Although the fear last year that the trade zone might break apart had

The easiest decision point on this question relates to the tense. The past perfect “had receded” is illogical in (A) and (B). There is nothing before which the fear receded!

It could either have been completed at some point in the past (using the simple past receded), or more likely given the context of this sentence, be ongoing with the present perfect (has receded).

In (C) and (D) the “it” is problematic as it creates a reference error – the pronoun seems to be referring back to the risk, when the goal is to compare the current stagnation with that in Argentina.

Only (E), uses the logical tense “has receded” and uses “like” to make it clear that the comparison is between the possible prolonged stagnation in this cases, with the stagnation that took place in Argentina for the past two decades.

Answer is (E).

The problem in C is the incorrect use of pronoun "it". One may argue that "stagnation" is the antecedent of "it", but the "prolonged stagnation" that is expected was not the one that plagued Argentina - it was a different stagnation. For such usages the pronoun "that" is used - "that" creates a new copy of the antecedent.

The car I have is identical to that standing outside.... correct.
I have a car just as it is standing outside.... wrong.

Dear AbhinavBankhwal,

I'm happy to respond. This is a fantastic question, as many Veritas questions are.

Here's a relevant blog article:
GMAT Verb Tenses: The Perfect Tenses

I suspect you don't understand how the perfect tenses work.

The past perfect, "had receded," has a relatively limited use. It is only used when we want to show that one past action came before another past action. That is the only use of the past perfect. After the comma, everything is in the present & future, so the past perfect is 100% incorrect.

The present perfect is tricky. It is certainly used when an action began in the past and is still going on in the present.
The Earth has been revolving around the Sun for more than 4/5 billion years.
The present perfect is also used when the action is in the past, but somehow the effects or influence of the action are still at work in the present. It provides a contrast to the simple past, which implies no continuing effect.
a) I read Moby Dick.
b) I have read Moby Dick.
Both are 100% grammatically correct. They have different implications. Version (a) has the implication of "Been there, done that!" Version (a) implies that the entire experience of this novel is in the past for me and that I have moved on. By contrast, version (b), which is what I actually would say, implies that the book somehow has an ongoing affect in my life, even though the action of reading it was in the past.

In this sentence, the fear "has receded"--the action of receding is in the past, but somehow, it's not forgotten. The threat of economic trouble has morphed from one form to another.

My friend, you need to learn much more about the prefect tenses. I am going to recommend Magoosh. We have a large library of SC lesson videos covering all the grammar you need to know. Here's a sample SC question:
The publication of Joyce's Ulysses
When you submit your answer, you will see a full explanation video and related lessons. The immediate feedback on individual question combined with the extensive lesson library will give you the SC background you need.

Does this make sense?
Mike

'Like' when used for comparison can be followed by a noun, or a pronoun or a noun+ noun modifier. It does not matter even if a relative clause that has a verb follows and modifies the noun as the clause is after all a modifier in the context

I searched "like that which" on google and it presented "About 3,04,00,000 results". I think E is correct.

Just as should always be followed by so. So, I ruled out C as there was no 'so' in it.

As we know like should NEVER be followed by a clause. So, D is out.

I know in E like that which is a weird construction but GMAC says always go for the BEST option.

So, E is the BEST option .

Also, in E we have like that and then something that modifies this 'that' which is the phrase starting with 'which'. hence E is the Best .

E is correct because

1) Had cannot be used as there were no two actions happening in the past
2) "Stagnation of the kind" is incorrect - 'of the kind' suggests that this stagnation is a smaller category of a bigger set of stagnations that plagued Argentina. But here we are comparing two exactly similar situations that happened in two different countries. Hence, the usage of "like that" in option E is better.

Dear Shiv2016,

I'm happy to respond.

I will remind you, my friend, that it is impossible to arrive at SC mastery simply by learning rules. There inevitably will be parts of the language you don't understand purely through a rule-based approach. My short answer to your question is: you need to read. You need to develop a habit of reading, an hour a day, above and beyond any GMAT-specific preparations you are doing. You need to push yourself to read high-level sophisticated material, so that you develop intuition for such structures. It's through this intuition, in addition to knowing the rules, that mastery will come.

The word "that" has several different roles. See:
GMAT Sentence Correction: The Many Uses of ‘That’

In this structure, we are using "that" as a demonstrative pronoun. The pronoun "that" is often used in comparisons in this way:
Canada has a modest and small capital, like that of Australia.
The first symphony of Johannes Brahms was an unqualified success throughout Europe, unlike that of any other composer.

Because the pronoun "that" refers to an element that is similar to, but not identical to, something the first part of the sentence, the word needs clarifying modification. In the two sentences above, a prepositional phrase was enough, but sometimes, we need a full clause to clarify the identify of the target of the pronoun. In this case, we use the "that which" structure.
1) Although the fear last year that the trade zone might break apart has receded, the risk now could be prolonged stagnation, like that which has plagued Argentina for the past two decades.
2) Although the fear last year that the trade zone might break apart has receded, the risk now could be prolonged stagnation, of the kind that has plagued Argentina for the past two decades.
3) Although the fear last year that the trade zone might break apart has receded, the risk now could be prolonged stagnation, like the one that has plagued Argentina for the past two decades.
Here, #1 is perfectly correct, elegant, and exactly as a well-spoken person would phrase it. Versions #2 and #3 are casual and inferior: one would hear these embarrassing forms in colloquial American conversation, especially among people who are not well-spoken, but these are far too informal and casual ever to appear on the GMAT.

Does all this make sense?
Mike

in (E) construction ' like that which' is quite awkward which introduces nonrestrictive clause always; even comma is missing;

Dear abrakadabra21,

I'm happy to respond.

Here's choice (C):
(C) receded, the risk now could be prolonged stagnation, just as it has plagued Argentina for the past two decades
I can understand why a non-native speaker would be tempted by this wrong answer. It is terribly awkward to a native ear. The big problem is the awkward inclusion of the grossly unnecessary pronoun "it." Without that pronoun, and without the word "just," choice (C) would be elegant:
(C') receded, the risk now could be prolonged stagnation, as has plagued Argentina for the past two decades
That's incredibly sophisticated, and it's precisely the sort of structure that folks still learning English would be inclined to dismiss as wrong.

My friend, remember that the best way to become familiar with the "feel" of the English language is to develop a consistent habit of reading. See:
How to Improve Your GMAT Verbal Score

Does this make sense?
Mike

Dear Chef

My friend, do you realize that I have several posts on this quite long thread? Do you understand how ambiguous your question is? You are asking about #3 in my example where? Which of multiple posts?

My friend, the reason I am pointing this out is because how you do anything is how you do everything. If you aspire for GMAT excellence, you have to bring the mindset of excellence to every single thing you do. An action done with imprecision or inattention is a lost opportunity to build the highly focused skills you will need on test day. A high level of attention is not simply something you can manifest magically on test day without any preparation--you have to hone the quality of your precise attention in every single thing you do, build it like a muscle, so it is ready for the challenge of the test.

If you want to ask about an example, give the exact date of the post, and copy the section about which you are asking--it might be easiest to quote the section about which you are inquiring. Also, make sure you are asking the highest quality question you can. How you do anything is how you do everything.

Does this make sense, my friend?
Mike

@ jlgdr,

My 2 cent thought

"A" is out because "had receded" in my opinion makes little sense with the presence of word "now". Whatever was the first event that occurred in past, has its effect and "has receded" fits that logic completely.
Although I dont know why "E" is correct. I picked up "D"

E&OE

The purpose of the past perfect -- had + VERBed -- is to express an action completed before another past action or event.
A: Although the fear last year that the trade zone might break apart had receded, the risk now could be prolonged stagnation.
Here, the past perfect action in red is NOT completed before another past action or event.
Thus, this usage of the past perfect is illogical.
Eliminate A.



The most common form of suffering in this novel is the suffering that characters inflict on themselves.

One purpose of that is to serve as a COPY PRONOUN.
Here, we can avoid the repetition of suffering by replacing the noun in blue with the copy pronoun that, as follows:
The most common form of suffering in this novel is that that characters inflict on themselves.

But now we have a problem: the double-usage of that, highlighted in color above.
To avoid this double-usage, we replace the red that with which:
The most common form of suffering in this novel is that which characters inflict on themselves.
The resulting sentence in green appeared in the NY Times.

The usage of that which is rare but valid.
Its purpose is to avoid the usage of that that.

tangokilo23
But the part you're talking about isn't a modifier at all. It's the main clause of the sentence! The format here is (dependent clause), (main clause), (modifier). Here's a simple sentence with that structure:

While I didn't enjoy the movie, I appreciate the book, one of the classics of its genre.

Again, note that "I appreciate the movie" is the main clause, not a modifier (essential or otherwise). In general, don't get too excited about essential vs. non-essential. It's a very small issue on the GMAT.

"Although the fear ... has receded" is the dependent clause beginning with the conjunction "although". So after the comma, you will get the main clause.
Main clause: the risk now could be prolonged stagnation, like that which has plagued Argentina for the past two decades

Note that not everything between two commas will be a non essential modifier. A modifier in between two commas is a non essential modifier.
My brother, who is very close to me, will visit me tomorrow.
"who is very close to me" - non essential modifier

But consider this sentence:
Since I am down with fever, my brother will bring my medicines, Ibuprofen and Benadryl, to me.

What is the structure here and which one is the non essential modifier, if there is one?

Since I am down with fever - Dependent clause
my brother will bring my medicines, Ibuprofen and Benadryl, to me. - Main clause
Ibuprofen and Benadryl - Non essential modifier (appositive)

A versus E anyone? Would like a back to back celebrity deathmatch between both answer choices

Cheers
J

I chose C, because I know for sure that like+ phrase
but in D and E we have clause after like!!

A and B are out because of Had receded.

daagh: I was able to rule out option A & B, because past perfect is not needed. In option D, like is followed by a clause instead of a noun. Found option C to be 'precise'. In option E, the sentence construction is awkward, 'that' is an essential modifier and when which is preceded by a comma, it becomes a non essential modifier and I presume 'which' can also be used as an essential modifier. Why in this particular option both the modifiers are necessary.?