Between 1990 and 2000 the global economy grew more than it did during

First of all, I think MEANING is the key to solve this question.
Only the economy can grow more than it did in the past. The growth cannot exceed the growth during 10,000 years before. It makes no sense. I eliminated B, C, D, E right away.
A is the best.

Between 1990 and 2000 the global economy grew more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture to 1950.

(A) Between 1990 and 2000 the global economy grew more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture
(B) Between 1990 and 2000 the growth of the global economy was more than that during 10,000 years, from when agriculture began >>> Wrong - change meaning.
(C) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeds that which had been for 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture >>> Wrong - change meaning and the use of "that which" is totally incorrect.
(D) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeds what it has been for 10,000 years, from when agriculture began >>> Wrong - change meaning.
(E) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeded what it did for the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture >>> Wrong - change meaning.

Hope it helps.

Lots of nasty modifiers here that require careful placement. So many of the phrases in these answer choices are the same--that's a clue that it will probably be the *position* of the phrases relative to each other that determines our answer.

The first split I chose to look at was between A/B ("Between 1990...) and C/D/E (The growth...). Neither is bad in and of itself, but seeing that "the growth" is the subject of the entire sentence for C/D/E is a cue for us to check the verb associated with that subject....sure enough, C and D use the present tense verb "exceeds" so we can cross them off-- we're in 2010, so the growth mentioned is *past* growth.

Also if the subject of the sentence in choice E is "the growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000," then the second verb doesn't make sense when you replace the pronoun "it" with its antecedent: "the growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000" exceeded what " the growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000" did during an earlier time period? E's out too.

We're down to A and B. In general, the GMAT does not like unattached "that," "this," or "those" -- these words need some noun attached to them (this CAR, those PEOPLE, etc). A construction that IS allowed, and sometimes confuses people, is the use of "that of" or "those of" in a sentence. By adding the preposition "of," we imply the noun that was used earlier in the sentence. For example--

The door of my apartment is sturdier than the door of his apartment. Correct
The door of my apartment is sturdier than THAT OF his apartment. Correct, and means the exact same thing as the sentence immediate above
The door of my apartment is sturdier than that his apartment. INCORRECT

We need the "of" to complete this construction, and (B) doesn't have it. Eliminate.

That leaves us with (A). All of the modifiers are placed correctly and unambiguously, so that we know what each phrase refers to.

First of all, there is 3-2 split for "from the beginning of agriculture" Vs "from when agriculture began"
So, I'd prefer "from the beginning of agriculture" because "agriculture began" is incorrect i.e unidiomatic and doesn't make sense.
We are left with A, C and E

Second, C is incorrect : "exceeds" uses simple present wrongly to refer to an action occured in the past

Finally, E is incorrect because of "it did" ; did what ?!

A is correct "it did" can be replaced by "the global economy grew" and that would makes sense.

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Tenses + Comparison + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• Comparison must be made between similar things.
• The simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.
• The present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
• When the chronology is clear because of terms such as "before/after/when/earlier/later"…or because of clear mention of dates, use past perfect tense is not required, though not incorrect either.

A: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the simple past tense verbs "grew" and "did" to refer to events that concluded in the past. Further, Option A correctly compares the clauses "the global economy grew" and "it did". Additionally, Option A is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

B: This answer choice uses the needlessly indirect constructions "the growth of the global economy was more than that" and "from when agriculture began", leading to awkwardness.

C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "exceeds" to refer to an event that concluded in the past; please remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past, 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. Further, Option C redundantly uses the past perfect tense verb "had been", alongside the clear mention of dates; please remember, when the chronology is clear because of terms such as "before/after/when/earlier/later"…or because of clear mention of dates, use past perfect tense is not required, though not incorrect either. Additionally, Option C uses the needlessly indirect clause "The growth of the global economy...that which had been", leading to awkwardness.

D: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "exceeds" to refer to an event that concluded in the past; please remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past, 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. Further, Option D incorrectly uses the present perfect tense verb "has been" to refer to an action that concluded in the past; remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past, and the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present. Additionally, Option D uses the needlessly indirect clause "The growth of the global economy...what it has been", leading to awkwardness.

E: This answer choice incorrectly compares "The growth of the global economy", a noun, to "what it did", an action; please remember, comparison must always be made between similar things. Further, Option E uses the needlessly indirect construction "The growth of the global economy exceeded what it did", leading to awkwardness.

Hence, A 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 "Past Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Between 1990 and 2000 the global economy grew more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture to 1950.

(A) Between 1990 and 2000 the global economy grew more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture
(B) Between 1990 and 2000 the growth of the global economy was more than that during 10,000 years, from when agriculture began
btw A and B - I prefer A
(C) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeds that which had been for 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture wrong time - no need to use past perfect
(D) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeds what it has been for 10,000 years, from when agriculture began redundant
(E) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeded what it did for the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture who did? the growth?

it is awesome explanation Parker.
I have eliminated B because i think ' from when ... to 1950" is unidiomatic. Is my POE right?

Good question-- it's not a construction that I've seen often and my gut says I don't like it, but I can't say that it's on my "definite no" list; I always hesitate to put something on that list unless I've seen it explicitly pointed out in official materials (also, I try to use idiom as the absolute last criteria for elimination).

But let's open it up to the group--has anyone else come across this in an OG problem or want to weigh in?

"Exceeded" is typically used to compare something to a threshold value ("exceeded my budget," "exceeded expectations," etc). But while it doesn't strike me as a common construction, it's not on my concrete no-no list and I always hesitate to make first-round eliminations based on idioms that are not on that list. In this case, you don't need to because of the other errors present. It's always safer to save idiom choices for the last round, unless you are 100% sure based on past OG questions that the idiom is incorrect.

this/that/these/those are never stand along pronoun.

that/those is used in paralel structure

the leg of my chair is strong but that of your is weak.
the 2 legs are different
the leg of my chair is stronger than it is previously
there is only one leg

"that" in B and C is used incorrectly

in my thinking correct, pls confirm/modify

Between 1990 and 2000 the global economy grew more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture to 1950.

(A) Between 1990 and 2000 the global economy grew more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture------------CORRECT
(B) Between 1990 and 2000 the growth of the global economy was more than that during 10,000 years, from when agriculture began---------Comparing Global Economy rather than growth
(C) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeds that which had been for 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture--Wrong
(D) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeds what it has been for 10,000 years, from when agriculture began----wrong use of tense...1950 is past
(E) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeded what it did for the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture ------Wrong structure of the sentence

I don't think this is a 700 level question.
1950 is only mentioned in A and not in other options. There insufficient comparison in choices B, C, D and E.

Can you help me prepositional phrases and idioms. I am not good with these.
Thank you

Dear jkaustubh,
Yes, I agree, it's not the most difficult question. I believe Dhairya275, who posted the question saying, "No Clue !! Help", simply took a guess because the system requires one to specify such things when one posts a questions. Don't automatically assume that the difficulty level for a question posted on GC is rigorously accurate ----- especially when a user who doesn't understand the question posts it for help, that user's estimation of the difficulty level is probably not going to be the most representative. Theoretically, when experts such as myself post our own questions, we will have a slightly better guess of the difficulty level, although to be honest, when I write a question, it's very hard for me to judge how difficult others will find it, because it's easy for me!

Also, thanks for pointing out that "in 1950" irregularity. Good catch. Once you pointed that out, it made me curious. I check the question on a couple other websites ---- it turns out, the underlined part is NOT the whole sentence. The final prepositional phrase, "in 1950", is the only non-underlined part and should not have been included in choice (A). I edited the question to reflect this. Again, when someone is just beginning their GMAT studies, confused about the question, confused about GC, etc., and that person posts a question, don't automatically assume the question is in its pure and pristine form. Critical thinking, my friend --- that might be the #1 skill the GMAT is testing, and certainly the #! kind of intelligence that will lead to success in the business world.

Does all this make sense?
Mike



Dear jkaustubh,

I'm happy to help with this.

First of all, on the issue of idioms --- how different prepositions are used in different situations, here's a free idiom e-book:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-idiom-ebook/

Of course, the basic structure of a preposition phrase is relatively easy --- [preposition] + [object]. Caveats:
(a) the "object" is either a noun or something behaving as a noun
(b) that noun may have modifiers, including entire modifying phrases & clauses
(c) the object of a preposition must be in objective form --- in English, there's no difference in nouns between subjective & objective form, but it makes a different for personal pronouns, which must be in their objective form {me, you, her, him, it, them}.
(d) other objects that can act as nouns and be objects of prepositions are (1) gerunds, and (2) substantive clauses (a.k.a. noun clauses); see:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-gramm ... d-phrases/
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/substantiv ... -the-gmat/

Prepositional phrases themselves are modifiers, and they are very flexible as modifiers. They act on two broad ways:
1) as an adjectival phrase --- that is, a noun-modifier, like an adjective
2) as an adverbial phrase --- like an adverb, modifying a verb, and adjective, or an adverb
see:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-gramm ... d-clauses/
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-gramm ... d-clauses/

Does all this make sense?
Mike

Here is my explanation.

Between 1990 and 2000 the global economy grew more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture to 1950.

1. Between 1990 and 2000 the global economy grew more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture
Correct. "It" refers to "the global economy". The meaning is clear ==> Between 1990 and 2000 X grew more than X did during 10,000 years

2. Between 1990 and 2000 the growth of the global economy was more than that during 10,000 years, from when agriculture began
Wrong. "that" is put incorrectly. The structure of B is: the growth of X was more than that during 10,000 years. ==> "that" refers to what? Logically, "that" refers to the growth. Be aware of the phrase "the growth OF economy", which is parallel to "that". Thus, we need phrase "THAT + OF something" ==> "The growth OF X" || "That OF something". Otherwise, the sentence is not parallel

3. The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeds that which had been for 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture
Wrong. "Exceeds" is present simple --> But we need past tense here. In addition, "that which had been" is totally wrong.

4. The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeds what it has been for 10,000 years, from when agriculture began
Wrong. "Exceeds" is present simple --> But we need past tense here. In addition, present perfect used for action was completed in the past is wrong.

5. The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeded what it did for the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture
Wrong. The structure is wrong. The growth of X exceeded what IT did ==> Pronoun "it" refers to "the growth of X". Verb "did" refers to "exceeded" ==> The structure becomes: The growth of economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeded what the growth of economy exceeded for ..............<== Totally awkward, because "did" should refer to verb "grew" as in A, NOT verb "exceeded" as in E.

Hope it helps.

(A) Between 1990 and 2000 the global economy grew more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture Best answer choice. "Between" modifies "grew", and "during" modified "did"' "did" is an ellipses

(B) Between 1990 and 2000 the growth of the global economy was more than that during 10,000 years, from when agriculture began Wrong - improper comparison construction because "between 1990 and 2000" modifies the verb "was", but "during 10000 years" can only modify "that", thus making the sentence illogical; furthermore, the comparison clause only modifies nouns.

(C) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeds that which had been for 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture Wrong - improper comparison; "that which" is nonsensical and has no logical referent; "had been" is not consistent (should be "was") .

(D) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeds what it has been for 10,000 years, from when agriculture began Wrong - Improper comparison; Verb form "has been" is not the correct tense because perfect is for actions ongoing, and 10,000 years ago is not on-going; "began" as present tense is inconsistent with 10,000 years ago.

(E) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeded what it did for the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture Wrong - improper comparison; "what it did" is wordy.

IMO A

I eliminate A because I though it should be "Between 1990 and 2000 the global economy grew more than it had done during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture"

Please tell me where I am wrong?

Hi dqtuan9627,

Let’s first understand the usage of the past perfect tense. The past perfect tense is used to represent an event that happened earlier in the past as compared to another event that took place later in the past. So, this tells us about the sequencing of the events: which event took place earlier and which took place later. Let’s take an example:

• I had finished my assignment when he came to visit me.

The assignment was finished earlier. Later he came to visit me. Now, the same meaning can be conveyed by saying:

• I finished my assignment before he came to visit me.

In this sentence, the past perfect tense is not used, but we still know which event happened earlier because ‘before’ tells us the sequencing. We can also say:

• I had finished my assignment before he came to visit me.


So, when the sequencing of the events is clear from the context of the sentence, then using the past perfect tense becomes optional.


Now, coming to your question:

• Between 1990 and 2000
o the global economy grew more than
o it had done during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture to 1950.

As explained above, both ‘did’ and ‘had done’ are correct here, but there is no option that uses ‘had done’. So, the correct answer is option A.


Hope this helps!

Regards,
Deepak

In option A
Shouldn't "what' be mentioned after "than"?
Thanks.
:D