Quote:
Federally imposed restrictions on how much they may pay small savers has made difficulties for savings banks as they are competing with such unregulated investment vehicles as money market certificates.
(A) has made difficulties for savings banks as they are competing with such
(B) has made difficulties for savings banks competing with such
(C) have made difficulties for savings banks as they are competing with
(D) have made it difficult for savings banks to compete with such
(E) have made it difficult for savings banks as they are competing with such
The right answer to this question should be
D. As with all SC questions (and Verbal Qs on the GMAT in general), the ideal strat to follow is to eliminate the answers that don't work until you're left with the right one.
Options A & B - The first toss up is between 'has' and 'have'. Well, what has/have made things difficult?
It is the restrictions, which are plural. Hence, the use of 'has' in A and B is incorrect.
OUTOption C - At first glance, the "
it" in D and E seems kind of incorrect, because what noun is it replacing? However, the pronoun 'it' can be used as a placeholder pronoun to describe the general state of things(Eg - It rained today). In fact, for this sentence, the usage of 'it' is actually the optimal way to go, since things in general have been made difficult.
It is not difficulties themselves that have been made, and this is why C is incorrect.
OUTOption E - D and E don't have much in between them, but what difference exists is actually very significant. E says that "the restrictions have made it difficult for savings banks as a whole because they have to compete". But, this is NOT the intended meaning.
The difficulty created is specific to the action of competing. Hence, D's construction of "have made it difficult to compete" captures the meaning far better. Therefore, E is
OUT.
Hence,
D is the right answer.
Always remember to eliminate to arrive at the correct answer, and only eliminate an option when you're sure it is wrong. This will help improve your overall accuracy!
- Matoo
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