As reported by The Bureau of Economic Analysis, increases in personal

Question

As reported by The Bureau of Economic Analysis, increases in personal consumption expenditures (PCE) by 3.2 percent most  greatly accounts for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care, the rest of which came  from sales of non-durable goods, such as cars and furniture.

A. greatly accounts for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and healthcare, the rest of which came

B. greatly were what accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care; the rest of the increase coming

C. greatly accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care; the rest of the increase came

D. greatly, accounting for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care, while the rest of the increase came

E. heavily, which accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care, with the remainder of it coming

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HoneyLemon · Accepted Answer

IMO C .  
As reported by The Bureau of Economic Analysis, increases in personal consumption expenditures (PCE) by 3.2 percent most  greatly accounts for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care, the rest of which came  from sales of non-durable goods, such as cars and furniture.

Meaning : 
 This sentence presents a fact about the increases in PCE . The timing of the event is past .

As reported by The Bureau of Economic Analysis,
 increases in PCE by 3.2 percent most greatly accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care,
 the rest of which came from sales of non-durable goods, such as cars and furniture.

Error :    1. verb accounts is written in present form . Since the sentence is conveying meaning in the past , use of present verb form is incorrect . 
 2. clause the rest of which came ... seems wrongly connected . since 2 IC cannot be connected by just a comma.

A. greatly accounts for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and healthcare, the rest of which came

--1. As discussed in our analysis above . So out 
 
B. greatly were what accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care; the rest of the increase coming
 -- 1. Clause the rest of the increase coming .. has no verb . so out 
--2. were what accounted .. is written in passive form .. distorting the meaning

C. greatly accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care; the rest of the increase came

-- Corrected the errors mentioned in the choice both A and B . Hold 
 
D. greatly, accounting for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care, while the rest of the increase came

-- 1. ,accounting is a verbing modifier wrongly mentioned rather than a verb . Now in the 1st clause there is no verb . so out . 
 
E. heavily, which accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care, with the remainder of it coming

-- There is no verb in the entire clause ..-Incorrect

jaisonsunny77 · Answer

A. greatly accounts for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and healthcare, the rest of which came -  we need to use the past tense verb form for 'account', since the event (highlighted by the bureau) has already occurred at the time of the reporting. However, (A) uses the present tense of the verb form. Hence,    eliminate (A). 
 
B. greatly were what accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care; the rest of the increase coming -  'greatly' is an adverb that must appear right before the verb it intends to modify. In this sentence, 'greatly' is meant to modify 'accounted'. However, (B) uses 'greatly' in an attempt to modify 'were'. This is not the intended usage of 'greatly'. Hence,    eliminate (B) .
 
C. greatly accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care; the rest of the increase came -  the adverb 'greatly' correctly modifies the main verb 'accounted'. Additionally, the main verb 'accounted' is in the past tense (which is what we need). Hence,  (C) is the correct answer choice.

D. greatly, accounting for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care, while the rest of the increase came -  in (D), the adverb 'greatly' does not have a verb that in can modify (in the same clause that the adverb belongs to). Hence,    eliminate (D) .
 
E. heavily, which accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care, with the remainder of it coming -  (E) effectively tells us that it is the adverb ''heavily'' that accounted for the increase; this does not make sense. Hence,    eliminate (E).

thenikhilseth · Answer

C is the Winner

Area tested-  Verb and Conciseness  
1) As Reported - It conveys Past Form, So definitely we need a past nature here.

A. greatly  accounts  for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and healthcare, the rest of  which  came
Accounts- Simple present

B. greatly  were what  accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care; the rest of the increase  coming

Were What- Passiveness 
Coming- Present continuos

C. greatly accounted for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care; the rest of the increase came-  BINGO

D. greatly,  ,  while  the rest of the increase came-  Fragment  
Here 
1) Accounting.....Health care - This is a modifier and there is no verb present here. Fragment Sentence
2) While is not appropriate here

E. heavily,  which accounted  for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care], with the  remainder of it coming -   Fragment

Same as D
Because of Modifier clause  , Sentence is Fragment.
2) It referent is unclear

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation

As reported by The Bureau of Economic Analysis, increases in personal consumption expenditures (PCE) by 3.2 percent most  greatly accounts for two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care, the rest of which came  from sales of non-durable goods, such as cars and furniture.

A.  greatly accounts for  two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and healthcare , the rest of which came

B.  greatly were what accounted for  two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care ; the rest of the increase coming

C.  greatly accounted for  two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care ; the rest of the increase came

D.  greatly, accounting for  two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care , while the rest of the increase came

E.  heavily, which accounted for  two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care , with the remainder of it coming

This question has to do with verb tenses and concise wording.  We need to make sure the verb used make logical sense, and we need to make sure the verbs aren’t being turned into other parts of speech, such as modifiers, appositives, or other problematic issues. The GMAT also always wants test takers to eliminate overly wordy answers. Let’s see how each option breaks down:
 
 A.  greatly accounts for  two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and healthcare,  the rest of which came   
This is  incorrect . “accounts” is the wrong verb tense. Increases refers to the subject, PCE, which is plural and accounts is singular. Also, the phrase “the rest of which came” is also vague - it’s not 100% clear if that’s referring back to the increase, housing, or healthcare.

B.  greatly were what accounted for  two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care;  the rest of the increase   coming  
This is  incorrect . This sentence is overly wordy. “Where what accounted for” is not needed when “accounted for” has the same meaning. The phrase after the semicolon is also not a complete sentence because it lacks a proper verb (it should be “came” instead of “coming). It does, however, fix the vague phrasing from option A to make sure we know the phrase is referring back to the increase - so let’s look for more options that do this.

C.  greatly accounted for  two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care;  the rest of the increase came  
This is  correct . This is the most concise answer and uses the correct past tense “accounted for.” It also makes the ending of this option clear to readers that it’s referring back to the increase.

D.  greatly, accounting for  two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care,  while the rest of the increase came  
This is  incorrect . Changing “accounted for” to “accounting for” turns the verb into a modifier, thus creating a fragment because there is no verb for the subject “increases.”

E.  heavily, which accounted for  two-thirds of the increase in consumer spending on housing and health care,  with the remainder of it coming  
This is  incorrect . Changing “accounted for” to “which accounting for” turns the verb into a modifier, thus creating a fragment because there is no verb for the subject “increases.” The phrase “with the remainder of it coming” is also vague - it’s not 100% clear what the pronoun “it” is referring back to (the increase, consumer spending, housing, health care??).
 
 There you have it - option C is the correct choice!

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

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  thenikhilseth ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  jaisonsunny77 ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  DasAshishAshutosh ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

VerbalBot · Answer

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As reported by The Bureau of Economic Analysis, increases in personal

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As reported by The Bureau of Economic Analysis, increases in personal

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