SC: By merging its two publishing divisions, the

[cesar.rodriguez.blanco]

What are the differences between B and E? OA is E

By merging its two publishing divisions, the company will increase their share of the country's $21 billion book market from 6 percent to 10 percent, a market ranging from obscure textbooks to mass-market paperbacks.
A. their share of the country's $21 billion book market from 6 percent to 10 percent, a market ranging
B. from 6 percent to 10 percent its share of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges
C. to 10 percent from 6 percent in their share of the $21 billion book market in the country, a market ranging
D. in its share, from 6 percent to 10 percent, of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges
E. to 10 percent from 6 percent its share of the country's $21 billion book market, which ranges

[chuckberry007]

If i remember correctly, which must modlify the noun that immediately predeceding it. Here, in B) which modifies country rather than book market.

In E) which correctly modify book market.

[RonPurewal]

If i remember correctly, which must modlify the noun that immediately predeceding it. Here, in B) which modifies country rather than book market.

In E) which correctly modify book market.

yes.

this seems to be the only thing wrong with (b).

[samarpan.bschool]

Executives and federal officials say that the use of crack and cocaine is growing rapidly among workers,significantly compounding the effects of drug and alcohol abuse, which already cost business more than $100 billion a year.

Here 'which' refers to 'effects' since stand alone 'drug and alcohol abuse' will not make sense - it will sound 'drug and alcohol abuse cost business more than $100bn a year'; however, it is the 'effects of drug and alcohol abuse which cost business more than $100bn a year'.

Executives - SC from OG - usage of "which" • Manhattan GMAT Forums

I am using this analogy for our sentence here. 'Which' cannot refer to country because the new sentence will then sound weird - 'country ranges from x to y'. So 'which' in option B refers to '$21 bn book market in the country'.

So i think we cannot eliminate B using relative pronoun logic. The usage of 'which' in B sounds fine with me.

Ron, i would like to have your take on this. Thanks in advance

[johnwuy]

I'd like to dispute that because the correct idiomatic usage should be increase from x to y, not increase to y from x

[RonPurewal]

Executives and federal officials say that the use of crack and cocaine is growing rapidly among workers,significantly compounding the effects of drug and alcohol abuse, which already cost business more than $100 billion a year.

Here 'which' refers to 'effects' since stand alone 'drug and alcohol abuse' will not make sense - it will sound 'drug and alcohol abuse cost business more than $100bn a year'; however, it is the 'effects of drug and alcohol abuse which cost business more than $100bn a year'.

Executives - SC from OG - usage of "which" • Manhattan GMAT Forums

I am using this analogy for our sentence here. 'Which' cannot refer to country because the new sentence will then sound weird - 'country ranges from x to y'. So 'which' in option B refers to '$21 bn book market in the country'.

So i think we cannot eliminate B using relative pronoun logic. The usage of 'which' in B sounds fine with me.

Ron, i would like to have your take on this. Thanks in advance

false analogy.

the reason why you can disqualify "drug and alcohol abuse" from being the referent in the example above is because it's GRAMMATICALLY INELIGIBLE: "drug and alcohol abuse" is SINGULAR, but "which" is PLURAL (as evidenced by the plural verb, "cost", that follows).
since "abuse" CANNOT grammatically be the referent, you go to the whole noun phrase.

in the example in this thread, "country" is singular, so it's grammatically eligible (even though it's sort of absurd). therefore, we have a problem that doesn't exist in the example you cited.

[RonPurewal]

I'd like to dispute that because the correct idiomatic usage should be increase from x to y, not increase to y from x

they're both fine.

NEVER assume that, just because one version of an idiom is correct, all other versions are wrong.
there are all sorts of idioms with multiple correct forms.

[saiindukuri87]

B. from 6 percent to 10 percent its share of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges


Hi Ron, I would like to differ with your explanation and correct me if I am wrong. When we have two nouns joined by a preposition 'which' will always refer to a noun before preposition Ex:In the case here 'market' and 'the country' are joined by a preposition 'in'. Hence 'which' should refer to the 'market'. If that is the case 'B' would be right answer.

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron, I would like to differ with your explanation and correct me if I am wrong. When we have two nouns joined by a preposition 'which' will always refer to a noun before preposition Ex:In the case here 'market' and 'the country' are joined by a preposition 'in'. Hence 'which' should refer to the 'market'. If that is the case 'B' would be right answer.

nope.
check out OG12 #111 (i can't reproduce the problem here, for copyright-related reasons). this problem has a correct answer containing "X of Y, which ...", in which "which" refers only to "Y".

this happens on other official problems, too; this is just the first one that i managed to dig up.

[gmwill888]

if like what you said that in " X of Y, which", "which" only represent Y, then in answer E, "which" should only represent "country", but not "market"...

And also in answer E, "share of the country's..." is wrong...

I choose B for the reason below,
Although "which" should represent the n. closet to it, but we must consider the logic validity in the question... Since here, country ranges from books to books is not logically valid, "which" should skip "country" and represent "market"...

If there is no absolute rule for the use of "which" in gmat, I think my explaination should be fine.. but I want to make sure whether in GMAT, we have to use "which" to represent the n. just closet to it...

[RonPurewal]

if like what you said that in " X of Y, which", "which" only represent Y, then in answer E, "which" should only represent "country", but not "market"...

there are at least three things wrong with this statement.
1, the word "country" does not appear anywhere in choice (e); there is only "country's", which functions as an adjective.
2, the word "market" is playing the role of "Y" in your abbreviation above.
3, please go back and read the thread more carefully; we have stated that, in the construction "x of y, which", the referent could be either "x" or "y" depending on the surrounding context.

And also in answer E, "share of the country's..." is wrong...

OFFICIALLY CORRECT ANSWERS ARE CORRECT!
do not question officially correct answers!
far too many students on this forum make the mistake of questioning the correct answers; please note that doing so is a complete waste of your time and effort. i.e., exactly 0% of the time that you spend posting "isn't this official answer wrong?" is productive, and exactly 100% of that time is wasted.

"is this correct?" is NEVER a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers -- the answer is always yes.
"is this wrong?" / "is this X type of error?" is NEVER a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers -- the answer is always no.

instead, the questions you should be asking about correct official answers, if you don't understand them, are:
"why is this correct?"
"how does this work?"
"what understanding am i lacking that i need to understand this choice?"

this is a small, but hugely significant, change to your way of thinking -- you will suddenly find it much easier to understand the format, style, and conventions of the official problems if you dispose of the idea that they might be wrong.

I choose B for the reason below,
Although "which" should represent the n. closet to it, but we must consider the logic validity in the question... Since here, country ranges from books to books is not logically valid, "which" should skip "country" and represent "market"...

this whole logic issue is exactly why (e), not (b), is correct.
in (b), "which" could technically refer either to "market" or to "country" ... and, unfortunately, "country" is closer.

(e) is definitely the better choice.

[cnhelen]

... book market, which ranges from obscure textbooks to mass-market paperbacks.

maybe it sounds silly... i think books can range from textbooks to paperbacks but markets can't. ???

[RonPurewal]

... book market, which ranges from obscure textbooks to mass-market paperbacks.

maybe it sounds silly... i think books can range from textbooks to paperbacks but markets can't. ???

OFFICIALLY CORRECT ANSWERS ARE CORRECT!
do not question officially correct answers!
far too many students on this forum make the mistake of questioning the correct answers; to do so is to waste your time and effort.

"is this correct?" is never a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers -- the answer is always yes.
"is this wrong?" / "is this X type of error?" is never a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers -- the answer is always no.

instead, the questions you should be asking about correct official answers, if you don't understand them, are:
"why is this correct?"
"how does this work?"
"what understanding am i lacking that i need to understand this choice?"

this is a small, but hugely significant, change to your way of thinking.
you will find it much easier to understand the format, style, and conventions of the official problems if you retire the idea that they might be wrong.

[divineacclivity]

... book market, which ranges from obscure textbooks to mass-market paperbacks.

maybe it sounds silly... i think books can range from textbooks to paperbacks but markets can't. ???

OFFICIALLY CORRECT ANSWERS ARE CORRECT!
do not question officially correct answers!
far too many students on this forum make the mistake of questioning the correct answers; to do so is to waste your time and effort.

"is this correct?" is never a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers -- the answer is always yes.
"is this wrong?" / "is this X type of error?" is never a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers -- the answer is always no.

instead, the questions you should be asking about correct official answers, if you don't understand them, are:
"why is this correct?"
"how does this work?"
"what understanding am i lacking that i need to understand this choice?"

this is a small, but hugely significant, change to your way of thinking.
you will find it much easier to understand the format, style, and conventions of the official problems if you retire the idea that they might be wrong.

Ron,

Don't B & D differ in another sense stated below & that's what makes B wrong and D right. Please help me understand.

B. from 6 percent to 10 percent its share of the $21 billion book market in the country, which ranges
E. to 10 percent from 6 percent its share of the country's $21 billion book market, which ranges
B =>> company's share in the country's is 21 b, which the co. is trying to incrase to/from some %age OR there may be a little ambiguity in the sentence about whose share is 21b, company's alone or the country's total
E => the author is talking about 6 or 10 % of total share, $21, of the country i.e. $21 b clearly is the country's

The other thing (faulty reference of which) is sometimes used as it is used in option B as long as the meaning is clear from the context.
To give an example,
The table in my room, which has 3 legs, is very stable --> Here, the room can not have 3 legs, so, which must refer to the table. So, this should be a correct sentence. Is my thought process upto the mark? Please suggest. Thanks in advance.

[tim]

You've asked about a perceived difference between B and D, but you have posted text from B and E. I can't see any difference between B and E apart from what the "which" is modifying; if you are wanting to address B versus D instead, you'll have to be more clear regarding what your concern is.

Regarding your question about "which", yes in real everyday normal English your sentence would be perfectly fine. However, have you ever seen a GMAT sentence written like that that was designated correct? As Ron and I have said repeatedly on the forum, the GMAT is MUCH pickier about use of "which" than we are in everyday English.