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Although a surge in retail sales have raised hopes that

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Although a surge in retail sales have raised hopes that [#permalink] New post 19 Jan 2012, 23:42
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Question Stats:

84% (01:36) correct 15% (00:31) wrong based on 13 sessions
Although a surge in retail sales have raised hopes that there is a recovery finally under way, many economists say that without a large amount of
spending the recovery might not last.
(A) have raised hopes that there is a recovery finally
(B) raised hopes for there being a recovery finally
(C) had raised hopes for a recovery finally being
(D) has raised hopes that a recovery is finally
(E) raised hopes for a recovery finally

My question is related to MEANING only. I eliminated B & E as these options use "raised" and as per meaning PRESENT PERFECT should be used as hopes were raised in past and economists are talking about present
[Reveal] Spoiler: OA
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Re: OG 12 Q2 [#permalink] New post 20 Jan 2012, 12:55
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Hi, there. I'm happy to help with this. :)

I am a little perplexed your statement: "My question is related to MEANING only." You started what I would call an excellent analysis --I'll just continue that, hoping that this answers your question.

You are correct: the economists concern about the recovery not lasting is in the PRESENT, which means the surge in sales must be PRESENT PERFECT. Absolute true.

When look at the pattern of verb tenses in the answer choices, we see:
(A) present perfect
(B) past
(C) past perfect
(D) present perfect
(E) past

You mentioned that you eliminated (B) & (E) on the basis of verb tense --- very good --- I would add that we can also eliminate (C) on this basis.

That leaves (A) vs. (D)
(A) have raised hopes that there is a recovery finally
(D) has raised hopes that a recovery is finally

The principal difference between (A) and (D) is not verb tense but "verb number", i.e., singular or plural. We need to look at the subject:

"Although a surge in retail sales have raised hopes that there is a recovery finally under way

Notice that "in retails sales" is a prepositional phrase, so the only noun that can serve as the subject is "surge" ----> singular. This requires a singular verb:
(A) a surge . . . have raised :(
(D) a surge . . . has raised :)

Choice D has the right tense and the right number, so it's the correct choice.

Does this make sense? Did I answer your question? Please let me know if you have any further questions about what I've said here.

Mike :)
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Re: OG 12 Q2 [#permalink] New post 20 Jan 2012, 20:22
Yeah you answered my query, in fact you did full analysis. Actually i already got the answer but wanted to confirm if B & E were removed for correct reasoning. Anyways, as no effort is in vain, it was helpful to realize the thought process of an expert and i am glad that i followed same. :)
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Re: Although a surge in retail sales have raised hopes that [#permalink] New post 01 Oct 2012, 21:08
Could somebody explain me why E is wrong?
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Re: Although a surge in retail sales have raised hopes that [#permalink] New post 02 Oct 2012, 10:05
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sachindia wrote:
Could somebody explain me why E is wrong?


Although a surge in retail sales have raised hopes that there is a recovery finally under way, many economists say that without a large amount of spending the recovery might not last.
(A) have raised hopes that there is a recovery finally
(B) raised hopes for there being a recovery finally
(C) had raised hopes for a recovery finally being
(D) has raised hopes that a recovery is finally
(E) raised hopes for a recovery finally

Dear sachindia,

One way to say it is --- in the business world, and on the GMAT, decisive action is a good thing. Verbs are inherently the "action words" of any sentence. If you have a choice of describing an action with a verb vs. without a verb, 99 times out of 100 it will be wrong on the GMAT to describe an action without a verb. Consider (E) --- what are we hoping? "for a recovery finally under way." That's essentially an action without any verb. Not ideal on the GMAT.

Furthermore, it's an awkward construction. As a general rule, the construction the GMAT most likes with the word "hope" are
1) so-and-so hopes to do X (hope + infinitive)
2) so-and-so hopes that A does Y (hope plus substantive clause beginning with "that")
The GMAT frowns on
3) hope + participle
4) hope + (action with no verb at all)

The OA, (D), is of the form (hope + "that"-clause), a correct form, whereas (E) is of the form (verb + no-verb phrase), which is incorrect.

Does all this make sense?

Mike :-)
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Re: Although a surge in retail sales have raised hopes that [#permalink] New post 03 Oct 2012, 06:02
Thanks for the reply.
Are you saying that E is a awkward construction but is grammatically correct? :?:

but I always believed that a simple past is always preferred on the GMAT. :roll:

It is so difficult to remember rules for different words, eg for hope in this case. :shock:

could you please generalize the solution.
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hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.

Who says you need a 700 ?Check this out : http://gmatclub.com/forum/who-says-you-need-a-149706.html#p1201595

My GMAT Journey : end-of-my-gmat-journey-149328.html#p1198742

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Re: Although a surge in retail sales have raised hopes that [#permalink] New post 03 Oct 2012, 10:57
sachindia wrote:
Thanks for the reply.
Are you saying that E is a awkward construction but is grammatically correct? :?:

but I always believed that a simple past is always preferred on the GMAT. :roll:

It is so difficult to remember rules for different words, eg for hope in this case. :shock:

could you please generalize the solution.


1) Answer choice (E) is definitely awkward. Whether it is grammatically correct is highly doubtful, but I suppose debatable. In general, something that is a correct answer on GMAT SC is nowhere close to debatable ----- it is grammatically correct beyond a shadow of a doubt.

2) The GMAT uses several tenses --- present perfect, past perfect, past progressing, etc. etc. You need to know them all. See:
http://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-verb- ... ct-tenses/
http://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-verbs ... ive-tense/

3) Yes, it is hard to remember the rules in the abstract, especially if English is not your first language. There is no substitute for reading. If you want to improve your general understanding of all the idiomatic rules, read high-level English every day. The NYT, the WSJ, the Economist magazine are all excellent choices --- and all of them contain info that will be highly relevant to you once you have your MBA!

4) Generalize? I have no idea what you mean. I did give you some general rules about verb and about use the word "hope." What further generalizations would you like to see? In many ways, there are no generalizations about the idioms: you just have to learn English idioms well. The MGMAT Volume 8 book on SC has a excellent chapter on Idioms. That would be a wonderful starting point.

Does all this make sense?

Mike :-)
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Re: Although a surge in retail sales have raised hopes that [#permalink] New post 03 Oct 2012, 19:19
Alrite. Thanks a lot, Mike :-D
It does become difficult if English is not one's first language.
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hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.

Who says you need a 700 ?Check this out : http://gmatclub.com/forum/who-says-you-need-a-149706.html#p1201595

My GMAT Journey : end-of-my-gmat-journey-149328.html#p1198742

Re: Although a surge in retail sales have raised hopes that   [#permalink] 03 Oct 2012, 19:19
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