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Here is a detailed explanation to this question -
macjas wrote:
In a review of 2000 studies of human behavior that date back to the 1940's, two Swiss psychologists, declaring that since most of the studies had failed to control for such variables as social class and family size, none could be taken seriously.
(A) psychologists, declaring that since most of the studies had failed to control for such variables as social class and family size,
(B) psychologists, declaring that most of the studies failed in not controlling for such variables like social class and family size, and
(C) psychologists declared that since most of the studies, having failed to control for such variables as social class and family size,
(D) psychologists declared that since most of the studies fail in controlling for such variables like social class and family size,
(E) psychologists declared that since most of the studies had failed to control for variables such as social class and family size,
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that two Swiss psychologists declared that since most of the studies had failed to control for variables such as social class and family size, none could be taken seriously.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Verb Forms + Tenses + Grammatical Construction + Idioms• If a sentence contains multiple past actions, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “had”) is used to refer to all but the most recent action; the simple past tense is used to refer to the most recent action.
• The simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.
• “like” is used for comparing nouns, “as” is used for comparing actions/clauses, and “such as” is used for giving examples.
• For referring to the purpose/intent of actions the infinitive verb form ("to + base or of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing").
A: This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence; as "declaring" is a present participle ("verb+ing") acting as a noun modifier, there is no active verb to act upon the subject "psychologists".
B: This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence; as "declaring" is a present participle ("verb+ing") acting as a noun modifier, there is no active verb to act upon the subject "psychologists". Further, Option B alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrases "that most of the studies failed" and "and none could be taken seriously"; the omission of any coordinating conjunctions (such as "since" in the correct answer choice) incorrectly implies that most of the studies had failed to control for variables such as social class and family size, and
as a separate action, none could be taken seriously; the intended meaning is that most of the studies had failed to control for variables such as social class and family size, and
as a result, none could be taken seriously. Additionally, Option B incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb "failed" to refer to the earliest of multiple actions that concluded in the past - most of the studies failing to control for certain variables, none of the studies being able to be taken seriously, and the Swiss psychologists declaring this information; please remember, if a sentence contains multiple past actions, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “had”) is used to refer to all but the most recent action; the simple past tense is used to refer to the most recent action. Moreover, Option B incorrectly uses "like" to provide the examples of "social class" and "family size"; please remember, “like” is used for comparing nouns, “as” is used for comparing actions/clauses, and “such as” is used for giving examples. Besides, Option B uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "controlling" in this sentence) to refer to the intent behind the action "failed"; please remember, for referring to the purpose/intent of actions the infinitive verb form ("to + base or of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "controlling" in this sentence).
C: This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence; as "having failed" is a present participle phrase ("verb+ing") acting as a noun modifier, there is no active verb to act upon the subject "most of the studies". Further, Option C incorrectly places information vital to the meaning of the sentence - the fact that most of the studies failed to control for such variables as social class and family size - between commas; please remember, information vital to the meaning of the sentence cannot be placed between commas.
D: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "fail" to refer to the earliest of multiple actions that concluded in the past - most of the studies failing to control for certain variables, none of the studies being able to be taken seriously, and the Swiss psychologists declaring this information; please remember, if a sentence contains multiple past actions, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “had”) is used to refer to all but the most recent action; the simple past tense is used to refer to the most recent action, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature. Additionally, Option D incorrectly uses "like" to provide the examples of "social class" and "family size"; please remember, “like” is used for comparing nouns, “as” is used for comparing actions/clauses, and “such as” is used for giving examples. Besides, Option D uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "controlling" in this sentence) to refer to the intent behind the action "failed"; please remember, for referring to the purpose/intent of actions the infinitive verb form ("to + base or of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "controlling" in this sentence).
E: Correct. This answer choice acts upon the subjects "psychologists" and "most of the studies" with the active verbs "declared" and "had failed" respectively to form complete thoughts, leading to complete sentences. Moreover, Option E uses the phrase "that since most of the studies"; the use of the coordinating conjunction "since" conveys the intended meaning - that most of the studies had failed to control for variables such as social class and family size, and
as a result, none could be taken seriously. Further, Option E correctly use the past perfect tense verb "had failed" to refer to the earliest of multiple actions that concluded in the past - most of the studies failing to control for certain variables, none of the studies being able to be taken seriously, and the Swiss psychologists declaring this information. Additionally, Option E correctly uses "such as" to provide the examples of "social class" and "family size. Option E also avoids the grammatical construction error seen in Option C, as it places no information between commas. Besides, Option E uses the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb" - "to + control") to refer to the intent behind the action "had failed".
Hence, E is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the concept of using "Infinitive Verb Forms" and "Present Participles" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
To understand the concept of "Past Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team