Although some of Toyota’s rivals, notably Volkswagen of Germany and

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-


A: This answer choice maintains parallelism and both appropriate idiom construction and proper tense use throughout the sentence. Thus, this answer choice is correct.

B: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between the verbs "fell" and "is flat", as the former is in the simple past tense and the latter is in the simple present tense. Additionally, B uses the present continuous verb "is shrinking" to refer to an action that concluded in the past. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the present perfect continuous tense verb "has been falling" to refer to an action that concluded in the past. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

D: This answer choice repeats the errors seen in Option B. Additionally, D uses the incorrect idiom construction "either...nor" rather than the correct construction "either...or". Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

E: This answer choice utilizes the incorrect idiom construction "either...and", rather than the correct construction "either...or". Thus, this answer choice is correct.

Please note that in Option A, although the verb "shrank" refers to the earlier of two actions that concluded in the past, the past perfect tense does not need to be applied because the phrase "well before" clearly indicates the order of events.

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Past Perfect Tense - Use of Had on GMAT", you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



To understand the concept of "Either-Or and Neither-Nor on GMAT", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Continuous Tense on GMAT", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team