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03 Jul 2020, 00:03
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A
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Difficulty:
45%
(medium)
Question Stats:
62% (01:39) correct
38%
(01:48)
wrong
based on 694
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This year, trucks are expected to account for a record 23 percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States, compared with a 15 percent share ten years ago.
A) This year, trucks are expected to account for a record 23 percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States, compared with a 15 percent share ten years ago
B) Compared with ten years ago, when 15 percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States was accounted for by trucks, they are expected this year to account for a record 23 percent
C) While ten years ago trucks accounted for 15 percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States, but this year trucks are expected to account for 23 percent of total sales, which is a record
D) Comparing with 15 percent ten years ago, a record 23 percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States are expected to be accounted for this year by trucks
E) Accounting for a 15 percent share of total motor vehicle sales ten years ago, this year trucks are expected to account for a record 23 per cent
03 Jul 2020, 00:15
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
THE PROMPT
Answer: truck sales' portion of total car sales this year and truck sales' portion of total car sales ten years ago.
Items of comparison must be parallel, a requirement that encompasses both grammar and logic.
More specifically, items that are compared must be similar grammatical forms and must play the same logical role in the sentence.
"Similar grammatical forms" means that items X and Y must both be, say, noun phrases or verbs (not a verb and a verbal).
In most cases, the items are not required to be constructed identically.
For example, one noun might be preceded by an adjective, another noun might be followed by an adjective phrase, and a third noun might stand alone, as is the case in the official question beneath the spoiler.
Spoiler alert: I mention items in an official question.
Furthermore, when nouns are compared, we can use synonyms. Clarity matters. In this case, the long phrase percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States is sensibly condensed to the synonym share.
Takeaway: do not automatically eliminate options whose compared items are phrased differently. Investigate whether the items are similar in grammatical form and in logical role.
Note: I discuss some subtle tertiary and secondary points in options B, D, and E.
If you are confused by those points, do not worry.
Ignore them.
This question is not official.
I try to import what I know about subtleties present in very hard official questions in order to help aspirants who are aiming for a 45+ score, who are far along in their studies, or both.
The first bullet point beneath each incorrect option gives enough reason to eliminate the option.
THE OPTIONS
• the comparison is parallel
-- 23 percent OF total motor vehicle sales in the United States is a 23 percent share
-- a 15 percent share is 15 percent OF total motor vehicle sales in the United States.
-- As I explained above, we can use share as shorthand for percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States, partly because the long noun, "sales of . . . ," has already been mentioned.
→ Because of context in which the long descriptive phrase is attached to trucks account for, we know that the word trucks implies trucks as a sold commodity or truck sales. (This standard parlance is a non-issue because all of the options use it.)
→ The compared items are grammatically similar: they are both noun forms. They play the same logical role: they are the targets of a comparison.
→ Again, parallelism does not require that every word be identical. It requires that things being compared play the same grammatical and logical role in the sentence
KEEP
• (B) seems to compare a a time period [ten years ago] with trucks. [they = trucks]
• Compared with ten years ago is vague and lacks the correct noun.
-- Compared is a past participle adjective (a verbED). The intro phrase needs a logical noun. We are not comparing time periods.
-- The introductory phrase would be better if it contained a logical noun. What, logically, is being compared? We should not be kept waiting.
-- This intro phrase would make more sense if it were written this way:
Compared with trucks' share of total motor vehicle sales in the U.S. ten years ago when trucks accounted for only 15 percent of the total, trucks this year are expected to . . .
ELIMINATE B
ELIMINATE C
-- the correct meaning is expressed by the phrase are expected to account for in other options. That phrase means are expected to form part of the total.
Correct: Samsung cell phones are expected to account for 20 percent of all global sales of cell phones.
-- the incorrect meaning is expressed by the phrase to be accounted for in this option. That phrase means to be taken into consideration.
-> Wrong meaning: Samsung cell phones are expected to be accounted for in summaries of global sales of cell phones. (Samsung is the largest vendor of cell phones worldwide. An analyst who failed to include Samsung's sales would produce wildly inaccurate summaries of global cell phone sales, let alone accurate market shares.)
• Comparing should be compared.
-- The former is an action noun (a gerund, a verbING). The latter is an adjective.
-- if we lead with comparing, we should follow with the result of that action, but doing so places the emphasis on the act of comparing rather than on the steep increase in trucks' market share of total U.S. vehicle sales. The changed percentage is the logical center and should be the subject of the sentence.
-- We would see a sentence written in a way similar to this one:
Comparing truck sales as a percent of total motor vehicle sales in the U.S. ten years ago with projected truck sales' share this year reveals a large increase: from a 15 percent share to the record 23 percent share that truck sales are expected to account for.
No thanks. Essential information that cannot be removed makes that sentence dense.
In addition, when the subject of the sentence is comparing, the important items (percents or shares of total sales) must be relegated to object status in the sentence.
ELIMINATE D
• Intro phrases anchored by participle phrases (___ING phrases) typically modify the subject of the subsequent clause. (They can modify the entire subsequent clause, though that construction is rare on the GMAT).
-- That modified subject, in turn, almost always comes right after the comma. If a short phrase cannot be placed elsewhere, that phrase may follow the comma and be placed right before the modified subject.
-- in this case, we could easily move the phrase this year.
In other words, after we read Accounting for a 15 percent share of total motor vehicle sales ten years ago, we should immediately see the noun trucks.
-- The phrase this year could easily be moved this way: trucks are expected to account for a record 23 per cent [share] this year. "This year" could also be placed after "expected."
• "a record 23 percent" the end of the sentence is arguably not parallel with a 15 percent share of total motor vehicle sales.
-- if we were to use a fairly rigid approach, we might say that percent, which is not followed by share or of total sales, and share in the main clause are not parallel.
-- in strict terms, percent means out of 100. Well, out of 100 what?
-- on the other hand, we know that 23 percent refers to the same "of" that [i]15 percent share[i] refers to.
-- Our next move? Compare this option with the least-bad of the other options.
• Compare (E) with (A). No contest. Option A is not plagued by either issue present in option E.
ELIMINATE E
The best answer is A.
COMMENTS
This question is a good reminder that parallelism does not require items of comparison to be written identically.
Parallelism requires these items to be similar grammatical entities and to perform similar logical functions.
Those who posted were brave: smiley faces.
Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)
THE PROMPT
Quote:
What things are compared in this sentence?
Answer: truck sales' portion of total car sales this year and truck sales' portion of total car sales ten years ago.
Items of comparison must be parallel, a requirement that encompasses both grammar and logic.
More specifically, items that are compared must be similar grammatical forms and must play the same logical role in the sentence.
"Similar grammatical forms" means that items X and Y must both be, say, noun phrases or verbs (not a verb and a verbal).
In most cases, the items are not required to be constructed identically.
For example, one noun might be preceded by an adjective, another noun might be followed by an adjective phrase, and a third noun might stand alone, as is the case in the official question beneath the spoiler.
Spoiler alert: I mention items in an official question.
In this official question, here, the three parallel nouns are expanding development, changes in climate, and pollution. If we were to insist that the items be constructed identically, "changes in climate" would be "climate changes" so that the adjective climate were parallel with the adjective "expanding."
Notice that pollution is not accompanied by any adjective.
All three items are noun phrases or nouns and thus are similar grammatical forms. All three serve the same logical purpose: they are three factors that have increased the "pressure on water resources."
Notice that pollution is not accompanied by any adjective.
All three items are noun phrases or nouns and thus are similar grammatical forms. All three serve the same logical purpose: they are three factors that have increased the "pressure on water resources."
Furthermore, when nouns are compared, we can use synonyms. Clarity matters. In this case, the long phrase percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States is sensibly condensed to the synonym share.
Takeaway: do not automatically eliminate options whose compared items are phrased differently. Investigate whether the items are similar in grammatical form and in logical role.
Note: I discuss some subtle tertiary and secondary points in options B, D, and E.
If you are confused by those points, do not worry.
Ignore them.
This question is not official.
I try to import what I know about subtleties present in very hard official questions in order to help aspirants who are aiming for a 45+ score, who are far along in their studies, or both.
The first bullet point beneath each incorrect option gives enough reason to eliminate the option.
THE OPTIONS
Quote:
• I see no error
• the comparison is parallel
-- 23 percent OF total motor vehicle sales in the United States is a 23 percent share
-- a 15 percent share is 15 percent OF total motor vehicle sales in the United States.
-- As I explained above, we can use share as shorthand for percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States, partly because the long noun, "sales of . . . ," has already been mentioned.
→ Because of context in which the long descriptive phrase is attached to trucks account for, we know that the word trucks implies trucks as a sold commodity or truck sales. (This standard parlance is a non-issue because all of the options use it.)
→ The compared items are grammatically similar: they are both noun forms. They play the same logical role: they are the targets of a comparison.
→ Again, parallelism does not require that every word be identical. It requires that things being compared play the same grammatical and logical role in the sentence
KEEP
Quote:
• plural subject sales does not agree with singular verb was
• (B) seems to compare a a time period [ten years ago] with trucks. [they = trucks]
• Compared with ten years ago is vague and lacks the correct noun.
-- Compared is a past participle adjective (a verbED). The intro phrase needs a logical noun. We are not comparing time periods.
-- The introductory phrase would be better if it contained a logical noun. What, logically, is being compared? We should not be kept waiting.
-- This intro phrase would make more sense if it were written this way:
Compared with trucks' share of total motor vehicle sales in the U.S. ten years ago when trucks accounted for only 15 percent of the total, trucks this year are expected to . . .
ELIMINATE B
Quote:
• While and but are both contrast words in this sentence and should not be used together. Only one contrast word is needed.
ELIMINATE C
Quote:
• BIG error: the phrase are expected to be accounted for conveys the wrong meaning and is illogical.
-- the correct meaning is expressed by the phrase are expected to account for in other options. That phrase means are expected to form part of the total.
Correct: Samsung cell phones are expected to account for 20 percent of all global sales of cell phones.
-- the incorrect meaning is expressed by the phrase to be accounted for in this option. That phrase means to be taken into consideration.
-> Wrong meaning: Samsung cell phones are expected to be accounted for in summaries of global sales of cell phones. (Samsung is the largest vendor of cell phones worldwide. An analyst who failed to include Samsung's sales would produce wildly inaccurate summaries of global cell phone sales, let alone accurate market shares.)
• Comparing should be compared.
-- The former is an action noun (a gerund, a verbING). The latter is an adjective.
-- if we lead with comparing, we should follow with the result of that action, but doing so places the emphasis on the act of comparing rather than on the steep increase in trucks' market share of total U.S. vehicle sales. The changed percentage is the logical center and should be the subject of the sentence.
-- We would see a sentence written in a way similar to this one:
Comparing truck sales as a percent of total motor vehicle sales in the U.S. ten years ago with projected truck sales' share this year reveals a large increase: from a 15 percent share to the record 23 percent share that truck sales are expected to account for.
No thanks. Essential information that cannot be removed makes that sentence dense.
In addition, when the subject of the sentence is comparing, the important items (percents or shares of total sales) must be relegated to object status in the sentence.
ELIMINATE D
Quote:
• Accounting for is a noun modifier that targets trucks but that appears to be modifying this year instead.
• Intro phrases anchored by participle phrases (___ING phrases) typically modify the subject of the subsequent clause. (They can modify the entire subsequent clause, though that construction is rare on the GMAT).
-- That modified subject, in turn, almost always comes right after the comma. If a short phrase cannot be placed elsewhere, that phrase may follow the comma and be placed right before the modified subject.
-- in this case, we could easily move the phrase this year.
In other words, after we read Accounting for a 15 percent share of total motor vehicle sales ten years ago, we should immediately see the noun trucks.
-- The phrase this year could easily be moved this way: trucks are expected to account for a record 23 per cent [share] this year. "This year" could also be placed after "expected."
• "a record 23 percent" the end of the sentence is arguably not parallel with a 15 percent share of total motor vehicle sales.
-- if we were to use a fairly rigid approach, we might say that percent, which is not followed by share or of total sales, and share in the main clause are not parallel.
-- in strict terms, percent means out of 100. Well, out of 100 what?
-- on the other hand, we know that 23 percent refers to the same "of" that [i]15 percent share[i] refers to.
-- Our next move? Compare this option with the least-bad of the other options.
• Compare (E) with (A). No contest. Option A is not plagued by either issue present in option E.
ELIMINATE E
The best answer is A.
COMMENTS
This question is a good reminder that parallelism does not require items of comparison to be written identically.
Parallelism requires these items to be similar grammatical entities and to perform similar logical functions.
Those who posted were brave: smiley faces.
General Discussion
KhulanE
03 Jul 2020, 17:49
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This year, trucks are expected to account for a record 23 percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States, compared with a 15 percent share ten years ago.
A) This year, trucks are expected to account for a record 23 percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States, compared with a 15 percent share ten years ago: we cannot compare a record with a percent. hence wrong. "that of 15 percent share" can be used in this sentence.
B) Compared with ten years ago, when 15 percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States was accounted for by trucks, they are expected this year to account for a record 23 percent: in answer choice B, ten years is compared with they, hence wrong
C) While ten years ago trucks accounted for 15 percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States, but this year trucks are expected to account for 23 percent of total sales, which is a record: correctly compares truck to truck before after 10 years ago.
RIGHT answer
D) Comparing with 15 percent ten years ago, a record 23 percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States are expected to be accounted for this year by trucks: again cannot compare percent with a record. wrong
E) Accounting for a 15 percent share of total motor vehicle sales ten years ago, this year trucks are expected to account for a record 23 per cent: cannot compare share with trucks. hence wrong.
A) This year, trucks are expected to account for a record 23 percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States, compared with a 15 percent share ten years ago: we cannot compare a record with a percent. hence wrong. "that of 15 percent share" can be used in this sentence.
B) Compared with ten years ago, when 15 percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States was accounted for by trucks, they are expected this year to account for a record 23 percent: in answer choice B, ten years is compared with they, hence wrong
C) While ten years ago trucks accounted for 15 percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States, but this year trucks are expected to account for 23 percent of total sales, which is a record: correctly compares truck to truck before after 10 years ago.
RIGHT answer
D) Comparing with 15 percent ten years ago, a record 23 percent of total motor vehicle sales in the United States are expected to be accounted for this year by trucks: again cannot compare percent with a record. wrong
E) Accounting for a 15 percent share of total motor vehicle sales ten years ago, this year trucks are expected to account for a record 23 per cent: cannot compare share with trucks. hence wrong.
)
