Pack 10 Q5: During the twenty-first century, importing...

Question

Pack 10, Question 5 of 5:

During the twenty-first century, importing machinery and electrical equipment into the United States has steadily increased,  second only to oil as the country’s largest import.

A. second only to oil as the country’s largest import
B. second in importance to oil as the country’s largest import
C. being second in importance only to oil as the country’s largest import
D. which, as the country’s largest import, is only second to oil
E. as the country’s largest import only second to oil

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sauravleo123 · Answer

During the twenty-first century, importing machinery and electrical equipment into the United States has steadily increased, second only to oil as the country’s largest import.

A. second only to oil as the country’s largest import
B. second in importance to oil as the country’s largest import
C. being second in importance only to oil as the country’s largest import
D. which, as the country’s largest import, is only second to oil
E. as the country’s largest import only second to oil

A. Looks correct to me. Lets look at the other choices.
B. Second in importance changes the meaning. Here we are talking about second largest import.
C. Wordy, awkward, also has the same error as B.
D. Which is used incorrectly.
E. Here the placement of only changes the meaning. Largest import only second to oil means no other ranking other than second is attributed to machinery imports.
Choice A though intends to say that no other imports other than oil supersedes machinery imports.
More examples: Only sachin plays cricket- this means sachin is the only one to play cricket.
Sachin plays only cricket- this means out of many games sachin plays only cricket.
A looks correct to me.
Great question.

thenikhilseth · Answer

I think  A wins the Game
 . ( Similar to Official Guide Question )

1)  Second Only v/s Only Second .
Only Second- Incorrect because Only Second to Oil as Country's largest import, it conveys that Importing Machinery is at second to Oil as country's largest import and also at some other ranking in other aspects- Quite Illogical. Eliminate D and E.

2)  Second in Importance - It also conveys an illogical meaning that I described above. Again it is conveying a category i.e Importance- Eliminate B and C

A. second only to oil as the country’s largest import-  CORRECT 
B.  second in importance  to oil as the country’s largest import
C.  being second in importance  only to oil as the country’s largest import
D.  which , as the country’s largest import, is  only second to oil 
E. as the country’s largest import  only second to oil

Raxit85 · Answer

During the twenty-first century, importing machinery and electrical equipment into the United States has steadily increased, second only to oil as the country’s largest import.

During the 21st century, importing x and y into US has steadily increased, second only to oil as the country's largest import.

A. second only to oil as the country’s largest import
B.  second in importance  to oil as the country’s largest import - Unnecessary wordy and changes meaning of original sentence. 
C.  being second in importance only  to oil as the country’s largest import - Incorrect usage of being and (modifier) only
D.  which,  as the country’s largest import, is only second to oil - Incorrect relative pronoun reference as which is referred to verb.
E. as the country’s largest import only second to oil -

Between A & E, E uses incorrect modifier only which changes the meaning of original sentence.
Importing of x and y has increased, second only to oil as import; here comparison components preserved the meaning.

Imo. A

jrk23 · Answer

First try to understand what statement is saying- it mean that during 21st century importing of x item increased such that ranking of X item in import is at 2nd place of all items that are imported.
Now go to the choices and read again and try to find the zest what i mentioned above.

A. second only to oil as the country’s largest import
B. second in importance to oil as the country’s largest import- second in importance to oil, do you think we are talking about importance- definitely wrong we are talking about rank of x item in importing List of item (quantity wise suppose)
C. being second in importance only to oil as the country’s largest import- Again check the use of importance, does it make sense. The answer is "no". Also use of being is wrong
D. which, as the country’s largest import, is only second to oil - as the country's largest import modify wrong noun instead it should modify oil.
E. as the country’s largest import only second to oil- use of as is wrong. Also it repeat the error mentioned in choice D.The purpose of "as'- "to give reason" , "to present a role" etc.. nothing like this is used here.

We are left with A - so i think "a" is the correct answer.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation

During the twenty-first century, importing machinery and electrical equipment into the United States has steadily increased,  second only to oil as the country’s largest import.

A.  second only to oil  as the country’s largest import 
 B.  second in importance to oil  as the country’s largest import
C.  being second in importance only to oil  as the country’s largest import
D. which, as the country’s largest import,  is only second to oil 
E. as the country’s largest import  only second to oil

This question deals with the modifier only.  Limiting modifiers (limiters) like “only” and “almost” are generally placed directly before the word they are limiting.  Incorrect placement may change the intended meaning. Let’s see how each limiting modifier stacks up:

A.  second only to oil  as the country’s largest import 
This is  CORRECT . The limiter “only” comes right before “oil,” which is the word being modified in this case. The sentence makes it clear that oil is the country’s largest import.

B.  second in importance to oil  as the country’s largest import 
This is  INCORRECT . Using “in importance” is redundant since using the word “second” already implies less importance.

C.  being second in importance only to oil  as the country’s largest import 
This is  INCORRECT . Using “in importance” is redundant since using the word “second” already implies less importance.

D. which, as the country’s largest import,  is only second to oil  
This is  INCORRECT . Placing the limiter “only” at the end of the sentence makes the sentence more difficult to understand, and the correct meaning may be missed.

E. as the country’s largest import  only second to oil  
This is  INCORRECT . Placing the limiter “only” at the end of the sentence makes the sentence more difficult to understand, and the correct meaning may be missed.

There you have it - option A was the correct choice all along!

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

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  sauravleo123 ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Another great explanation, thenikhilseth ! We sometimes have questions that cover similar grammar issues because these seem to trip up students the most. Nothing wrong with a little extra practice!

Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  Raxit85 ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done, jrk23! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

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