Much of the hope for continued improvement of the economy lies in the

Question

Much of the hope for continued improvement of the economy lies in the  projection of increasing consumer spending  this year.

(A) projection of increasing consumer spending
(B) projection of consumers increasing spending for
(C) projected consumer spending increase
(D) consumer spending that is projected to increase
(E) increase in consumer spending that is projected for

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EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Accepted Answer

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down the choices to the right one! This is a great example of a question that focuses more on intended meaning, and less on actual grammatical errors! First, let's take a quick scan over the options and highlight any major changes in  orange :

Much of the hope for continued improvement of the economy lies in the  projection of increasing consumer spending  this year.

(A)  projection of  increasing consumer spending
(B)  projection of  consumers increasing spending for
(C)  projected  consumer spending increase
(D)  consumer spending  that is projected to increase
(E)  increase in  consumer spending that is projected for

While there seem to a lot of differences between the options, there is one area we can begin to focus in on: LOGIC.  It's already clear from a quick scan of the options that each of these has a different meaning. We now need to determine what the intended meaning is, and find the option that best expresses that.

If we look at the entire original sentence, we can look for clues that tell us what our "intended meaning" should be:

Much of the hope for continued improvement of the economy lies in  the  projection of increasing consumer spending  this year.

WHAT are people hoping will happen to improve the economy? The  projection  that consumer spending will increase? Or how about an  actual  increase in spending? It doesn't really makes sense that people would hope a projection or prediction would happen - they are more likely to hope that consumer spending actually increases. Therefore, we need to stick to options that focus on consumer spending, and less on the projections about it:

(A)  projection of  increasing consumer spending
(B)  projection of  consumers increasing spending for
(C)  projected  consumer spending increase
(D)  consumer spending  that is projected to increase
(E)  increase in consumer spending  that is projected for

We can eliminate options A, B, and C because they don't logically convey the intended meaning.

Now that we have it narrowed down to only 2 options, let's take a closer look at each sentence, with the non-underlined parts added in, to spot any other problems:

(D) Much of the hope for continued improvement of the economy lies in  consumer spending that is projected to increase  this year.

This is  INCORRECT  because while it's close to the intended meaning, it's still not quite there. This sentence is saying that people are putting their hope in ONLY the part of consumer spending that increases - not ALL consumer spending increasing. Since that's not really what we're going for, let's rule this out.

(E) Much of the hope for continued improvement of the economy lies in  increase in consumer spending  that is projected for this year.

This is  CORRECT ! It's clear that people are putting their hope in an  all-around increase in consumer spending , which we know from the rest of the sentence is likely to happen this year.

There you have it - option E is the best choice!  It's the one that most closely conveys a clear and logical meaning.

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

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

The important thing here is to determine what people are hopeful about. People are hopeful because consumer spending is projected to increase. The projection may have caused people to hope, but their hope can't  lie in  the projection. One's hope lies in the thing that one is hopeful about. In this case, that is the increase spending that has been projected.

A and B put the hope in the projection. As I've shown, that can't work.
D puts the hope in consumer spending as a whole, adding that this spending is projected to increase. We have no reason to believe that  current  spending is a cause for hope.
C almost seems to work, but it can't. The real problem is not the string of modifiers, as the official explanation suggests. The problem is that "this year" now modifies the entire phrase "projected consumer spending increase." Unlike the other choices, this implies that this increase has occurred or is in the process of occurring this year. The other choices all make it fairly clear that the increase was projected to happen this year, but give no sign that it has already happened nor that it is certain to happen.

gmatt1476 · Answer

Official Explanation

Agreement; Rhetorical construction

Consumer spending helps fuel the economy; when consumer spending increases, the economy tends to improve. The given sentence suggests that there is hope for continued improvement in the economy resulting from a projected increase in consumer spending this year.

Which one of the five answer options best conveys this idea?

A. This choice focuses on projection rather than increase. Furthermore, the role of increasing is ambiguous: it can either be read as an adjective modifying spending or as a noun with spending as its object.

B. In this choice, the preposition of incorrectly governs the phrase consumers increasing spending.

C. This choice correctly focuses on the increase in consumer spending as a whole. However, it strings together too many adjectives; to make the sentence clearer and more readable, it would be preferable to state increase first as in choice E.

D. This choice incorrectly focuses on what may be simply one portion of consumer spending: that which is expected to increase.

E. Correct. With this choice, it is clear that the underlined portion of the sentence focuses on increase. Use of the preposition for also clarifies that the projected increase is attributed to this year.

The correct answer is E.

Manukaran · Answer

Hi  DmitryFarber , this is not very clear. Since it uses "projected", does it not already imply "future"? So, how can we conclude that increase has already "occurred"?

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

Manukaran  Since C precedes "this year" with a noun phrase ("projected spending increase"), we are now saying that there is/was an increase this year. We don't know that it has already happened, but the sentence is definitely saying that the increase is this year. The other choices correctly state that the increase was projected to happen this year, leaving us uncertain (as we should be) whether it will actually happen.

In any case, the word "projected" is serving as a modifier for the word "increase," so all we know is that the projection was in the past. This in itself tells us nothing about the timing of the increase. We certainly can  talk about the future this way ("Everyone in the neighborhood is preparing for the storm that is projected to hit on Friday"), but we can also talk about the past ("The hurricane projected to hit our coasts last week turned out to be more of a strong breeze.")

Also, since "projected" serves as an adjective here, we can't apply the reasoning that EMPOWERgmatVerbal uses in C. This choice does still talk about the increase, not the projection. It just does so incorrectly.

Manukaran · Answer

These sentences that you've used, highlight the doubt I had. Since "projected" is a adjective, there is no "tense" associated with it. In both your sentences, "projected" is just taking the verb of the "main sentence".

In this sentence, since verb of the main sentence is in "present", this should then mean that projection of the increase is in the present (for possibility of increase in the "future"). So, there should not be ambiguity that increase has "already" occurred.

GMATNinja · Answer

Choice (C) is open to interpretation. As suggested by  DmitryFarber , a projection, by definition, MUST happen before an actual increase. So does choice (C) mean (1) that the increase was projected in the past and (2) that the increase  actually  happened this year? Or does it mean (1) that the increase was projected to occur  sometime this year  but (2) that the increase has not  actually  happened yet? Either interpretation is fair game.

Choice (E) clears up any ambiguity. The increase "is projected for this year". That tells us without a doubt that the increase has not happened yet.

Does the hope come from a projected increase that hasn't happened yet? Or from an increase that actually happened, as projected? With choice (C), we aren't sure. The meaning is more clear in choice (E), so that's our best answer.

sakshiagarwal96 · Answer

AjiteshArun , I did but I'm still not sure. Is it because D refers to only that part of consumer spending that is projected to increase?

Posted from my mobile device

Harsh2111s · Answer

Hello sakshi, There is slight meaning difference between D and E. I hope you are aware of this rule. "According to the rules of grammar, modifiers should be placed as close as possible to the person or thing that they are modifying" According to option D" Much of the hope for continued improvement of the economy lies in the consumer spending that is projected to increase" So this statement is saying hope for continued improvement lies in consumer spending but as per above rule I think hope for continued improvement should lie is increase in consumer spending rather than consumer spending. I hope it may help a bit

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  sakshiagarwal96 ,

Option C is just not as good as the correct option.

E   Much of the hope for continued improvement of the economy lies in the  increase in consumer spending that is projected for  this year.  ← This option makes it clear that the  projected  and  this year  are linked. That is, something is  projected   for   this year .

C   Much of the hope for continued improvement of the economy lies in the  projected consumer spending increase  this year.  ← This option is much harder to understand. Does  much of the hope  lie in something this year, or is the  increase  this year, or is the projection this year?

A (somewhat) similar example:

Farmers' hopes lie in the rain that is forecast for this week. 
vs.
 Farmers' hopes lie in the forecasted rain this week.

GMATIntensive · Answer

Sentence Analysis

https://www.thegmatco.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/3.png

The gist of the sentence is that much of the hope lies in a projection. “Hope lies in a projection” doesn’t make a lot of sense. It makes much more sense to say that “hope lies in the increase in consumer spending”.

Option Analysis

A.  projection of increasing consumer spending 
 Incorrect . For the issue mentioned above.

B.  projection of consumers increasing spending for  
 Incorrect . This option repeats the problem of the original sentence. Besides, the option says “projection of consumers” followed by a verb-ing modifier of “consumers”. “Projection of consumers” is a completely nonsensical construction.

C.  projected consumer spending increase  
 Incorrect . In this construction, ‘this year’ can modify either “increase” or the verb ‘lies’. Neither modification is correct. The increase hasn’t happened yet; it’s projected for this year. That’s why hope lies in it (hope has to lie in a future event). If “this year” modifies “increase”, the increase could have happened in the earlier part of this year, not necessarily in the part of the year to come. Thus, this modification is not correct.

D.  consumer spending that is projected to increase  
 Incorrect . Logically, the hope lies not in “consumer spending” but in “the increase in consumer spending”. Thus, this option has a meaning issue.

E.  increase in consumer spending that is projected for  
 Correct . Please note that in this option “that” modifies “increase”.

mSKR · Answer

Hi  AndrewN

Could you please share your opinion on current question vs  another question

In current question : 
correct answer:(E) increase in  consumer spending that is projected for -CORRECT
(C) projected consumer spending  increase - WRONG

But in another question: 
such a construction is wrong/
(E) has increased awareness of environmental  legislation that is still pendin g- WRONG
(C) has increased awareness about  pending environmental legislation - CORRECT

Queries:
1. adjective noun  better than  noun that adjective   
2. adjective adjective2 noun better than adjective noun that adjective2?
is it?

please share your opinion how to differentiate ?

Thanks!

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  mSKR . First off, thank you for bringing up another official question that does bear a grammatical resemblance to this one. If anything, the pair of questions illustrates why you should not follow grammar too closely, why you should favor a meaning-based approach instead. I notice that the keyword you did not draw attention to in this question is  increase . A meaning-based approach would call for an answer, in the context of the sentence, to the question,  The hope lies in WHAT?  Placing hope in an increase (in something) makes sense; placing hope in three modifying words before we get to that increase, as in (C), is not as effective a way to communicate the same idea.

In the other question, we see that the shell of the sentence is that  the lobbying effort has increased awareness  of or about something. The correct idiom for the context is  of ,  to increase awareness of , not  about . That said, the answer really comes down to (D) and (E) in that case, and they look more similar than you might initially think:

Do you see it now? All that we are really wondering about is how to specify that the legislation is pending, since each iteration uses  environmental  ahead of  legislation . I would have no reservations about opting for the terser option in this 50/50 and go for (D). Again, the call is effectively between  pending legislation  or  legislation that is pending .

A meaning-based approach exposes flaws that a grammar-based approach may not, particularly in harder questions. If you spot cosmetic differences—splits—that allow you to differentiate between one answer choice and another, ask yourself what effect each one may have on the clear and concise communication of the notion that is intended to be expressed. Otherwise, you will find your hands full of seemingly arbitrary grammar rules as you comb through more and more questions, as you have pointed out above between two questions.

I hope that helps. Nice catch on the grammatical similarity.

- Andrew

gmatimothy · Answer

rikinmathur · Answer

(A) projection of increasing consumer spending
Does the hope lie in the projection? That’s certainly not the intended meaning here.
(B) projection of consumers increasing spending for
Same error as B. 
(C) projected consumer spending increase
This is better but still uses too many adjectives together. Additionally, if you go with this option, it reads “the hope lies in the projected consumer spending increase this year”. It is not clear if the consumer spending increase already happened and was projected in the past or if it will happen in the future. So important to always read the sentence as a whole after you pick a choice. 
(D) consumer spending that is projected to increase
This alters the meaning by saying that only specifically the consumer spending that is projected to increase is what the hope lies in. 
(E) increase in consumer spending that is projected for
E is clear. The hope lies in the increase, increase of what? Increase of the consumer spending that is projected for this year.

valeriacastro11 · Answer

Im so confused with this one, i really need a video of someone explaining this...

Tanchat · Answer

Dear experts,  RonTargetTestPrep

I read all comments in this thread but I am a little bit confused.

Much of the hope for continued improvement of the economy lies in the   this year.

(A) projection of increasing consumer spending
(B) projection of consumers increasing spending for
(C) projected consumer spending increase
(D) consumer spending that is projected to increase
(E) increase in consumer spending that is projected for

All options are grammatically correct. We need to evaluate the meaning, right?

I can eliminate (A) and (B) because "lies in" should be followed by the actual things that hope lines not projection

I am not sure for (C) (D) and (E)
but I guess the increase in___ should be the hope rather than just consumer spending. Thus, (E) may be clearer than (D)

I have no idea for (C).. I just love (E) but it should not be the reason =_=

Vegita · Answer

DmitryFarber

Thank you for clarifying that! I had this exact doubt on option C. "Projection" is not a noun but a modifer in option C so we cannot eliminate this option with the same reasoning as used in eliminating option A and B.

hrithiksindwani · Answer

I have read many explanations with Logic but I am still not convinced of the OA.

Here me out please.

Original sentence:
Much of the hope for continued improvement of the economy lies in the projection of increasing consumer spending this year.

Meaning inferred: The economy is currently improving and the hope for this continued improvement lies in the expectation that the projection of consumer spending will be correct, which of course is an increased amount of consumer spending.

My issue with option E:
(E) increase in consumer spending that is projected for

If I read "Hope lies in the INCREASE IN CONSUMER SPENDING that (only modifying consumer spending) is projected for this year", it makes sense.

But if I read, "Hope lies in the INCREASE IN CONSUMER SPENDING that (modifying "increase in consumer spending") is projected for this year"

then the gist of meaning becomes:

If hypothetically, analysts projected for consumer spending to increase to 100, we are saying hope lies in increase in what was projected so hoping that Consumer spending will be even higher than what was projected by the Analysts

Not sure where I am going wrong. Experts, please help.

Much of the hope for continued improvement of the economy lies in the

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Much of the hope for continued improvement of the economy lies in the

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