Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Apr 2808:00 AM PDT
-11:00 AM PDT
Whether you are just beginning your MBA journey or fine-tuning your path to a 700+ score, GMAT Day is designed to give you a competitive edge.
23 May 2017, 09:01
Kudos
Bookmarks
sandaki
In D, the idiom "Due to" can only be used to modify nouns
Ask yourself what is causing the manufacture to cut production? It's not computer chips (the noun) but the fact that an oversupply of computer chips has caused prices to plummet (a pharse, and therefore cannot be modified by Due to)
For A, the idiom "Because X did something, something else happens" is perfectly fine
"Because of X, Y" is also correct
26 Aug 2017, 05:09
Kudos
Bookmarks
GMATNinja, @e-gmat, and mikemcgarry
Why are we using present perfect 'has sent prices plunging' ? Isn't the action of 'prices plunging' over?
Little confused with the usage of present perfect in this sentence.
Thanks
Why are we using present perfect 'has sent prices plunging' ? Isn't the action of 'prices plunging' over?
Little confused with the usage of present perfect in this sentence.
Thanks
09 Nov 2017, 14:43
Kudos
Bookmarks
Shiv2016
Hm, good question -- I'd never really even thought about the verb tenses here, mostly because we don't really have a choice. (A), (C), and (E) all use present perfect ("has/have sent prices plunging") to describe the price drop; (B) and (D) just turn the action into a noun, so the verb tense isn't an issue in those.
So my first thought is that the question doesn't even give us the option of using simple past tense, so there's no good reason to worry about the distinction between past tense and present perfect tense in this situation.
My second thought is that present perfect seems legit enough: if the manufacturer has just announced future production cuts, then it's reasonable to say that the oversupply continues to send prices plunging.
My less-useful third thought: there's actually a lot of grey area between past tense and present perfect tense, both in real life and on the GMAT. We have a habit of saying things like "I have visited Ukraine" in the present perfect, even though the action of visiting Ukraine happened in the past. I guess we say things like that to imply that either the consequences of that trip are ongoing in the present or (more likely) to suggest the possibility that I might return there. (Because... vareniki!)
It's not hard to come up with all sorts of similar cases, in which you could choose either simple past or present perfect, depending on your stylistic choices. Here's an official example about "dating fossils" -- in my opinion, the act of "dating" fossils should be past tense. But the official answer is in present perfect, presumably because that process of dating the fossils is an ongoing process of discovery, and scientists might eventually determine a different date. Or something like that.
The key, though, is that the GMAT won't force you to choose between present perfect and simple past unless the difference is crystal-clear. And in this particular question, the GMAT has written the question in a way that makes it a non-issue.
I hope this helps! Or at least helps you sleep at night, because that kinda got long and boring, and might put you right to sleep...
