The amount of car accidents caused by faulty brakes, like accidents ca

The amount of car accidents caused by faulty brakes, like accidents caused by faulty wiring, has increased significantly since regulations on manufacturing have been relaxed.

A. The amount of car accidents caused by faulty brakes, like accidents caused by faulty wiring, has increased significantly since regulations on manufacturing have been relaxed.

B. The amount of car accidents caused by faulty brakes, like those caused by faulty wiring, have increased significantly since regulations on manufacturing were relaxed.

C. The number of car accidents caused by faulty brakes, like the number caused by faulty wiring, have increased significantly since regulations on manufacturing were relaxed.

D. The number of car accidents caused by faulty brakes, like accidents caused by faulty wiring, has increased significantly since regulations on manufacturing had been relaxed.

E. The number of car accidents caused by faulty brakes, like the number caused by faulty wiring, has increased significantly since regulations on manufacturing were relaxed.

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

The original sentence contains several errors. First, it is incorrect to refer to "the amount of car accidents" because "amount of" is used only with uncountable quantities, such as “amount of salt.” Since accidents are countable, the correct quantity reference is "the number of car accidents." Second, the original sentence compares “the amount of accidents” to “accidents caused by faulty wiring.” The correct (i.e., logically and structurally parallel) comparison is between the number of one type of accident and the number of another type of accident. Third, the present perfect "have been relaxed" is incorrectly used. This action occurred exclusively in the past, so the simple past "were relaxed" is needed.


(A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.

(B) First, it is incorrect to refer to "the amount of car accidents" because "amount of" is used only with uncountable quantities, such as “amount of salt.” Since accidents are countable, the correct quantity reference is "the number of car accidents." Second, this choice compares “the amount of accidents” to “accidents caused by faulty wiring.” The correct (i.e., logically and structurally parallel) comparison is between the number of one type of accident and the number of another type of accident. Finally, the antecedent of the plural pronoun “those” is ambiguous: it could refer to “car accidents” or “faulty brakes.”

(C) The plural verb “have increased” does not agree with the singular subject “the number.”

(D) This choice compares “the number of car accidents caused by faulty brakes” to “accidents caused by faulty wiring.” The correct (i.e., logically and structurally parallel) comparison is between “the number of car accidents caused by faulty brakes” to “the number of car accidents caused by faulty wiring.” Third, the past perfect "had been relaxed" can only be correctly used to indicate that the regulations were relaxed prior to some other action in the past. In this sentence, there is no other past action, so the use of the past perfect tense cannot be justified and the simple past "were relaxed" should be used instead.

(E) CORRECT. “The number” is correctly used to refer to car accidents, a countable quantity. Also, a logically and structurally parallel comparison is made between “the number of car accidents caused by faulty brakes” to “the number caused by faulty wiring.” Finally, this choice uses the correct simple past “were relaxed.”