284. Even though the direct costs of malpractice disputes amounts to a sum lower than one percent of the $541 billion the nation spent on health care last year, doctors say fear of lawsuits plays major role in health-care inflation.

(A) amounts to a sum lower
(B) amounts to less
(C) amounted to less
(D) amounted to lower
(E) amounted to a lower sum

Solution:

Comparison*

OG Solution:

Because the sentence describes a situation that continues into the present, choices A and B are incorrect in using the past perfect had elected, which denotes an action completed at a specific time in the past. Also, alternatives presented in the expressions x rather than y and x Instead ofy should be parallel in form, but A and B mismatch the noun retirement with the verb forms/ace and facing. C is faulty because have elected, which is correct in tense, cannot idiomatically be followed by a participle such as retiring. D correctly follows have elected with an infinitive, to retire, but, like A and B, fails to maintain parallelism. Only E, the best choice, uses the correct tense, observes parallelism, and is idiomatic.

​Sentence Correction - 1000 Questions with Solution: