Each year companies in the United State could save as much as $58 bill

Question

Each year companies in United States could save as much as $58 billion  annually by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided  offices with cleaner air.

(A) annually by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided

(B) annually if they prevented employee illness and gain as much as $200 billion through worker performance improved by simply providing

(C) annually in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through worker performance improved by simply providing

(D) in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided

(E) by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improved worker performance if they simply provided

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2000-06-04/is-your-office-killing-you

U.S. companies could save as much as $58 billion annually  by preventing sick-building illnesses and an additional $200 billion in worker performance improvements by creating  offices with better indoor air, say researchers William J. Fisk and Arthur H. Rosenfeld of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif. The researchers also found that the financial benefits of improving office climates can be 8 to 17 times larger than the costs of making those improvements. And the same VOCs that affect people can also harm expensive equipment. They create a film that covers computer circuit boards and telephone switches, causing them to blink or conk out, say Telcordia Technologies Inc. senior scientists Charles J. Weschler and Helen Shields. Just fixing those faulty phone wires has cost telecommunications companies more than $100 million over the past 10 years, they say.

Answer says E, however "preventing illness" and "if they simply provided" don't seem to be parallel...Any thoughts? A, B, C are out since "each year" makes "annually" redundant. Yet I don't see a good choice between D and E either

egmat · Accepted Answer

Hi there,

Each year companies in United States could save as much as $58 billion  annually by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided  offices with cleaner air.

You have eliminated choice A, B, and C correctly for redundancy issue.

This is the sentence with  Choice D:  Each year companies in United States could save as much as $58 billion in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided offices with cleaner air.

There are two issues with this sentence. 
1. “employee illness prevention” seems to be some program or the name of some policy that the companies seem to have. Preposition “in” makes it sound like one. This is not very idiomatic per the context of the sentence. The sentence is saying is “how” companies could save. It could “by” doing a certain thing. Hence, “in employee prevention” does not fit here.
2. The phrase “through improving performance of workers” is not idiomatic again. After “through” we need a noun entity because “through” is a preposition. “improving” suggests an action here.

Choice E  is an error free answer choice. It uses all the expressions correctly.

Now, the entities that need to be parallel are “could save as much as…” and “(could) gain as much as…”, because these are the two things that the companies in the US could do. These two entities are parallel.

Another thing is that this sentence has the “if… then…” construction. However, the “if” clause appears later in this sentence. The “then” clause is written in past tense “could save” and “could gain”. So the “if” clause should also be in past tense. In choice E, both these clause are in past tense.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

PTK · Answer

Take it Simple dude,

In the beginning of the sentence you see  Each year , all choices except E and D have  annually , so get rid of them.

In D "they" wrongly refers to employees when the sentence intends to say it about companies. SO D is wrong.

synecdoche · Answer

Hi, I wasn't saying D is correct instead of E. When I saw it, I couldn't decide what to answer. You're correct about the "employee illness prevention", but in E, shouldn't it be "through improved worker performance  by simply providing offices " instead of "through improved worker performance  if they simply provided offices " as that'd be parallel to "by preventing illness....". That's the part I'm not sure about.

egmat · Answer

Hi,

If you read Choice E carefully, you will see that the two entities that are parallel are:
a. could save as much as $58 billion by preventing illness among employees
b. could gain as much as $200 billion through improved worker performance

If you carefully analyze these two entities, you will see that the first part till “billion” are absolutely parallel to each other and there is no confusion about that. Now, what should be parallel to “by preventing illness among employees” is “through improved worker performance”. Why? It is because the companies could save “by” preventing illness among employees, and the companies could gain “through” improved worker performance. The ways how companies could save and gain have been written in prepositional phrases beginning with “by” and “through” respectively.

Structurally again “verb-ing modifier” preventing illness among employees” and verb-ed modifier “improved worker performance” are parallel.

The important thing is to identify the correct parallel list. Now the gains could not be made by providing offices with cleaner air. This is a condition.

If the companies provided offices with cleaner air, then they could do things (these need to be parallel):
a. could save as much as $58 billion by preventing illness among employees
b. could gain as much as $200 billion through improved worker performance

Cleaner air could not just help the companies gain by doing something but also help them save by doing something. Both these things could be the outcome if the companies provided the offices with cleaner air. Hence, the two outcomes should be parallel. By making “by preventing…” and “by providing…”, we will make the condition parallel to just one of the outcomes, and this is not logical per the context of the sentence.

Hence, make sure to identify the correct list in the sentence to ensure correct parallelism.

Hope this helps.
Shraddha

jagdeepsingh1983 · Answer

ABC is are redundant as Each year with annually is not acceptable

(D) in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided 
(E)  by preventing illness among employees  and  gain   as much as $200 billion through improved worker performance if they simply provided
I think E is the right answer

dvinoth86 · Answer

In case of D,   "they" could refer to companies or workers.  
In E, this pronoun-antecedent is fixed by using   "improved worker performance"  if they simply provided. In case of E, they can refer only to companies. Hence i chose E.

daagh · Answer

I think the employees are no contenders for the antecedence of –they - in D or E. After all employees are not expected to provide cleaner offices; the onus of that lies on the companies.

The more serious problem is the categorization as – in employee illness prevention -. Even in E , the phrase –improved worker performance – can be improved to – improved workers’ performance –Overall , it is ok to go with E.

bschooladmit · Answer

The difference between A and E is annually - could some1 tell me why annually isnt needed

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egmat · Answer

Hi there,

We don't need "annually" is the correct answer choice because the sentence begins with "Each year". The sentence is begins by saying that companies each year could save by doing something and gain by doing something. Presence of "Each year" makes "annually" redundant as they both mean the same thing.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

prasi55 · Answer

"By preventing illness" and "through improved worker performance" indicate HOW companies can save costs. "IN employee illness prevention" indicates WHERE companies can save costs. So, aside from the change in meaning, D is not parallel.
To make D parallel, the second phrase should start with "in" (or another appropriate preposition).

There is another, more subtle, problem with D. The missing article in "improving performance" makes the construction problematic. Do they mean through "THE improving performance" (in which "improving" functions as an adjective and suggests that the improvement occurs independently of the companies' intervention) or through "improving THE performance" (in which "improving" functions as a verb-ing noun and suggests that the companies have some role to play)?

--Prasad
EnterMBA.in

--Prasad EnterMBA.in

pramendrapandeya · Answer

Look at sentence specially non underlined part, it will always help to eliminate few options

Like in this sentence : started with Each year and annually (Redundant )

Left with now D and E , here we are talking how company can save in D it says in employee illness (wrong )

LogicGuru1 · Answer

The fact is this question is a piece of cake and not as tough as it appears in the first glance. 
Sometimes being a little attentive can eliminate 3 or 4 wrong options in 2 seconds
 
Lets examine this question here.. No need to go into parallelism, sentence construction, meaning etc etc.

EACH YEAR    companies in United States could save as much as $58 billion    ANNUALLY   by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided offices  with cleaner air.

Now see the sentence starts with   " EACH YEAR  ",  so "    ANNUALLY    " in OPTION A, B and C is redundant.

(A)    annually    by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided offices
(B)    annually    if they prevented employee illness and gain as much as $200 billion through worker performance improved by simply providing 
(C)    annually    in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through worker performance improved by simply providing

(D) in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion   through improving   performance of workers if they simply provided 
Improving is incorrect. The companies themselves are not improving the performance of the worker. It's the clean air that will cause improved performance.
The sentence is also awkward. Employee illness prevention is not parallel with through improving performace

(E) by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improved worker performance if they simply provided

LoneSurvivor · Answer

Each year companies in United States could save as much as $58 billion  annually by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided  offices with cleaner air.

(A) annually by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided.

Each and Annually redundant

(B) annually if they prevented employee illness and gain as much as $200 billion through worker performance improved by simply providing.\

Each and Annually redundant

(C) annually in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through worker performance improved by simply providing

Each and Annually redundant

(D) in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided.

1)  $58 B in Employee illness prevention creates wrong meaning 
2)  Through improving Performance is not correct.

(E)  by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improved worker performance if they simply provided

soumya170293 · Answer

I 'm in a quandary to choose between D & E bcz they don't 've any redundancy issue such as  each year & annually  just like A ,B & C do have . But eventually I 've selected the wrong one D . In E , I think there is a problem '  worker performance  ' it should be written in possessive sense '  workers ' performance  ' . Isn't it ?

RashedVai · Answer

that split between D and E is a tough one (through improving / through improved). You'd be better off focusing on the start of the sentence (by preventing / in prevention). This is an easier idiom, and you can test it by making your own example, 
e.g.
"I'll save $100 by purchasing cheaper food", rather than "I'll save $100 in cheaper food purchase."

** The question is not just about "improved" vs. "improving," but about the context of these words. Each is preceded by the word "through." We cannot say "through improving," but rather "through the improved performance." We need a noun to follow "through." "Through" is a preposition - what is to be the object of this preposition unless a noun of some sort? The word "improving" is incorrect here.

** if you're interpreting "improving performance" as a noun——as in Improving your performance beyond a certain point is hard——then the sentence doesn't make sense. the company doesn't save money in the process of improving its workers' performance. (if anything, that sort of training costs money.) what helps the company save money? the better performance itself does. so, you need adjective + "performance".

* Also  "$58 billion n in employees"  is nonsense. because "$xxxx in yyyyy" would mean that yyyy is something that can actually be measured in dollars. E.g., By driving a hybrid car, I will save thousands of dollars in fuel costs. Your business can save over $10,000 per month in shipping costs by using XYZ Courier Service.

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thangvietnam · Answer

Each year companies in United States could save as much as $58 billion  annually by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided  offices with cleaner air.

(A) annually by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided

(B) annually if they prevented employee illness and gain as much as $200 billion through worker performance improved by simply providing

(C) annually in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through worker performance improved by simply providing

(D) in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided

(E) by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improved worker performance if they simply provided

regarding choice d
"employee illness prevention" is not idiomatic. 
"prevention" is general action but not the action done by "companies". in choice E, "by preventing" refers to the subject "companies". this means, "companies" do "preventing". agent of preventing is clear and logical. 
"main clause+by doing" is good pattern in which "by doing" refers to the subject of the main clause. 
these are 2 errors of choice D.
regarding choice e
"improved worker performance" is complex noun. in this kind of long noun phrase, the first "improved" can modify the second noun "worker" or "performance". we can dislike the fact that "improved" modifies " performance" when it is far from "performance" but this modification is correct.

thangvietnam · Answer

Each year companies in United States could save as much as $58 billion  annually by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided  offices with cleaner air.

(A) annually by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided

(B) annually if they prevented employee illness and gain as much as $200 billion through worker performance improved by simply providing

(C) annually in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through worker performance improved by simply providing

(D) in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided

(E) by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improved worker performance if they simply provided

regarding choice d
"employee illness prevention" is not idiomatic. 
"prevention" is general action but not the action done by "companies". in choice E, "by preventing" refers to the subject "companies". this means, "companies" do "preventing". agent of preventing is clear and logical. 
"main clause+by doing" is good pattern in which "by doing" refers to the subject of the main clause. 
these are 2 errors of choice D.
regarding choice e
"improved worker performance" is complex noun. in this kind of long noun phrase, the first "improved" can modify the second noun "worker" or "performance". we can dislike the fact that "improved" modifies " performance" when it is far from "performance" but this modification is correct.

compare "improved worker performance" with "employee illness prevention". both a long noun phrase but one of them is wrong. we can not always make long noun phrase from idiomatice noun+preposition+noun
"prevention of employee illness" is correct.

if we see 2 premodifiers before a noun, the meaning is the first modifier modifies the second modifier+noun. this is normal meaning. but the other meaning, in which the first modifier modifies the second modifier is accepted.

svasan05 · Answer

Each year companies in United States could save as much as $58 billion  annually by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided  offices with cleaner air.

(A) annually by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided  "Each year....annually" is redundant. Eliminate.

(B) annually if they prevented employee illness and gain as much as $200 billion through worker performance improved by simply providing  Same error as in (A). Eliminate.

(C) annually in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through worker performance improved by simply providing  Same error as in (A) and (B). Eliminate.

(D) in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided  "in" is the wrong preposition to describe the  means  of doing something - "by" + verb is the correct usage. Also, "through" should be followed by a noun that describes the means of achieving something. Eliminate.

(E) by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improved worker performance if they simply provided  Correct answer.

Hope this helps.

Raman109 · Answer

Each year companies in United States could save as much as $58 billion  annually by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided  offices with cleaner air.

Option Elimination -

(A) annually by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided - "Each year" and "annually" are redundant. Moreover, the usage of "improving" is off. It has to be "improved worker performance," as the intended meaning is the worker performance has been improved, and by this improved worker performance, companies could gain as much as $200 billion.

(B) annually if they prevented employee illness and gain as much as $200 billion through worker performance improved by simply providing -

Let's look deeper at correct option E to understand the conditional issue better. If you look broadly, this is a 2nd conditional sentence written in an inverted fashion. 
If they simply provided offices with clean air, each year companies could save by preventing illnesses ....blah blah.... and could gain through improved worker performance...blah blah.....

In this option, the conditional has been moved to the first part. So it means that clean office air is only responsible for gaining $200 billion and not the $58 billion. Moreover, the sentence structure is disturbed. The "save annually if" clause and "gain through" phrase. Of course, an easier issue is that "Each year" and "annually" are redundant. And why use an awkward structure, "worker performance improved" ? "improved" is an "ed" verbal for "worker performance" to better use it before a noun to say "improved worker performance."

(C) annually in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through worker performance improved by simply providing - changing "by" to "in" is not good. "by preventing illnesses" says that "by means" of preventing illnesses they could save $58 billion. "in employee illness prevention" means some "employee illness prevention" concept or program itself. Of course, an easier issue is that "Each year" and "annually" are redundant. Also, the if conditional is altogether removed leading to the meaning that cleaner air is only responsible for gaining $200 billion through blah blah..

(D) in employee illness prevention and gain as much as $200 billion through improving performance of workers if they simply provided - the same issue of changing form "by" to "in."

(E) by preventing illness among employees and gain as much as $200 billion through improved worker performance if they simply provided - ok

Each year companies in the United State could save as much as $58 bill

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Each year companies in the United State could save as much as $58 bill

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