A decade after initiating the nation's most comprehensive

Question

A decade after initiating the nation's most comprehensive and aggressive antismoking program,  per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as  in the nation as a whole.

(A) per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as

(B) annual per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs to about 60, more than twice as great as that

(C) California's annual per capita consumption of cigarettes declined from over 125 packs per person to about 60, more than twice as great as the drop

(D) California has seen per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs annually to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as that

(E) California has seen annual per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs per person to about 60, more than twice as great as that

gmataspirant2009 · Accepted Answer

A) per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as
==> The starting phrase "A decade...program" requires a nown just after the comma, moreover "per capita consumption" and "per person" are repetition. B) annual per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs to about 60, more than twice as great as that
==> The starting phrase "A decade...program" requires a nown just after the comma. "more than twice.." should be "a drop more than...." C) California's annual per capita consumption of cigarettes declined from over 125 packs per person to about 60, more than twice as great as the drop
==>Same as A and B
D) California has seen per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs annually to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as that
==> Correct 
E) California has seen annual per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs per person to about 60, more than twice as great as that
==>  "per capita consumption" and "per person" are repetition. "more than twice.." is reffering to 60 which is wrong.

daagh · Answer

@crackHSW:

1. In your quest for concision, you have missed the basic tenet of modification. Pl. ponder what noun should the non-underlined introductory phrase modify? Is it California or its consumption? The answer for this will tell you why C is wrong. 
2. In C,  per capita consumption per person  is redundant
3. In C, what is more than twice the drop – is it the figure of 60 or the drop from 125 to 60? You may see, D clears this ambiguity by bringing in the appositive ‘  a drop”

talk2pk · Answer

per capita and per person sounds repetitive...so A, C, E out.
Between B and D, D sounds more convincing...so IMO D is the answer

fall2009 · Answer

I agree with the OA.
"A decade after  initiating ", so we need to look for someone or something initiating the program, hence rule out ABC.
Between D and E. 
D is better because E is redundant.

gmatpapa · Answer

Who has initiated the nations's most comprehensive antismoking program? California. So it is clear that the dependent clause is modifying California, whic should follow after the comma. Only D and E have this. D correctly modifies the change that has taken place (the drop from 125 packs to 60 packs). Hence it is the correct answer.

gijoedude · Answer

Eliminate A,B and C quickly because the sentence starts with "A decade after.....". In A, B and C it's not clear who started this program.

Left with D and E. Eliminate E as it repeats information about per capita and 125 packs per person. Left with D.

crackHSW · Answer

IMO it should be C , why is C wrong , C is concise in the sense it says California's annual per capita consumption instead of per capita consumption of cigarettes in California

grimm · Answer

D
"A decade after initiating the nation's most comprehensive and aggressive antismoking program" needs to modify a noun, which is "California".
(You can't use "California's annual per capita consumption", since California's consumption cannot initiate an antismoking program)

This leaves only D and E as potential answers.
In E, in "...from over 125 packs per person to about 60, more than twice as great as that", what is more than twice as great? From this it looks like 60 is more than twice as great. No way, it's  the drop  that's more than twice as great.
Hence the answer is D.

Try reading the "Modifiers" chapter from Manhattan's Sentence Correction book, it will help.

liftoff · Answer

I went with E..but after reading through I would have to agree with that D is the right answer. by changing the position of "a drop more than twice as great as that" ... changed the meaning of the sentence.

jeprince112 · Answer

I was stuck between D and E... i now see the redundancy of per capita and per person.... very nice.

MOKSH · Answer

A decade after initiating the nation's most comprehensive and aggressive antismoking program, per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as in the nation as a whole.

Meaning analysis :
A decade after the program 
per capita consumption of cigarette in California has been declined.

Error analysis :
 A decade after initiating the nation's most comprehensive and aggressive antismoking program, 
per capita consumption of cigarettes in California   declined   from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as in the nation as a whole.
Error :1.program started in past , but its effect apparent now => present perfect tense required.
 2. it is not clear that comparison betn a drop and (?) in the nation .

A) per capita consumption of cigarettes in California   declined   ]from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as : wrong 
B) annual per capita consumption of cigarettes in California   declined     from over 125 packs to about 60,  more than twice as great as that  wrong 
C) California's annual per capita consumption of cigarettes   declined   from over 125 packs per person to about 60,  more than twice as great as the drop   wrong 
D) California  has seen  per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs annually to about 60,  a drop more than twice as great as that  :correct
E) California has seen annual per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs per person to about 60,    more than twice as great as :that    : wrong

TGC · Answer

A decade after initiating the nation's most comprehensive and aggressive antismoking program,  per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as  in the nation as a whole.

A. per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as

B. annual per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined from over 125 packs to about 60, more than twice as great as that

C. California's annual per capita consumption of cigarettes declined from over 125 packs per person to about 60, more than twice as great as the drop

D. California has seen per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs annually to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as that

E. California has seen annual per capita consumption of cigarettes decline from over 125 packs per person to about 60, more than twice as great as that

Source : Brutal SC's

Carcass · Answer

A and B put the oer capita as a subject and this has no sense at all. After comma you need always the real subject of the sentence, who play the main role of the story

C and E have both in the sentence: per capita and per person and that is redundant.

D is the best

dentobizz · Answer

A,B,C are incorrect since we need a subject in there place otherwise the opening modifier will not make sense
D clearly defines the comparison clearly 'decline from 125 to 60'= a drop; this drop in California is more than twice as that in USA
E--per capita=per person so redundant

fukirua · Answer

I ruled out wrong answers on the following basis:
1. per capita-per person redundancy. BD left
2. by last comparison 
 B. more than twice as great as that 
 D. a drop more than twice as great as that 
We need a word showing the rate dropped/declined/decreased etc.

D is clear

thangvietname · Answer

oa D shows that
pronoun "that' can be used in non paralell structure provided that "that" refers to a different noun from the previous noun.

is my thinking correct?

in D
how "annually" is used, pls help

GMATPill · Answer

(E) effectively says:
"decline from over 125 packs to about 60, more than twice as great as that in that nation as a whole."

"decline from over 125 packs to about 60, more than twice as great as   in that nation as a whole."
You're saying that 60 was more than twice the decline of the nation. That doesn't make sense.
What you mean to say is the drop from 125 to 60 --- effectively the 65 drop - was more than twice the amount of decline that the entire nation experienced. So what you intend to say is not reflected in (E).

Whereas (D) says: "decline from 125 packs to 60, A DROP more than twice as great as   in that nation as a whole."
You're comparing the magnitude of the drop - saying it was twice the drop in the entire nation. This is what you're trying to say so (D) is the better choice.

mohnish104 · Answer

... took 3 mins to get D and to finally figure out the right comaprision. really good question.

JarvisR · Answer

(A decade after)
initiating 
(the nation's most comprehensive and aggressive anti-smoking program),
per capita consumption of cigarettes in California declined 
 from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, 
 a drop more than twice as great as in the nation as a whole.

After cutting the fluff: 
initiating antismoking program, per capita consumption of cigarettes declined 
 from over 125 packs annually per person to about 60, a drop more than twice as great as in the nation as a whole.

Issues: 
initiaing -> "ing modifier" needs California (noun) as subject and not "per capita" or "california's".
D vs E:
E:more than twice as great as that -. What does more point to 60 or drop.Also whats "that" refer back point to? 
Wrong
D: Ambiguity of E is fixed by D by adding "a drop" which is referred back by that. 
Correct.

A decade after initiating the nation's most comprehensive

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A decade after initiating the nation's most comprehensive

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