Pack 18 Q1: The number of violent crimes, offenses that include...

Question

Pack 18, Question 1 of 5:

The number of violent crimes, offenses that include sexual assault, robbery, and murder, declined sharply over ten years,  in decreasing from 1.4 million in 2008 to be  1.2 million in 2018.

A. in decreasing from 1.4 million in 2008 to be
B. in having decreased from 1.4 million in 2008 to
C. as it decreased from 1.4 million in 2008 to be
D. decreasing from 1.4 million in 2008 to
E. with its decrease from 1.4 million in 2008 to

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Marcost · Answer

I would go with answer choice D
Answers choices with "to be" should be eliminated since the idiom "from X to Y" requires parallelism. A and C are out. 
B. "In having decreased" is unidiomatic.
E. Pronoun error. "Its" is a possessive noun reffering to "the number". Thus, we would have: with the number's decrease from 1.4 million in 2008 to... That does not make sense.

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DinoPen · Answer

in decreasing is awkward construction
 
in having is awkward
 
to be is wrong construction
 
correct
 
with its is nonsensical

daniformic · Answer

comma +ing (non essential) +parallelism (from x to y)
Answer -> D

winterschool · Answer

The number of violent crimes, offenses that include sexual assault, robbery, and murder, declined sharply over ten years, in decreasing from 1.4 million in 2008 to be 1.2 million in 2018.

A. in decreasing from 1.4 million in 2008 to be  Incorrect

decreasing from ...to be .... is wrong

B. in having decreased from 1.4 million in 2008 to  Incorrect

in heaving - wrong

C. as it decreased from 1.4 million in 2008 to be  Incorrect

using as is wrong

D. decreasing from 1.4 million in 2008 to  Correct

E. with its decrease from 1.4 million in 2008 to  Incorrect

using with is wrong, meaning change

NiftyNiffler · Answer

The number of violent crimes, offenses that include sexual assault, robbery, and murder, declined sharply over ten years,  in decreasing from 1.4 million in 2008 to be  1.2 million in 2018.

A. in decreasing from 1.4 million in 2008 to be  -- prepositional phrase can't start after a comma 
B. in having decreased from 1.4 million in 2008 to  -- "in having" is not correct 
C. as it decreased from 1.4 million in 2008 to be  -- "it decreased from X to be Y" is idiomatically wrong 
D. decreasing from 1.4 million in 2008 to  -- CORRECT usage of participial modifier and idiom "decreasing from X to Y" 
E. with its decrease from 1.4 million in 2008 to  -- "its" has no clear referent

So, the answer should be  D

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation

The number of violent crimes, offenses that include sexual assault, robbery, and murder, declined sharply over ten years,  in decreasing from 1.4 million in 2008 to be  1.2 million in 2018.

A.   in decreasing  from 1.4 million in 2008  to be  
 B.  in having decreased  from 1.4 million in 2008  to  
 C.  as it decreased  from 1.4 million in 2008  to be  
 D.   decreasing  from 1.4 million in 2008  to  
 E.  with its decrease  from 1.4 million in 2008  to

After a quick glance over the options, we find 2 main differences we can use to narrow down our options:
 1. in decreasing / in having decreased / as it decreased / decreasing / with its decrease (Construction & Meaning)
2. to be / to (Idioms)

Since #2 on our list is an “either/or” split, let’s start there.  No matter which one we choose, we’ll eliminate 2-3 options rather quickly. This is an issue with the idiom “from X  to  Y.” We need to eliminate any that don’t follow this specific structure:

A. in decreasing from 1.4 million in 2008  to be 
B. in having decreased from 1.4 million in 2008  to 
C. as it decreased from 1.4 million in 2008  to be 
D. decreasing from 1.4 million in 2008  to 
E. with its decrease from 1.4 million in 2008  to

We can eliminate options A & C because “from X to be Y” is not the correct form of the idiom.  Now that we have it narrowed down to just 3 options, let’s tackle #1 on our list. We need to make sure the sentences are clear, concise, and don’t contain anything that would confuse readers:

B.  in having decreased  from 1.4 million in 2008 to 
This is  INCORRECT  because “in having decreased” is overly wordy and confusing. Saying “decreasing” will accomplish the same thing in far fewer words – and much more clearly!

D.  decreasing  from 1.4 million in 2008 to 
Here is our  CORRECT  choice! The word “decreasing” clearly establishes this phrase as an -ing modifier, and it clearly modifies the previous clause.

E. with  its  decrease from 1.4 million in 2008 to 
This is  INCORRECT  because we have a vague pronoun! It’s not 100% clear what the pronoun “its” is referring back to: the entire list of violent crimes, or just one of the specific examples of crimes? Remember – if it’s not 100% clear, it’s a no-no on the GMAT!
 
 There you have it – option D is our winner!  By starting with the either/or split, we were able to eliminate a couple options quickly, leaving us more time to address more complex issues!

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

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done Marcost ! You cracked the code on this one! We look forward to seeing you tackle Question #2 soon!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Great explanation DinoPen ! We look forward to seeing more great explanations in future questions!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done winterschool ! You cracked the code on this one! Looking forward to seeing how you tackle Question #2!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Another great explanation NiftyNiffler ! Looking forward to seeing more great explanations from you this in this pack!

VerbalBot · Answer

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Pack 18 Q1: The number of violent crimes, offenses that include...

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Pack 18 Q1: The number of violent crimes, offenses that include...

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