The recent surge in the number of airplane flights has clogged the nat

(A) to lead to 55 percent more delays at airports, and prompts

(B) leading to 55 percent more delay at airports and prompting

(C) to lead to a 55 percent increase in delay at airports and prompt

(D) to lead to an increase of 55 percent in delays at airports, and prompted

(E) leading to a 55 percent increase in delays at airports and prompting

Main Issues:

- Need to using verb-ing for "lead" and "prompt" to show the result. "To verb" is wrong since there is no purpose here.
- "percent increase" vs "percent more". More is usually used for comparing 2 values. If the same value changes, then we use "increase/decrease" to show that change. Here the delays are "increasing" by 55 percent since it's not being compared to any other value.
- Parallelism: Both "lead" and "prompt" should be parallel.

delays are increased by a given percentage not by more or less. So between B and E, E wins.

The answer tries to answer "how many" rather than "how much" of delays...
When you are using 55 percent more delay then it means that if you used to have 100 hours of delay earlier then now you are having 155 hours of delay.
But when you say 55 percent increase in delays as in E, it clearly brings in the quantitative number of flights into picture. This basically means if earlier there were 100 flight delays earlier, now there would be 155 late flights.

I have doubt between choice B and E.

Exact doubt : How to understand the real meaning of the sentence when as illustrated in this question both cases ( Increase in delay times and increase in flights getting delayed can both happen.

your doubt might have cropped up after u must have read some of the explanations in this thread (which largely are misleading !!)
the fact is that expression "55 percent more delay" is a wrong expression
u always have to use "more" with "than" in a correct construction ---->for this reason u can straight way strike out option B

Dear Purnima,

I see that your doubt has been addressed. Please do let me know if you need any other clarification on this question.

Regards,

Neeti.
_________________

B changes meaning.
Intention - 55 % more delays i.e. If previously there were 100 delays now it is 155 delays.
B says - previously if the delay was 100 min now it is 155 minutes delay. :D .

So Answer must be E. . Hope you understood- Hit GMAT like you mean it. All the best.

Between B and E, we have one spark. The correct style of using 55 percentage is---a 55-percentage --- We need a dash after 55, and then the following word should be singular. Examples such usage are ---a 12-foot tall building ---, --- a 14-year old boy, --- etc.
Here is an official question also.

Twenty-two feet long and 10 feet in diameter, the AM-1 is one of the many new satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces to detailed scrutiny from space.


(A) satellites that is a part of 15 years effort of subjecting the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces

(B) satellites, which is a part of a 15-year effort to subject how Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces interact

(C) satellites, part of 15 years effort of subjecting how Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces are interacting

(D) satellites that are part of an effort for 15 years that has subjected the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces

(E) satellites that are part of a 15-year effort to subject the interactions of Earth's atmosphere, ocean, and land surfaces

OA: E.
_________________

GMATNinja

Can you please tell us as to why B is wrong. I want to know whether more can be used with percentages?

Please share your two cents.

In general, there is nothing wrong with using "more" with percentages. For example:

"Bill Gates has 50 percent more money than you do." (Approximately.)

The issue with (B), as explained in this post, is that we need "delays", not "delay".

I hope that answers your question!
_________________

GMATNinja

"More" should be followed by "Than".
Can I use this reason to eliminate B?

While it's true that the GMAT will almost always follow "more" with "than," it's not a rule. For instance, you could write, "Tim made a resolution to eat more mochi in 2021," and that's not an error. (Eating more mochi is definitely not an error... )

A bigger problem with (B), as others have noted, is that the phrase, "55 percent more delay" is unclear. What does "more delay" mean, exactly? That, on average, people are waiting 55% longer than they had been? That the number of delayed flights is 55 percent greater than it had been?

Contrast this with (E) in which the phrase "55 percent increase in delays" makes it crystal clear that the number of delayed flights has gone up by 55%.

Because (E) is clearer and more logical than (B), it's better.

I hope that helps!
_________________

egmat

Can you comment on the usage of leading vs to lead?

Posted from my mobile device

Andrewcoleman
"Leading" and "to lead" have very different meanings. "Leading" shows a result of the action. (This is very common for "comma + -ing modifiers.) So the surge clogged the system, and this has led to delays.

"To lead" implies intent. Someone did this to achieve this particular result. That wouldn't make sense here, since there's no one planning anything here. The surge cannot have had the intent to cause delays when it clogged the system, since the surge isn't a thinking entity.

In general, we can say that "do X to Y" means that we do X with the goal of achieving Y. The "comma + -ing" modifier, on the other hand, has several uses, but one is to show the result of an action.

Here's a related case to add some clarity:

I reported my manager's misbehavior, earning a promotion when he was fired. (I reported the behavior. We don't know why I reported it, but when I did, the result was that I got a promotion.)

I I reported my manager's misbehavior to earn a promotion. (I reported the behavior with the goal of earning a promotion. We don't know whether I achieved my goal.)
_________________

The recent surge in the number of airplane flights has clogged the nation's air-traffic control system, to lead to 55 percent more delays at airports, and prompts fears among some officials that safety is being compromised.


(A) to lead to 55 percent more delays at airports, and prompts - "to lead" and "prompts" are not parllel to each other

(B) leading to 55 percent more delay at airports and prompting - "55 percent more delay" delay must be in plural

(C) to lead to a 55 percent increase in delay at airports and prompt - "to lead" and "prompt" are not parllel to each other

(D) to lead to an increase of 55 percent in delays at airports, and prompted - "to lead" and "promptred" are not parllel to each other

(E) leading to a 55 percent increase in delays at airports and prompting - Correct, leading || promting, a 55 percent increase in delays - plural

Thank you so much for clearing this up. My doubt also came up because of the explanations on this thread!

The recent surge in the number of airplane flights has clogged the nation's air-traffic control system, to lead to 55 percent more delays at airports, and prompts fears among some officials that safety is being compromised.
(A) to lead to 55 percent more delays at airports, and prompts
(B) leading to 55 percent more delay at airports and prompting
(C) to lead to a 55 percent increase in delay at airports and prompt
(D) to lead to an increase of 55 percent in delays at airports, and prompted
(E) leading to a 55-percent increase in delays at airports and prompting

We need a verb-ing modifier to modify the phrase "The recent surge in the number of airplane flights has clogged the nation's air-traffic control system". Hence options A, C, D are eliminated.
b/w B & E, E gives a better quantitative picture by illustrating "increase in delays", and not "delays"

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
_________________