Question

In 2000, a mere two dozen products accounted for half the increase in spending on prescription drugs, a phenomenon that is explained not just because of more expensive drugs but by the fact that doctors are writing many more prescriptions for higher-cost drugs.

• A. A phenomenon that is explained not just because of more expensive drugs but by the fact that doctors are writing
• B. A phenomenon that is explained not just by the fact that drugs are becoming more expensive but also by the fact that doctors are writing
• C. A phenomenon occurring not just because of drugs that are becoming more expensive but because of doctors having also written
• D. Which occurred not just because drugs are becoming more expensive but doctors are also writing
• E. Which occurred not just because of more expensive drugs but because doctors have also written

Answer 1

The correct option is B A phenomenon that is explained not just by the fact that drugs are becoming more expensive but also by the fact that doctors are writing

Here, it is evident that there is something wrong with the sentence by the mere sound of it. By simplifying the sentence we get to know that 'the phenomenon' refers to the fact that only 24 products can be held accountable for 50 % increase in spending. Then, the modifier provides more information about this. It prov ides a reason for this 'phenomenon'-

1. more expensive drugs

2. doctors are writing many more prescription for expensive drugs.

There are two notable errors in this sentence- the use of 'explained because of' is incorrect. Using 'explained' and 'because' is illogical. Instead of 'because of' one must simply use 'explained by'. The other error is that the sentence structure lacks parallelism (the two reasons explaining the phenomenon form a list and need to be parallel) - 'because of...' and 'by the fact...' are not parallel. These errors are corrected by option B. However, in B there's an interesting mix of the tenses - the sentence talks about something that happened in 2000 but the same sentence uses present progressive to explain the why behind this phenomenon. This can happen only if the part in the present tense is still relevant today. Thus, B is the acceptable (correct) answer. The other choices are not viable answers because they either repeat the original mistakes or else create new ones.