The national debt per U.S. citizen rose sharply between 2004 and 2008

Thank you very much.

Of course, tired eyes of mine and exhausted brain couldn't realize it.

Hi sayantanc2k, Can you please tell me when to use increase of and when to use Increase in.
Sorry, This might sound basic.
Here, in the above question i chose C rather than choosing E.
Thank you.

Has option C been ruled out because it's unidiomatic? Can you elaborate on 'increase in' vs 'increase of', and explain why 'increase of' is correct here? TIA.

Stuck between C and E. Would anyone please explain the difference between increase of and increase in?

Please explain why the increase in in C is wrong, but the increase of in E is right!

Many thanks!

Take a hypothetical case:
Value at year 1 beginning = 100
Increase in year 1 = 10
Value at year 2 beginning = 110
Increase in year 2 = 12
Value at year 3 beginning = 122
Increase in year 3 = 14
Value at year 4 beginning = 136
Increase in year 4 = 16
Value at year 5 (current) beginning = 152[/u]
Increase in year 5 (current) = ??

Case I: Doubling the increase IN last 4 years --->
Meaning 1: The "increase" doubled IN last four years ("IN" is an adverb for the verb "double"). The increase was 10 four years ago. Thus this year the increase is 10 x 2 = 20. Thus value at year end 5 = 152 + 20 = 172.
Meaning 2: The "increase" IN last four years doubled ("IN last four years" is a prepositional phrase modifier for the noun "increase"). The increase IN last 4 years was = 10+12+14+16 = 52. Thus this year the increase is 52 x 2 = 104. Thus value at year end 5 = 152 + 104 = 256.
Thus there is an ambiguity in meaning if one uses "IN" (the increase could be 20 or 104 - not clear).

Case II: Doubling the increase OF last 4 years ---> The "increase" OF last four years doubled ("OF last four years" is a prepositional phrase modifier for the noun "increase"). The increase OF last four years is 10+12+14+16 = 52. Thus this year the increase is 52 x 2 = 104. Thus value at year end 5 = 152 + 104 = 256.
There is no ambuity in meaning. ("The increase doubled OF last four years" does not make sense.)

Hence OF is better than IN in this case.

I don't feel there is any ambiguity if we use 'doubling the increase in'.

Here's the statement: The national debt per U.S. citizen rose sharply between 2004 and 2008, nearly doubling the increase in the previous four years.

The above statement clearly says that the increase in the previous four years has nearly doubled. Thus, national debt per U.S. citizen rose sharply between years 2004 and 2008, nearly doubling the increase in the past four years, i.e. if the increase in last four years, 2000-2004, was X (say), then the increase between 2004-2008 would be 2X!

Per your explanation, Case I: Doubling the increase IN last 4 years --->
Meaning 1: The "increase" doubled IN last four years ("IN" is an adverb for the verb "double"). The increase was 10 four years ago. Thus this year the increase is 10 x 2 = 20. Thus value at year end 5 = 152 + 20 = 172.

I feel there is an error here. Why are we only considering one particular year? The prompt specifically mentions 'last four years' and not 'fourth last year'. Isn't is error-some to consider just 10 and not 52 instead? The meaning-2 is the only meaning that can be correctly inferred out of the given statement. Hence, 'doubling the increase in' should be correct.

Is my understanding correct? Or, am I missing some key point here?

ANS D)

Replacing "double as much as" with Twice that of is more concise and grammatical.

Also Twice that of previous four year correctly compares the profit between 2004-2008 and profit four years before that.



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E is the only option that correctly refers to the increase that happened in the last four years.

Why D could not be the OA?

'Twice that of' makes complete sense. Please explain.

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