Even though its maximum camping capacity barely increased during three

Question

Even though its maximum camping capacity barely increased during  three decades, the American National Park System has managed a 37 percent increase in visitors during the said time period through careful scheduling and resource management.

(A) Even though its maximum camping capacity barely increased during
(B) Despite its maximum camping capacity barely increased over 
(C) Even though its maximum camping capacity has barely increased in
(D) Despite there being barely any increase in its maximum camping capacity during 
(E) Although there is barely any increase in maximum camping capacity for

Project SC Butler 
 For SC butler Questions  Click Here

Bunuel · Answer

Expert's Global Official Explanation:

Idioms + Tenses + Meaning + Verb Forms + Grammatical Construction

Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that the “maximum camping capacity” barely increased during the three decades prior to this statement being made.

• The present perfect tense is used to refer to actions that ended in the past but continue to affect the present. 
• 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.
• “despite” is used to highlight a contrast wherein the positive element is followed by the negative element, “although” is used to highlight a contrast wherein the negative element is followed by the positive element, and “while” is used for actions that take place simultaneously, irrespective of whether these actions are positive, negative, or neutral.

A. Trap. Option A incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb “increased” to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to have relevance in the present; the present perfect tense(marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to refer to actions that ended in the past but continue to affect the present. Further, the usage “during three decades” is inferior to the usage “in three decades” (used in Choice B) as the former usage doesn’t necessarily specify the “last three decades”, as the later usage- “in three decades” does.

B. This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence; Option B uses the past participle “increased”, which is a noun modifier, meaning there is no active verb to act upon the noun “maximum camping capacity” in this part of the sentence. Further, Option B incorrectly uses the idiom “despite” rather than the idiom “although” to highlight a negative (the lack of increase in camping capacity), positive (the success in meeting the increase in visitors) contrast; please remember, “despite” is used to highlight a contrast wherein the positive element is followed by the negative element, “although” is used to highlight a contrast wherein the negative element is followed by the positive element, and “while” is used for actions that take place simultaneously, irrespective of whether these actions are positive, negative, or neutral.

C. Correct.  This answer choice correctly uses the present perfect tense verb “has…increased” to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to have relevance in the present. Moreover, Option C acts upon the subject “maximum camping capacity” with the active verb “has…increased” to form a complete thought, leading to a complete sentence. Further, Option C correctly uses the construction “increased in three decades”, conveying the intended meaning of the sentence- that the “maximum camping capacity” barely increased during the three decades prior to this statement being made. Additionally, Option C correctly uses the idiom “even though” to highlight a negative (the lack of increase in camping capacity), positive (the success in meeting the increase in visitors) contrast.

D. This answer choice incorrectly uses the passive, continuous tense verb “being” to refer to an action that began and concluded in the past but continues to have an effect on the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that began and concluded in the past but continue to affect the present. Further, the usage “during three decades” is inferior to the usage “in three decades” (used in Choice B) as the former usage doesn’t necessarily specify the “last three decades”, as the later usage- “in three decades” does. Additionally, Option D incorrectly uses the idiom “despite” rather than the idiom “although” to highlight a negative (the lack of increase in camping capacity), positive (the success in meeting the increase in visitors) contrast; please remember, “despite” is used to highlight a contrast wherein the positive element is followed by the negative element, “although” is used to highlight a contrast wherein the negative element is followed by the positive element, and “while” is used for actions that take place simultaneously, irrespective of whether these actions are positive, negative, or neutral.

E. Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb “is” to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to have relevance in the present; the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to refer to actions that ended in the past but continue to affect the present.

C is the best answer choice.

Additional Note:

In this question, despite the comparative brevity of the idiom “although”, the correct answer choice uses the lengthier idiom “even though”. Please remember that redundancy is the last concept to be considered when eliminating answer choices; here, the primary concept that differentiates the answer choice is tenses, meaning that redundancy should only be considered if there are still multiple viable answer choices left after eliminating those with all other types of errors.

VerbalBot · Answer

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

Even though its maximum camping capacity barely increased during three

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Even though its maximum camping capacity barely increased during three

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards