to.

Let's look at each answer to see if/how they are confusing:

Sales of wines declined in the late 1980s, but they began to grow again after the 1991 report that linked moderate consumption of alcohol, and particularly of red wine, with a reduced risk of heart disease.

(A) they began to grow again after the 1991 report that linked moderate consumption of alcohol, and particularly of red wine, with a reduced risk of heart disease

This is the CORRECT answer because the phrase "they began to grow again" is directly after what it's referring to. The reader won't be confused about what this is referring to.

(B) after the 1991 report that linked a reduced risk of heart disease with a moderate alcohol consumption, particularly red wine, they began growing again

Okay, so I see two potential problems with this. First, it's placed so far away from what it's referring to that readers might think it's referring to "red wine." Also, saying "they began growing again" might mistake readers into thinking the sentence is about the actual red wine grapes growing again? Either way, it's too confusing, so it's INCORRECT.

(C) in a 1991 report, moderate alcohol consumption, and particularly of red wine, which was linked with a reduced risk of heart disease, caused them to begin to grow again

Again, this is INCORRECT because it's too far away from what it's referring to. It also doesn't make sense - who are "them" and why are they growing? Are the winemakers getting taller? It's another confusing construction.

(D) with a reduced risk of heart disease linked in a 1991 report with moderate alcohol consumption, in particular red wine, they began growing again

Again, this is another INCORRECT answer because the phrase is just too far away. Also, the way this is worded is confusing - was the reduced risk of heart disease caused by drinking more red wine...or were people drinking more red wine because their risk of heart disease was lowered?

(E) a reduced risk of heart disease linked to moderate alcohol consumption in a 1991 report, and in particular red wine, started them growing again

This is INCORRECT for a couple reasons - the first obviously being the phrase "started them growing again" is too far away from "sales of wines." In addition, the phrase "and in particular red wine" should be next to "alcohol consumption," NOT "a 1991 report. It's confusing to readers what is going on here.

I hope this helps! It's a simpler question to answer, but looks more complicated because of how long it is!
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Can't they in the first option refer back to simply 'Wine' instead of 'The growth of wine'?

First, anytime we see a pronoun as the subject of a clause, the most logical antecedent is the subject of the previous clause, so "they" most likely refers back to "sales." More importantly, it wouldn't make any sense to claim that the wines are growing, so the reader can easily deduce that there's only one plural noun "they" could be referring to.

And in general, pronoun ambiguity is not a good reason for eliminating answer choices. The are many official questions in which the correct answer contains a pronoun that could be seen as ambiguous. The only time you should even consider the issue would be if you'd reduced the answer choices down to two options, and were unable to find a definitive grammar or meaning error in either choice. More on that issue in this video.

I hope that helps!
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Is Choice B a run on sentence? Sales declined.. is the independent clause 1 and after the 1991 report that linked,..they began growing again is independent clause 2.

Hi Jay, run-on sentence is when two Independent clauses are connected by just a comma.

In option B, the two Independent clauses (that you've correctly identified) are correctly connected by a coordinating conjunction "but". Hence, option B is not a run-on.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses run-on sentence, its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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Hi EMPOWERgmatVerbal and other experts,

It took me almost 3 mins to solve this question and I still got it wrong.
May I know some tips to allow me correctly compare the wrong parts of all 5 questions and quickly choose the correct answer?

Per my speed now, I cannot solve this question under 2 mins.
The first thing I compare is the word "they". If there is any sentence using "it", I will cross it out, but unfortunately all of the questions are using "they" to refer to sales.
Then I started to look at strange structure, eliminating (C), (D), (E).

After left with (A) and (B), I felt I already run out of time and quickly chose (B).

Sometimes comparing 'non-essential things' takes plenty of seconds, especially if the sentence is long.

Thanks for the question, aidyn!

This is why, if you read over my explanations, I start by highlighting the differences between the options only. Here is where you said you started:

The first thing I compare is the word "they". If there is any sentence using "it", I will cross it out, but unfortunately all of the questions are using "they" to refer to sales.=

You ended up focusing first on something that was the same in all 5 options, and checking it closely, rather than starting by finding the differences and going from there.

Remember - look for the differences first and focus on those, rather than focusing on specific grammar problems.

On test day, if you've done your training well, it will be okay if 1-2 questions take you longer than 2 minutes because you'll probably save a lot of time answering others very quickly.

I hope this helps!
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