Despite the criticism in the early 1890’s that if journalists use

Question

Despite the criticism in the early 1890’s  that if journalists use pictures the intellectual quality of publications would diminish , by the late 1890’s photographs were found in most newspapers and magazines.

(A) that if journalists use pictures the intellectual quality of publications would diminish,

(B) that if journalists use pictures it will diminish the intellectual quality of publications,

(C) that the use of pictures by journalists would diminish the intellectual quality of publications,

(D) of the intellectual quality of publications being diminished by the use of pictures by journalists,

(E) of the use of pictures by journalists diminish the intellectual quality of publications,

in my point of view, the event is from the past so future tense does not work here, B is out. conditional "would" is used with present verb form "use", which is incorrect so A is out. D is just wordy. in E "diminishing" incorrectly modifies journalist. correct me if i am wrong or is there another way to attack this question.

thanks in advance

thanks in advance

KyleWiddison · Accepted Answer

That's an impressive review of this problem! The tense issue is the big problem in A/B here both within the clause, use/would and use/will, and in the sentence as a whole, present tense "use" where "used" is required. D and E both have a modifier problem because "of the..." is modifying 1890s instead of criticism. Also, D contains the word "being", which is almost never used correctly on the GMAT.

KW

Zarrolou · Answer

Nope.

When form "the past" you make a prediction looking forward, "would" is correct; so B is out.

In A, the conditional clause is not correct even if you add a comma. The correct form is

"if + simple Past, + would" , A uses the present "use", so even with the comma both A and B are not correct.

fozzzy · Answer

In this question, the IF-then construct isn't correct in option A and B its missing a comma? Can we eliminate the answer choice because of that issue?

blueseas · Answer

GMAC doesnt tests on PUNCTUATION...so never eliminate a choice on the basis of punctuation.

sivasanjeev · Answer

Despite the criticism in the early 1890’s  that if journalists use pictures the intellectual quality of publications would diminish , by the late 1890’s  photographs were  found in most newspapers and magazines.

(A) that if journalists use pictures the intellectual quality of publications would diminish, 
 Parallelism not maintained. That clause is followed by an if-clause, which i think is a wrong construction. 
(B) that if journalists use pictures it will diminish the intellectual quality of publications, 
 placeholder 'it' has no proper antecendent. Parallelism not maintained (both tense and construction) 
(C) that  the use of pictures  by journalists  would  diminish the intellectual quality of publications, 
 Parallelism perfectly maintained between "the use of pictures" and "photographs" and also between the verbs 
(D) of the intellectual quality of publications being diminished by the use of pictures by journalists, 
 too many errors in this construction. It is not direct. Usage of "by the use of pictures by journalists" conveys a wrong meaning. Usage of 'being' is not needed. 
(E) of the use of pictures by journalists diminish the intellectual quality of publications
 SV agreement error. Use should be followed by diminishes. 'Use of pictures by journalists' conveys a different meaning.

PiyushK · Answer

Despite the criticism in the early 1890’s  that if journalists use pictures the intellectual quality of publications would diminish , by the late 1890’s photographs were found in most newspapers and magazines.

(A) that if journalists  use   pictures the intellectual quality of publications  would   diminish, 
IMO : THAT IF construction is fine. That + (clause) 
Problem with A is hypothetical subjunctive form of then statement is used without past form of verb in if statement.  -- I rejected A because of this reason.
 
(B) that if journalists use pictures  it   will diminish the intellectual quality of publications,  -- it is trying to express idea rather it should refer to some noun. further there is no proper antecedent of it.

(C) that the use of pictures by journalists would diminish the intellectual quality of publications,  -- good.

(D) of the intellectual quality of publications being diminished by the use of pictures by journalists,  -- criticism of ... being -- wrong

(E) of the use of pictures by journalists  diminish   the intellectual quality of publications  -- fragmented -- verb is not expected in such construction.

JusTLucK04 · Answer

The event is from the past so future tense does not work here, B is out. conditional "would" is used with present verb form "use", which is incorrect so A is out. D is just wordy. in E "diminishing" incorrectly modifies journalist.

@ someone from GMAT CLUB

@ someone from GMAT CLUB

EducationAisle · Answer

D says:  Despite the criticism in the early 1890’s of the intellectual quality of publications.. . That is incorrect, because criticism was  not  about  the intellectual quality of publications;  criticism was about  the use of pictures .

I didn't notice  diminishing  in E. E says:  Despite the criticism in the early 1890’s of the use of pictures by journalists diminish the intellectual quality of publications . The issue is that  despite  is a  proposition  and so, cannot be followed by a  main verb ; however here,  diminish  is used as a  main verb . This makes the sentence ungrammatical.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear RichaChampion , I'm happy to respond. :-)

First of all, I totally agree that the present tense of " use " in (A) & (B) is train-wreck wrong. All this is in the past. Here's what I would say about conditions. For the first one, the "likely" case, it's perfect try that we use simple present and simple future if the condition is a present-time condition, but we have to change tense if we are talking about a condition in the past. Present time: In the US today, if a person refuses to pay his income tax, he will be arrested and thrown in jail. That's factually true, not only likely but just about certain. Here, we use simple present tense in the first part, simple future in the second. Now, a past event. The US has had income tax continually since the passage of the XVI amendment in 1913, but it was only sporadic in the 1800s. The use no longer has poll taxes, but it did in the past. Thus we could say In the 1840s, if a person refused to pay his poll tax, he would be arrested and thrown in jail . Not only was this 100% true at the time, but it actually happened to Thoreau . Here, we use the simple past in the first part, and the " would " construction in the second part. You see, among other things, the construction "would" + is used to indicate the future of the past, the future from a past frame of reference. This is also the case in sequence of tenses . Answer choice (C) is correct, and it's closer to a sequence of tenses construction. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

Nevernevergiveup · Answer

Despite some criticism that sth would have bad consequences, it happened.

Despite the criticism in the early 1890’s that 
 if journalists use pictures 
the intellectual quality of publications would diminish,  
by the late 1890’s photographs were found in most newspapers and magazines.

............intended meaning is usage of pictures would diminish the quality.

(A) that if journalists use pictures the intellectual quality of publications would diminish,............ this does not give intended meaning. the stricture is without proper link.

(B) that if journalists use pictures it will diminish the intellectual quality of publications,............. it does not have proper antecedent usage.

(C) that the use of pictures by journalists would diminish the intellectual quality of publications,............ use would diminish quality correctly.

(D) of the intellectual quality of publications being diminished by the use of pictures by journalists,............ criticism of quality doesn't make sense.

(E) of the use of pictures by journalists diminish the intellectual quality of publications,............ criticism of use of pics doesn't make sense.

NandishSS · Answer

HI  GMATNinja ,  MagooshExpert  (Carolyn),  GMATGuruNY ,  AjiteshArun ,  generis ,

In the above two options, what is the role of    use   . in terms of noun & verb. What makes A incorrect and C as Correct?

MagooshExpert · Answer

Hi NandishSS ! In option A, "use" is a verb, in the context "the criticism that if journalists use pictures then X". In option C, "use" is a noun, as in "the use of pictures". In the first case, when "use" is a verb, it is in the present tense, which doesn't make sense in this context. But if it is a noun, as in the second case, then there's no "tense" or timeframe implied, which is why it's correct here. See Mike's response above for a more detailed explanation of why A is wrong

Hope that helps!

-Carolyn

anujpal · Answer

Never use "would" in the same line of "If" sentence. Hence, eliminate A & B, ans is C.

gmatway · Answer

I think all are giving strange reasoning for elimination .

I have the use of IF THEN clause . So let me put my POE.

First I feel you should know how to use IF THEN .

IF + present tense , THEN + simple present tense (is) / future tense (maybe ,will be)
IF + past tense , THEN + simple past tense(was) / WOULD (to show uncertainty)
IF + past perfect tense (HAD+VERB), THEN + would have

ABOVE ALL CONDITIONAL WOULD - If you see uncertainty ,HYPOTHETICAL CONDITION ,assumption.

Now lets begin POE.

"alchemist009"]Despite the criticism in the early 1890’s  that if journalists use pictures the intellectual quality of publications would diminish , by the late 1890’s photographs were found in most newspapers and magazines.

(A) that if journalists use pictures the intellectual quality of publications would diminish, (use - simple present tense+ would IS WRONG , so eliminate . WE KNOW THE SECOND CLAUSE IS IN PAST .)

(B) that if journalists use pictures it will diminish the intellectual quality of publications, (use + will is fine as per grammar point of view but WHAT IS "IT" referring to ? moreover the focus is on use of pictures by journalists not if journalists use, so it has little meaning error too. )

(C) that the use of pictures by journalists would diminish the intellectual quality of publications, (now there is no IF so I can easily use CONDITIONAL WOULD logic as the second clause is in past)

(D) of the intellectual quality of publications being diminished by the use of pictures by journalists, (official explanation -preposition of and by are confusing )

(E) of the use of pictures by journalists diminish the intellectual quality of publications,(official explanation - complete nonsensical and misplacement of journalists diminish ...)

AbhishekDhanraJ72 · Answer

Can we cross out option B, because "it" has no reference?"it" does not have proper antecedent usage. Expert your input...

Posted from my mobile device

EducationAisle · Answer

Very nice observation Abhishek.

Good job.

FrontEndurance · Answer

Why is it wrong to use  it  in this sentence? Would it not imply:
 (B) that if journalists use pictures     will diminish the intellectual quality of publications,

Although the answer choice has other flaws.

EducationAisle · Answer

If I understand you correctly, you are suggesting that  it  refers to the phrase  the usage of pictures .

The issue however is that the phrase  the usage of pictures  is not even present in the sentence! So, how can "it" (a pronoun) refer to a non-existent noun-phrase? This is a fundamental violation of what the pronouns are supposed to do!

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

ZZ800 · Answer

sub 600? seems like a lot of discussion on it (I thought A, didn't see this use-would relationship). Surprised this isn't at least 600 - 700.

Despite the criticism in the early 1890’s that if journalists use

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Despite the criticism in the early 1890’s that if journalists use

Prep Toolkit

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