ratinarace wrote:
The results of the company’s cost-cutting measures are evident in its profi ts, which increased 5 percent during the fi rst 3 months of this year after it fell over the last two years.
(A) which increased 5 percent during the first 3 months of this year after they fell
(B) which had increased 5 percent during the first 3 months of this year after they had fallen
(C) which have increased 5 percent during the first 3 months of this year after falling
(D) with a 5 percent increase during the first 3 months of this year after falling
(E) with a 5 percent increase during the first 3 months of this year after having fallen
"which" is correctly used and better than "with".
So D E out.
(A)
which increased 5 percent during the first 3 months of this year after they fellThe verbs do not give a good idea of the sequence of the events. The simple past ("increased" and "fell") is used to describe "short" actions, in this case we are talking of what the profits did "during the first 3 months" and "over the last two years".
(B)
which had increased 5 percent during the first 3 months of this year after they had fallen."they had fallen over the last two years" is correct, this is an action that occurred over a long period of time in the past and is now over.
However, again, parallelism doesn't give us a good idea of the sequence of the events. And moreover "which had increased 5 percent during the first 3 months of this year" is not logically correct; I would change it maybe to "which
have increased 5 percent during the first 3 months of this year", to because this action is recent and maybe is still "happening".
(C)
which have increased 5 percent during the first 3 months of this year after falling."have increased" is the correct verb, as I explained above. "after falling" clearly explains the sequence.
IMO C
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91% (01:43) correct
