For the last five years the Dutch economy has grown faster than Britain, France, or Germany, with the unemployment rate having remained well below that of the other three countries.

A. Britain, France, or Germany, with the unemployment rate having remained
B. have those of Britain, France, or Germany, and the unemployment rate remaining
C. have Britain, France, and Germany, and the unemployment rate has remained
D. the economy of Britain, France, and Germany, with the unemployment rate that has remained
E. the economies of Britain, France, and Germany, and the unemployment rate has remained

OA is E.

Someone told me that "the economy of Britain, France, and Germany" is wrong because each of those 3 countries has its own economy, so it has to be "the economies of Britain, France, and Germany". Is such interpretation correct?

If yes, shouldn't "the unemployment rate has remained well below that of the other three countries" become "the unemployment rate has remained well below the unemployment rates of the other three countries" because those 3 countries have different rates?

I understand that it is an non-underlined portion. I just want to learn more from non-underlined portion.

Do you guys think that ETS didn't write this non-underlined portion correctly? Or is it a special usage that I am not aware of?

Thanks in advance.

"someone told me...": heh, it sounds as though people are giving you gmat tips sotto voce on street corners.

i wouldn't split on word choice at all, unless something is CLEARLY wrong (usually this translates as "unidiomatic", although there are occasionally word choices that are wrong despite being ok in the idiom department).
the gmat has, on a few occasions, had some VERY surprising correct word choices, where "surprising" = i find them absolutely repulsive/stupid but they are nonetheless marked as correct. for an example of one such usage, see the "correct" answer to SC #30 in the purple verbal supplement, in which the wording seems to indicate that time periods can feel shocked.

remember to be a "grammar robot" as much and as often as possible. do not even think about things like word choice, meaning, etc., until you've teased out all of the grammatical issues.
or, correctness before clarity.



yeah, i don't get that, either; apparently, the economies are separate but nonetheless somehow share an unemployment rate.
strange.

this is one of my many qualms with the gmat's refusal to release test questions, even after they become defunct: some questions are just bad, but they won't be outed unless they actually show up in published materials.

--

do you have any actual questions about how to eliminate down to the correct answer?

I have no problem in using POE to get the correct answer.

I just want to make sure that I really understand the difference between "A of X, Y and Z" and "As of X, Y and Z". =)

Thanks Ron!

Not sure from your wording, but it seems Ron did answer your question? If not, let us know!

_________________
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director of Online Community
ManhattanGMAT

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for following up.

Sorry for my poor expression in my last post.

Just a last question regarding this topic, does "economies of Britain, France, and Germany" mean "economy of Britain, of France, and of Germany"?

Thanks in advance.

if you're going to say "of britain, of france, and of germany", then you've committed yourself to using the plural "economies".
if you use three separate "of"s, then you are clearly indicating three separate economies, so the plural is required.

if you say "of britain, france, and germany", then this is consistent with either "economy" or "economies".

--

analogy:

the high-class society of miami and ft. lauderdale --> makes sense. the two cities share one high-class society.

the high-class societies of miami and ft. lauderdale --> makes sense. the two cities have separate high-class societies.

the high-class society of miami and of ft. lauderdale --> doesn't make sense.

the high-class societies of miami and of ft. lauderdale --> makes sense. the two cities have separate high-class societies.

So, considering the consistensy of "economy" of the 3 other countries and "unemployment rate" of the 3 other conntries(both singular), it's better to choose D, is it right?

Thanks in advance!

hi Ron :
I want to know why D is wrong?
Thanks

two big reasons

1) "the economy of Britain, France, and Germany"
--> illogically implies that these three countries share only one economy. (note that the correct answer correctly uses the plural "economies" to refer to the existence of three different economies.)

2) "with the unemployment rate that has remained"
--> implies, without justification, that the dutch economy is the ONLY economy with an unemployment rate that has satisfied this criterion.

Dear instructor,

Would you please tell me why the correct answer doesn't have to add the Auxiliary "have" before economies?

For the last five years the Dutch economy has grown faster than have the economies of Britain, France, and Germany, and the unemployment rate has remained well below that of the other three countries.

The reason is that the verb "grown" is intransitive?

Thanks.

you don't need the auxiliary verb, UNLESS
1/ there is a change of tense
2/ the sentence would be ambiguous without it

neither of these two is true in this case, so you don't need the auxiliary verb. (your sentence would be correct as well, but it is wordier than necessary.)

pls, help. I do not understand the point 2) above. pls, explain more.

Another thing,

If I remember correctly, In the book "comprehensive grammar", It is said that both "noun of nounS" and "nounS of nounS" are correct. And, it is possible that gmat proves that grammar point by showing the correct answer E, in which both "the rate" and "the economese" are correct.

This point means D is incorrect because of the point 2) which Ron show.

at the end of OG10, if I remember correctly, there is a question "the vocal track of ..." which shows that gmat approves both "noun of nounS" and "nounS of nounS.

pls, explain why " with the ...." in D is wrong.
thank you.

I am sorry for posting second time.
The question 167 in OG 10 show that "nounS have a noun" is correct, a situation similar to the problem here, possibly.

regarding "with the unemployment rate...." phrase in D.

First, pls, help me to understand the point 2) Ron said in the previous thread.

second, the phrase "with the unemployment..." in D is absolute phrase. This case means "with ...." phrase dose not refer to the "Dutch economy" and the D is not clear and wrong.

a similar question, from gmatprep, is:

Because of wireless service costs plummeting in the last year, and as mobile phones are increasingly common, many people now using their mobile phones to make calls across a wide region at night and on weekends, when numerous wireless companies provide unlimited airtime for a relatively small monthly fee.

A. Because of wireless service costs plummeting in the last year, and as mobile phones are increasingly common, many people

B. As the cost of wireless service plummeted in the last year and as mobile phones became increasingly common, many people

C. In the last year, with the cost of wireless service plummeting, and mobile phones have become increasingly common, there are many people

D. With the cost of wireless service plummeting in the last year and mobile phones becoming increasingly common, many people are

E. While the cost of wireless service has plummeted in the last year and mobile phones are increasingly common, many people are

the correct answer D shows that "with..." phrase in D dose not refer to "many people" and is not illogic. Many persons, including me, delete D because they think that "with ..." phrase refers to "many people"

IS MY THINKING CORRECT? PLS, HELP.

this analysis completely misses the point, which is that the singular or plural quality of these nouns is entirely a function of their meaning in context. in other words, if there is actually only one of the noun in question, then it should be singular; if there is more than one, then it should be plural. this is not a grammar or idiom issue at all.

britain, france, and germany are three different countries, with three independent economies, so it's inappropriate to use the singular “economy”.
by contrast, trinidad and tobago together make up a single country -- which therefore has a single economy -- and so the economy of trinidad and tobago would be correct (and, in this case, the plural form would be incorrect).

Why "with the unemployment rate..." in D is wrong? How that phrase is different from "and the unemployment rat..." in E?

Pls, explain.