Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
AbdurRakib wrote:
At the end of 2001, motion picture industry representatives said that there were about a million copies of Hollywood movies available online and expected piracy to increase with high-speed Internet connections that become more widely available.
(A) online and expected piracy to increase with high-speed Internet connections that become more widely available
(B) online and expect the increase of piracy with the wider availability of high-speed Internet connections
(C) online, and they expect more piracy to increase with the wider availability of high-speed Internet connections
(D) online, and that they expected the increase of piracy as high-speed Internet connections would become more widely available
(E) online, and that they expected piracy to increase as high-speed Internet connections became more widely available
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that motion picture industry representatives expected piracy to increase as high-speed Internet connections became more widely available.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Tenses + Parallelism + Awkwardness/Redundancy• The simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.
• The simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.
• The "would + simple present tense verb" construction is used to refer to hypothetical future actions and habitual actions in the past.
• Any elements linked by a conjunction (“and” in this sentence) must be parallel.
A: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "with high-speed Internet connections that become"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that motion picture industry representatives expected piracy to increase
alongside the
specific high-speed Internet connections that become more widely available; the intended meaning is that motion picture industry representatives expected piracy to increase
as high-speed Internet connections,
in general , became more widely available. Further, Option A fails to maintain parallelism between "that there were...available online" and "expected piracy to increase...more widely available"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel.
B: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "with the wider availability of high-speed Internet connections"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that motion picture industry representatives expected piracy to increase
alongside the wider availability of high-speed Internet connections; the intended meaning is that motion picture industry representatives expected piracy to increase
as high-speed Internet connections
became more widely available. Further, Option B incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "expect" to refer to an event that concluded in the past; please remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature. Additionally, Option B fails to maintain parallelism between "that there were...available online" and "expect the increase...Internet connections"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel.
C: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "with the wider availability of high-speed Internet connections"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that motion picture industry representatives expected piracy to increase
alongside the wider availability of high-speed Internet connections; the intended meaning is that motion picture industry representatives expected piracy to increase
as high-speed Internet connections
became more widely available. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "expect" to refer to an event that concluded in the past; please remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature. Additionally, Option C fails to maintain parallelism between "that there were...available online" and "they expect more...Internet connections"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel. Besides, Option C redundantly uses "more" alongside "increase".
D: This answer choice incorrectly uses the "would + simple present tense verb" construction to refer to an event that concluded in the past; please remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past, and the "would + simple present tense verb" construction is used to refer to hypothetical future actions and habitual actions in the past.
E: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrase "as high-speed Internet connections became more widely available", conveying the intended meaning - that motion picture industry representatives expected piracy to increase as high-speed Internet connections, in general, became more widely available. Further, Option E correctly uses the simple past tense verbs "expected" and "became" to refer to events that concluded in the past. Additionally, Option E maintains parallelism between "that there were...available online" and "that they expected piracy...widely available". Besides, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
Hence, E is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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