SC Q from gmat prep, please help

[aimhier]

According to surveys by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, about 20 percent of young adults used cocaine in 1979, doubling those reported in the 1977 survey.
(A) doubling those reported in the 1977 survey
(B) to double the number the 1977 survey reported
(C) twice those the 1977 survey reported
(D) twice as much as those reported in the 1977 survey
(E) twice the number reported in the 1977 survey

OA:E
my question is： isn't twice the number... in E a appositive phase that modifies whatever comes before it, in this case "1979" , so why E is right?

another similar SC Q from prep is:
The number of people flying first class on domestic flights rose sharply in 1990, doubling the increase of the previous year.
A. doubling the increase of
B. doubling that of the increase in
C. double as much as the increase of
D. twice as many as the increase in
E. twice as many as the increase of

OA: A

[vietmoi937]

noun modifier can modifies the preceding noun or preceding noun phrase. when it modifies preceding noun phrase, caution.

for example,

a man of good spirit, loved by many person is my friend.

"loved..." modifies "man", not spirit.

if there is a phrase which is not part of preceding noun phrase, the inserting is incorrect. for example

I thank her much, who gave me the help.
"who..." , noun modifier can not modifies "her" because "much" is not part of preceding phrase. modifier in this case an not jump.

noun modifier can be

appositive
relative clause (which clause)
adjective phrase
and so on and so forth.

all kinds of modifiers follow above rule.

is my thinking correct?

[tim]

You might want to just ignore the response post, as all of the examples it contains are grammatically incorrect. The bottom line is that neither the appositive nor the -ING following a comma have to modify the noun RIGHT before the comma. In the case of the -ING word following a comma, it will almost always modify the verb in the previous clause rather than any noun. The appositive can modify a noun phrase rather than the exact noun preceding the comma.