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

Question

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.

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition, 2009

Practice Question
Question No.: SC 94
Page: 674

(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

Plz explain.
What is difference between "55 percent more delays" and "a 55-percent increase in delays"

dabaobao · Accepted Answer

(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.

HIMALAYA · Answer

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

joshnsit · Answer

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.

purnima · Answer

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.

aditya8062 · Answer

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

egmat · Answer

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.

Nightmare007 · Answer

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.

daagh · Answer

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.

KaranB1 · Answer

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.

GMATNinja · Answer

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!

Teitsuya · Answer

GMATNinja

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

GMATNinja · Answer

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!

Andrewcoleman · Answer

egmat

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

Posted from my mobile device

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

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.)

FazliddinKD · Answer

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.

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 12th Edition, 2009

Practice Question
Question No.: SC 94
Page: 674

(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

sanyasanha · Answer

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

Oppenheimer1945 · Answer

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"

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

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

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

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

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards