Because an oversupply of computer chips has sent prices plunging

The present perfect can certainly be used to express an action that started in the past and continues in the present:

"Tim has been in New Jersey since March." - Tim started to be in New Jersey in March, and he is still in New Jersey now (lucky guy!).

But we can also use the present perfect to express an action that occurred at an unspecified time in the past -- sometime before the present:

• Tim has visited Queens.
• Tim has eaten pigeon meat.
• Tim has been to a bar that serves free pizza.

We don't know exactly when these things happened, but we know that they occurred sometime before the present. The same is true in this question:

• If we wanted to express a present action, we would say, "... the manufacturer announces...," or, "... the manufacturer is announcing."
• If we wanted to express an action that occurred at a specific time in the past, we would say, "... the manufacturer announced the production cuts last Wednesday."
• But if we want to express that the action has occurred at an unspecified time in the past, then we have the option of using the present perfect: "... the manufacturer has announced...".

It's a little bit of a quirk of English: in some situations, the difference between present perfect ("the manufacturer has announced") and simple past ("the manufacturer announced") comes down to the style preference of the writer. If there's any grey area at all, the GMAT won't force you to choose between those two tenses.

For more on that, check out this post or this video on verb tenses.

I hope that helps!
_________________

This question is based on Modifiers and Construction.

Options A, B, and C begin with the conjunction ‘because’. Options D and E begin with the conjunction ‘due to’.

The conjunction ‘because' modifies a clause and ‘due to’ modifies a noun. In this sentence, the underlined portion of the sentence gives the reason that the manufacturer has announced that it will cut production. So, ‘due to’ is inappropriate in this sentence. Therefore, Options D and E can be ruled out.

In Option B, the relative pronoun refers to ‘computer chips’. This placement changes the meaning. It is not the computer chips but the plunging prices that are due to an oversupply. Subject-Verb is also lacking as the singular verb 'is' does not agree with the plural noun 'computer chips'. So, Option B can be ruled out.

A relative pronoun cannot refer to a clause - Because computer chip prices have been sent plunging. So, Option C can also be ruled out.

Option A is in the form of a modifier that provides a reason for the manufacturer to cut production. Subject-Verb agreement is also maintained in this option. Therefore, A is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.
_________________

Request Expert Reply:
Hi Honorable Experts,
MartyTargetTestPrep, GMATNinja, GMATGuruNY, AjiteshArun, VeritasPrepHailey, AnthonyRitz, BrightOutlookJenn, DmitryFarber, EducationAisle,
I'm stuck with the use of 'because of' and 'due to' here. Could you clarify these terminology on the basis of choice A,B,C, and E?
So far i know we know that, 'because of' modifies CLAUSE, and 'due to' modifies NOUN. So, is the following are correct explanation?

It seems that the 'because of' modifies the clause.

There is no clause the 'because of' modifies here in this choice!

It seems that 'due to' modifies the noun 'prices'.

There is no NOUN the 'due to' modifies here in this choice!
Is the explanation correct. Am I missing anything, experts?
Thanks in advanced..
_________________

Hi TheUltimateWinner,

You're absolutely correct: we would expect a because to modify a clause. If we accept that due to should not refer to a clause, and that it should refer only to a noun, the problem with that option is that it seems as if the due to refers to the manufacturer.

Due to plunging computer chip prices from an oversupply, the manufacturer has announced... ← "Due to X, the manufacturer..."

Here the phrase plunging computer chip prices from an oversupply is the "X" after due to, so we can say that prices is not what is being modified.
_________________

Hi GMATNinja
In option B, why can't which refer slightly far off preceding noun plunging prices?

Hey ishikasoni111, even if which refers to the slightly far away noun prices, it would cause SV error as prices are plural. Also, I don't think which can ever refer to plunging prices as plunging prices is not a noun or a noun phrase.

Hi
In option B, why can't which refer slightly far off preceding noun plunging prices?[/quote]

Hey, even if which refers to the slightly far away noun prices, it would cause SV error as prices are plural. Also, I don't think which can ever refer to plunging prices as plunging prices is not a noun or a noun phrase.[/quote]

Ohk I understand the SV error. But not sure why plunging prices is not a noun or noun phrase. What category do we put it in?

Hey, even if which refers to the slightly far away noun prices, it would cause SV error as prices are plural. Also, I don't think which can ever refer to plunging prices as plunging prices is not a noun or a noun phrase.[/quote]

Ohk I understand the SV error. But not sure why plunging prices is not a noun or noun phrase. What category do we put it in?[/quote]

Plunging is just an adverb I believe (Please take this with a pinch of salt as I'm not the best at mapping out jargons). A noun phrase is something that can function as a noun (a name, place, person or thing).

Eg - The building fell like a house of cards . Here, house of cards is a noun phrase.

Hope this helps!

plunging prices is indeed a noun phrase, with plunging being an adjective (participle) and prices being a noun.
_________________

Brian123 makes a very good point about SV error, since plunging prices is plural while the verb (which is) is singular.

It is however, important to note that even if there was no SV error (if the construct was....which are), which would then still have modified computer chips, and not plunging prices, because computer chips is the "nearest grammatically eligible word" for which.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses modifier issues of "which", their application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
_________________

Felt I can choose "Because" over "Due to" and this way, eliminated two options. Out of the remaining 3, based on structure chose A.

A. Correct
B. 'prices for' is incorrect. Also, relative pronoun “which” refers to plural subject “prices”. But
the following verb “is” is singular that does not agree in the number with its noun antecedent.
Therefore incorrect
C. Reference to “which” is vague. It is not clear whether it refers to the price that was there
before plunging or to plunging price. Passive voice unnecessarily makes the choice wordy.
D. The events here are not presented in the chronological order. The order of the events is:
oversupply of chips, plunging prices and announcement by the manufacturer. But this choice
states the order as: plunging prices, (due to) oversupply and announcement by the manufacturer. This change in order creates a bit confusion as to what happened first: plunging in prices or
oversupply?
E. It is better to say, due to x, y happened rather than due to x what resulted in is y. This
expression makes “with the result” redundant. Too wordy.

GMATNinja can we also eliminate choice (E) because of the usage of "have been", which represents an ongoing action, whereas clearly, the action (plunging) is finished.

(A) also uses the present perfect, "has sent," so we know that verb tense can't be the problem with (E). For more on why the present perfect is acceptable, check out this post.

Fortunately, we only need one error to eliminate an option, and the use of "due to" is incorrect in (E). "Due to" must modify a noun, and in this construction, the phrase seems to describe the "manufacturer." It's safe to say that the manufacturer was not due to an oversupply, so we can nix (E) without agonizing over the verb tense.

I hope that helps!
_________________

Hi GMATNinja

I have question,
you mention that
Phrases that begin with "due to" can only modify nouns, not verbs
• The game was postponed due to rain. --> Wrong, since the phrase "due to rain" modifies the verb phrase "was postponed." "Due to" phrases can only modify nouns.
• Souvik's success on the GMAT was due to his hard work. --> Correct, since "due to his hard work" modifies the noun "success."

However in a grammar book "Martin Hewings Advanced Grammar in Use 3rd Edition" (ı am studying it to have better English grammar base) there was an example "Due to fog, all flights from the airport have been cancelled" that is considered right. I believe this example goes against your example and ı am confused a little bit can you help me on that?

Hello, gloomybison,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe that we can help resolve your doubt.

In the example, you have given, the entire phrase "Due to fog" modifies "have been canceled". Further, a more cogent flaw in Option E is that it places information that is necessary for the core meaning of the sentence - the fact that the oversupply caused computer chip prices to plunge - between two commas. Please remember, information that is important to the core meaning of the sentence should never be placed between two commas.

To understand the concept of "Extra Information Between Commas" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
_________________

KarishmaB

(D) Due to plunging computer chip prices from an oversupply

I read in this article that "due to" can't modify the verb is a misconception
https://gmatwithcj.com/articles/sc-misc ... fy-a-verb/

Why d is incorrect? Please help to reject D meaning-wise.

Thanks!

Sneha2021

I would prefer (A) to (D) because of the clarity of (A).

(A) Because an oversupply of computer chips has sent prices plunging, the manufacturer has announced that it will cut production...

The oversupply led to prices plunging and this led to the announcement.

(D) Due to plunging computer chip prices from an oversupply, the manufacturer has announced that it will cut production...

In (D), I am not clear what 'from an oversupply' means. Usage of 'from' does not show that 'oversupply' is the reason for plunging prices (but I say this only because I have option (A); otherwise, I will likely say that I can glean the meaning based on a bit of general awareness)
I do understand that 'plunging prices' is the reason for the announcement but what is the reason for plunging prices is not clear. This relation is clearly mentioned in option (A) and that is why I will prefer (A).

Can option D be eliminated because of the incorrect use of "from"?
The word "resulting" is required before it.