Despite no proof that the consumption of any particular foods reverse

Question

Despite no proof that the consumption of any particular foods reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods could  help reverse blockage of coronary arteries, the blood vessels that feed the heart.

(A) Despite no proof that the consumption of any particular foods reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods could

(B) Despite no foods having been proved to reverse hardening of the arteries when consumed, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can

(C) Although the consumption of no particular foods have been proved to reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that to refrain from eating certain foods could

(D) Although not proved that the consumption of any foods reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can

(E) Although it has not been proved that the consumption of any particular food will reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can

gmat6nplus1 · Accepted Answer

Despite no proof that the consumption of any particular foods reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods could help reverse blockage of coronary arteries, the blood vessels that feed the heart.

(A) Despite no proof that the consumption of any particular foods reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods could
 I see a subject verb agreement issue here. consumption and reverse 
(B) Despite no foods having been proved to reverse hardening of the arteries when consumed, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can
 having been is awkward and unecessary 
(C) Although the consumption of no particular foods have been proved to reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that to refrain from eating certain foods could
 we have few errors here, among them we spot the subject verb agreement (consumption-have been) 
(D) Although not proved that the consumption of any foods reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can
 subject verb agreement once again 
(E) Although it has not been proved that the consumption of any particular food will reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can 
 The main issue has been fixed, looks good

pqhai · Answer

Hi 2013gmat.

This question is about the usage of "  placeholder IT  ".
Some times it would be nice to move an awkward subject or object to the back of the sentence. In these cases, we can put an it in the sentence where the subject or object used to be. We call this use of it "placeholder IT". Do  NOT  look for a noun antecedent for a Placeholder IT.

There are three situations in which you might can use Placeholder It on the GMAT.

(1) Postpone infinitive subjects: 
Awkward: TO RESIST temptation is futile
Better: IT is futile TO RESIST temptation.

(2) Postpone That-clause Subjects. 
Awkward: THAT we scored at all gave us encouragement.
Better: It gave use encouragement THAT we scored at all.

(3) Postpone infinitive or That-clause Objects. 
Right: She made IT possible for us TO ATTEND the movie.

Source:  MGMAT Sentence Correction.

Now, back to your question.

Despite no proof that the consumption of any particular foods reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods could  help reverse blockage of coronory aryeries, the blood vessels that feed the heart.

a) Despite no proof that the consumption of any particular foods reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods could 
 Wrong.  
- " Despite no proof that " is barely used. "Despite..." itself often indicates negative contrast, so "despite no proof" seems to be double negative. "Despite the fact that" is CORRECT usage.
- "the consumption" is singular --> " reverse " is wrong. Should be "reverse s "

b)Despite no foods having been proved to reverse hardening of the arteries when consumed, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can 
 Wrong.  
- Meaning problem: "no food....proved to reverse..... when consumed " <== "consumed" is past tense and ACTIVE voice. It means the food proved abc.... when it consumes something? It's illogical. The food should BE consumed (passive voice). To make the sentence clear, we need an auxiliary verb before "consumed" to change the sentence from active voice to passive voice.

c) Although the consumption of no particular foods have been proved to reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods could 
 Wrong.  
- "the consumption" is singular --> " have " is wrong.

d)Although not proved that the consumption of any foods reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can 
 Wrong.  
- " Although not proved that " is wrong grammar. "Although + clause" is correct.
- "the consumption" is singular --> " reverse " is wrong.

e)Although it has not been proved that the consumption of any particular food will reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can 
  Correct.   
- "It" is placeholder it. Do not look for its antecedent, because there is NO antecedent of "it" in the sentence. Placeholder IT moves the That-clause to the back, making the sentence better.

Hope it helps.

gmat101 · Answer

E

(A) Despite no proof that the consumption of  any particular foods  reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods could
(B) Despite no foods having been proved to reverse hardening of the arteries when consumed, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can -  clumsy 
(C) Although the consumption of no particular foods have been proved to reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that  to refrain from eating  certain foods could 
(D) Although not proved that the consumption  of any foods reverse  hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can
(E) Although it has not been proved that the consumption of  any particular food  will reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can

In part one of the sentence we are looking for any particular 'food' that can help...
in the second part we are talking about ceratin 'foods' that could help.

puipui · Answer

IPO => E

My split:

despite is wrong => rule out A)/B)

see here
Despite his poverty, Owen graduated from HBS
=> "despite" will be used in case that there is obstacle, preventing the graduation

"Although" will be used in case that is not related with the obstacles.

C) & D) => change the meaning of the original

dexerash · Answer

One thing that is wrong in D: "...that the  consumption of any foods   reverse  hardening of the arteries..."
Here consumption is the singular subject for the verb reverse. So reverse is wrong here, it should be reverseS.

Moreover, the sentence " Although not proved that the consumption of any foods reverse hardening of the arteries" doesn't sound good as what is "not proved" is not clear by placing it at the starting of the sentence.

Hope this helps!

daagh · Answer

This is mainly an SV play.

(A) Despite no proof that the  consumption  of any particular foods  reverse  hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods could -- SV error  
(B) Despite no foods having been proved to reverse hardening of the arteries  when consumed,  studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can –  'when consumed' may mean that they are effective when consumed and perhaps not after.  
(C) Although the  consumption  of no particular foods  have been  proved to reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that to refrain from eating certain foods could---  SV error  
(D) Although not proved that the  consumption  of any foods  reverse  hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can –  SV error 
(E) Although it has not been proved that the consumption of any particular food will reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can ----   ok – no SV error or meaning error.

aaba · Answer

Experts, please help me with this question. 
Only A and E are closed. Why A fails?

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  aaba , as daagh sir has mentioned above, in A the  singular  subject  consumption  required a  singular  verb  reverses ; however, A uses  plural  verb  reverse .

So, A has a  subject-verb  agreement issue.

DharLog · Answer

Despite no proof that the consumption of any particular foods reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods could  help reverse blockage of coronary arteries, the blood vessels that feed the heart.

One error is enough.

(A) Despite no proof that the consumption of any particular foods reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods could
 Consumption is singular. So it must be "reverses".

(B) Despite no foods having been proved to reverse hardening of the arteries when consumed, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can
 Change in meaning. Food does not serve to reverse. It is consumption that serves to reverse.

(C) Although the consumption of no particular foods have been proved to reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that to refrain from eating certain foods could
 Consumption is singular. So it must be "has been proved".

(D) Although not proved that the consumption of any foods reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can
 Same mistake as in A

(E) Although it has not been proved that the consumption of any particular food will reverse hardening of the arteries, studies indicate that refraining from eating certain foods can
 Good

Sanchitdd · Answer

Although I understood that E is correct for no S-V error, Can refers to ability and could refers to possibility. By this logic I feel that any option with "can" is automatically incorrect.
Could anyone help in this regards?

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  Sanchitdd , I would  not  think that this is a water-tight distinction.

For example, in the following example:

Certain pesticides  can  become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place; one reason is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals . .

The meaning of  can  in the above sentence tilts more towards  possibility  than  ability .

Sanchitdd · Answer

Thank you for the explanation.
Can "despite/ although" be a split in the question if everything else were same. I get confused between conjunctions of contrast. It would be great if you could share any resource for the same.
Thanks in advance.

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi Sanchit, meaning-wise, both  despite  and  although  are used to depict  contrast .

However,  grammatically , they are different:

i)  Despite  is generally used as a  preposition  and so, will almost always be followed by a  noun/noun-phrase

ii)  Although  is a  conjunction  and so, will almost always be followed by a  clause  ( verb  either explicitly mentioned or implied)

genericUser · Answer

Dear All,
I got the right answer by POE. I do not understant the correct usage of "It" as a placeholder; can someone explain, or provide link to an explanation, this concept?

Thanks and regards,
R

EducationAisle · Answer

Basically "it" is referring to the construct "that the consumption of any particular food will reverse hardening of the arteries".

In other words, this sentence is equivalent to:

...that the consumption of any particular food will reverse hardening of the arteries has not been proved...

So, option E represents a case in which the pronoun ("it") is used  before  the antecedent ("that the consumption of any particular food will reverse hardening of the arteries").

Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses specific cases, wherein  the pronoun can be used before the antecedent . If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Despite no proof that the consumption of any particular foods reverse

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Despite no proof that the consumption of any particular foods reverse

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