The Sunrise policy at Melvin Prexart & Co states that, henceforth, the strategy guidelines should be implemented quicker than they had been in the past.

(A) the strategy guidelines should be implemented quicker than they had been in the past
(B) the strategy guidelines should be implemented quicker than they have been in the past
(C) the strategy guidelines should be implemented quicker than they did in the past
(D) the strategy guidelines should be implemented more quickly than they have been in the past
(E) the strategy guidelines should be implemented more quickly than they had been in the past
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Seems to make sense - only that I didn't see a good reason for past perfect (present perfect doesn't work either).
What is a source?

IMO, E

because "had been" is used when the action is over
versus "have been" is used when the action continues.

The former suits in this case.

Isn't it still effective till date. Thats why the writer say " should be".

Moderators can your help us out.
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Thanks
rampuria

guys - i have a small question here -

the question actually talks about the new strategy that has to be implemented is as if it is a continual process going on year after year right - in that case - it should actually be "had been" rather than "have been" right?

am i misunderstanding anything?

Cheers
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Thanks,
Arjun

Hey All,

I'd like to weigh in briefly on this question, though in the same spirit of curious examination as the rest of you. This question seems a little bit fishy to me, for reasons I'll try to explain.

The correct use of the past perfect tense on the GMAT requires the existence of a verb in the simple past. As far as I can see, this sentence does not have one. The only verbs we get are "states", which is present tense, and "should be implemented", which is a conditional tense (more like future). Because there is no past tense, I cannot justify the past perfect. You could justify the SIMPLE past "more quickly than they were in the past", but that isn't an answer choice.

I realize the present perfect doesn't feel great, but I'd like to justify it thusly: because of the phrase "in the past", we are actually talking about something that CONTINUES to be true (i.e. it remains true, in the present, that this was going on IN THE PAST). This would lead me to a present perfect verb, as in answer choice D.

My actual preference would be for an answer choice that doesn't exist (as described above, with "were"), but because of the lack of a simple past verb, I don't see answer choice E being correct.

I'm open for debate, but feel confident.

Hope that helps!
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Tommy Wallach | Manhattan GMAT Instructor | San Francisco

Manhattan GMAT Discount | Manhattan GMAT Reviews

I went for (D) as well. I think the source needs to be checked on this one.
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Hey There,

"Quicker" is not technically a word, though it has moved into common speech. On the GMAT, you can't use "quicker", only "more quickly" as the comparative of "quick".

Word.
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Tommy Wallach | Manhattan GMAT Instructor | San Francisco

Manhattan GMAT Discount | Manhattan GMAT Reviews

Hi ,I would go for E.
It is not always true that you need to have a explicit past tense verb in a sentence to justify the use of past perfect . The explicit mention of the word 'past' does the work of the past tense and any action performed prior to that should be referred as past perfect .
hence E is correct .

Thanks.. that's one of the reasons why I missed this problem
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I'm trying to not just answer the problem but to explain how I came up with my answer. If I am incorrect or you have a better method please PM me your thoughts. Thanks!