Two-year low level(Is this wrong)

[tim]

The verb is "suggests". The decrease suggests something. Make sure you mentally eliminate the modifiers when you're reading a complicated sentence such as this so that you can more easily identify what the core of the sentence is.

[HemantR606]

the principal objection here is that the meaning is incorrect/unclear: for instance, a 'two-year low level' could mean that it hit a low level and then stayed there for two years.

consider other uses of the adjective "two-year":
a two-year lease is a lease that LASTS for two years.
a two-year recession is a recession that LASTS for two years.
a two-year marriage ... etc. etc.
by analogy, we can see that this answer choice has (or at least primarily suggests) the incorrect meaning: a two-year low level would be a low level that lasted for two years. that's not the intended meaning in the problem.

Hi Ron,

Even though 'two year low' means a low level that stayed for two years, doesn't it mean the lowest level in 2 years as well?

I have gone through internet and found so many sources where this type of construction is used. Here are some examples:
NYTimes - "Customer Satisfaction With TV, Internet and Phone Service at 7-Year Low"
Washington Post - "Irish unemployment rate falls to 6-year low of 9.8 percent"
WS Journal - "Euro Tumbles to Nine-Year Low"

If it is used so commonly in many standard news papers, can't we assume that it is a right usage? If yes, when facing the test, how can one understand that GMAT considers it wrong?


Please help me understand where I am misunderstanding this issue.


Thanks for your help,
Hemant

[RonPurewal]

those all look like headlines.

the english in headlines is VERY different from the formal standard, because space is at such a huge premium: a headline has to fit in one line--often in a huge font size.
(you'll notice that 'a'/'an'/'the' has been omitted from all of those, too.)

[RonPurewal]

also-- this problem is in the OG verbal guide, so this thread is now locked.