At a recent conference, the transit authority has stated that the prov

Question

At a recent conference, the transit authority  has stated that the provisions in the Clean Air Act fail  to promote mass transit as an alternative to private transportation.

A. has stated that the provisions in the Clean Air Act fail

B. stated that the provisions of the Clean Air Act fail

C. has stated that the provisions of the Clean Air Act will fail

D. stated that the provisions in the Clean Air Act are a failure

E. has stated the provisions in the Clean Air Act failed

I was sure I answered this question correctly but test result informed me otherwise. Can someone please explain?

Thank you

KevinRocci · Accepted Answer

Another important aspect to consider in this question is the preposition that we should use with "provision." When talking about a law, as is the case here, we need to use "of" not "in." So any answer choice that contains "provisions in" is out—A, D, E. That leaves us with B and C. As most people have point out, the past perfect is not necessary here. It is always important to use the simplest verb tense possible. You really only need the other verb tenses if you are trying to distinguish multiple events taking place at different points of time in the same sentence. That is not the case here. So we should choose simple past. Thus the answer is B. Another possible way to eliminate answer choices is to look at the last word—"fail," "are a failure," or "failed." This gives us a useful split. Again, we have no need for the past tense here and using the noun form of the verb in SC questions is not advisable. More often than not, you will want to choose the more active construction—the verb form of the word. This allows you to eliminate two answer choices, and then work with three answer choices. So this sentence gives us a lot to work with. Hope this helps!

x2suresh · Answer

past perfectense is not required
A,C,E --out
between B and D

B looks good.

provisions...fail.. to promote masstranist

D --out
provisions ..are "failure to promote" --> akward.

jainu · Answer

At a recent conference, the transit authority has stated that the provisions in the Clean Air Act fail to promote mass transit as an alternative to private transportation. 
The sentence tell that conference is already over. Secondly there are no two actions that need to be distingushed on the basis of time. Hence we need simple past..
1) has stated that the provisions in the Clean Air Act fail---out because of above reasons
2) stated that the provisions of the Clean Air Act fail--right
3) has stated that the provisions of the Clean Air Act will fail---out because of above reasons
4) stated that the provisions in the Clean Air Act are a failure---this is redundant and kind of exaggerates the option
5) has stated the provisions in the Clean Air Act failed---out because of above reasons

vivesomnium · Answer

Verb tense rules: Unless there is a REASON, keep the tenses in the verb SIMPLE (simple>progressive or perfect) and CONSISTENT (Change tenses only if you have to)
 will failed: future + past - incorrect usage! E eliminated.
Recent conferece means the conference is already over: simple past should suffice here. there is no reason for the use of past perfect - only when a later past action is present in the sentence. this is not the case here. the only other action - failing - happens before the stating, not after- and thus has stated is worng)
Choice between B and D : verb is always preferable to action noun. e.g invest> make an investment; refer > make a reference; and so fail> are a failure.
Hence, choose B.
Note that: '....stated that provisions had failed' would have been correct too.. two actions, stating happens in simple past, failing is one step further away in past and hence had failed is correct.

OreoShake · Answer

Why is A incorrect? I am not very convinced with the argument that 'provisions in' makes A incorrect. It uses present perfect, not past perfect, and is an acceptable form to describe an event that occurred very recently.

Adam has finished his cereal. Please let me know if im conceptually incorrect.

Adam has finished his cereal. Please let me know if im conceptually incorrect.

OreoShake · Answer

On second thought, present perfect is used when an action occurs in the past and continues on to the present; the authority's action does not continue on to present. Maybe thats why A is incorrect.

DmitryFarber · Answer

OreoShake , that's correct. There are two possible reasons to use present tense for a single recent event such as "Adam has finished his cereal": 1) He has just finished quite recently and the author wants to update us on this urgent situation.

2) We're describing an accomplishment. In this case, the "continues into the present" just means that the accomplishment stands. I can say "I have been to France" or "I have been awarded a Nobel Prize," even if I am no longer in France or my Nobel Prize has been revoked. In the case of the transit authority sentence, neither of these cases applies. #2 is out because we're not stating an accomplishment. #1 isn't necessary because we already made it clear when this happened: at a recent press conference. In general, it's useful to keep in mind that the requirements for perfect tenses (both present and past) tell us when we can use these forms, not when we should . If a perfect tense isn't needed to make our intended meaning clear, we should use a simpler tense.

Shiv2016 · Answer

Hello  DmitryFarber

In this sentence, we know that the conference took place recently but whatever the transit authority stated is still true in the present context. So shouldn't we use present perfect tense "has stated" to make this more clear?

Thanks

sobby · Answer

B is the best choice.
But i have a doubt regarding tense use in B . Fail or failed ..as per logic of the sentence ,some task is already completed , why present tense in used here (fail despite of using failed).

DmitryFarber · Answer

Shiv2016 , the present perfect gives us information about the actual action in that tense, so it applies to the words "has stated." That doesn't tell us anything about whether what was stated continues to be true. Consider these:

I said that I was married.
I said that I am married.
I have said that I am married.

In the first case, the action ("said") is in the past. At some point in the past, I said that I was married. This says nothing about whether I am married now, but it doesn't preclude my being so. In other words, using the past tense doesn't mean that I have stopped being married! It just tells you about when I said what I said.

The second sentence makes it clear that I am married now. The action of speaking is in the past, but I would only use this form if the action had happened very recently. It would not work to say "When I started this job 20 years ago, I said that I am married."

The third sentence implies that I have referred to being married before, perhaps repeatedly, and that this reflects the current state of things. However, this is no more "correct" for showing that I am still married now than sentence two is.

A shorter answer is that we have to pick. We can use "at a recent conference" or "has stated," but not both. Any sentence that starts with "At a recent conference, the transit authority has stated" can be ruled out without any need to read further.

DmitryFarber · Answer

sobby , there's no indication that the action is completed. If the Clean Air Act is still in place, then its provisions can still fail, since the law continues to do (or fail to do) the same thing. Similarly, I might say "state law forbids the use of narcotics" or "the Farm Bill encourages farmers to grow surplus crops." We'd only use "failed" if the Act were no longer in place, and we don't know that that's the case.

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

B.

When you scan the choices, notice you have to choose between three that begin with “has stated” and two that begin with “stated.” Many GMAT sentence com- pletions exhibit this “3-2 split”answer choice pattern. Use this to your advantage. Begin by deciding which of the two forms, “has stated” or “stated,” is correct. This is strategic: You deal with one small problem at a time, and narrow your choices down. The Transit Authority made their statement and it was over. The action didn’t continue. So you should say “the Transit Authoritystated.” (B), “the provisions fail to promote mass transit” is more concise than (D), “the provi- sions are a failure to promote mass transit.”

VerbalBot · Answer

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

At a recent conference, the transit authority has stated that the prov

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

At a recent conference, the transit authority has stated that the prov

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards