Even though its per capita food supply hardly increased during two dec

Question

Even though its per capita food supply hardly increased during  two decades, stringent rationing and planned distribution have allowed the People’s Republic of China to ensure nutritional levels of 2,000 calories per person per day for its population.

(A) Even though its per capita food supply hardly increased during

(B) Even though its per capita food supply has hardly increased in

(C) Despite its per capita food supply hardly increasing over

(D) Despite there being hardly any increase in its per capita food supply during

(E) Although there is hardly any increase in per capita food supply for

TommyWallach · Accepted Answer

Hey All,

The answer here is absolutely B, not E. Seems like there was enough confusion about this one to merit a good long look. So let's do it!

283. Even though its per capita food supply hardly increased during two decades, stringent rationing and planned distribution have allowed the People’s Republic of China to ensure nutritional levels of 2,000 calories per person per day for its population.

There are a number of issues here, which are worth noting before we start. There are preposition issues ("during" versus "in" versus "over"), which generally signals an idiom issue (in this case with increase, and a specified time constraint).

There are also verb tense changes (increased is past, has increased is present perfect, etc.). We solve these by looking elsewhere in the sentence for context. We have the verb "have allowed", which is present perfect. I can't think of any good reason to CHANGE tenses elsewhere in the sentence, and if you can't come up with a reason to change tenses, don't.

(A) Even though its per capita food supply hardly increased during
PROBLEM: Using the preposition "during" is incorrect. We'd have to specify a particular two decades. Also, we shouldn't use the past tense here if we can help it.

(B) Even though its per capita food supply has hardly increased in
CORRECT: Correct tense, and correct idiom "hardly increased in ten years".

(C) Despite its per capita food supply hardly increasing over
PROBLEM: Again we have a tense change (the present participle form). Also, the "over" is unclear. Do we mean "over the course of ten years" or "over ten years"?

(D) Despite there being hardly any increase in its per capita food supply during
PROBLEM: "Being" always sucks, plus it's not the best tense. Also, we have the same "during" issue as in A.

(E) Although there is hardly any increase in per capita food supply for
PROBLEM: The present tense verb "is" is wrong, both because it doesn't match the present perfect verb later, and because it turns this intro phrase into gibberish. There can't presently be hardly any increase for ten years. If you want to express something that started ten years ago and continues into the present, the correct tense choice is present perfect.

Hope that helps!

-t

TommyWallach · Answer

Hey All,

One more thing. All of the answer choices A-D have modifier issues of a sort, so I don't love this question. But it doesn't change the fact that B is a far better answer than E. Whether or not this is realistic is arguable, but I try not to caught up in arguments like that. You'll need to be able to pick answer choices that break some vague rules occasionally (For example, a-d also have some pronoun weirdness here), so it's helpful to learn to pick the best of bad choices.

Good luck!

-t

seofah · Answer

B - present perfect is best. "in two decades" is correct.
I think, "during two decades" is suspect.

SumeetGill · Answer

I still believe B is incorrect..... a modifier should be followed by a noun, and its not happening here...
Although I believe shruti's justification, "for being incorrect" is also correct.....

geturdream · Answer

A- it uses simple past tense which is wrong. the principal clause uses present perfect.
C - hardly increasing is wrong
D-being hardly any increase is wrong
E- hardly any increase and hardly increased are different. Here it means there is no increase. and for two decades is also wrong.

B uses present perfect tense and in two decades is also right.

B is correct

scheol79 · Answer

I chose B.

I think that 'its' correctly refers to China as there are no other nouns 'its' can possibly represent.

'Per capita food supply' is a statistic we use for countries, and there are no other countries present in the passage besides China.

Of course the passage would've been clearer if China was placed after comma, but I think B is still correct this way.

I used to automatically cross out the answer choices with ambiguous pronouns, but it's not always about the placement of the subject and the pronoun. As long as the pronoun clearly refers to a certain noun without confusion, it's usually correct .

daagh · Answer

(A) Even though its per capita food supply hardly increased during:  wrong; the shift of tense from present perfect to past tense in the introductory sub-clause renders the sentence un //.  
(B) Even though its per capita food supply has hardly increased in:  Present perfect is ideal here as the sentence means to convey an element of currency in its meaning, as also the present perfect ideally parallels the have allowed in the un-underlined part. Correct  
(C) Despite its per capita food supply hardly increasing over:  C suffers from misplaced modification. Please note hardly increasing is not a verb but a present participle and the first portion as such is prepositional modifier phrase, unlike in the A and B, which have sub-clauses. 
(D) Despite there being hardly any increase in its per capita food supply during:  same misplaced modification as in C 
(E) Although there is hardly any increase in per capita food supply for;  It is unclear about whose per capita food supply is this choice talking about, as the sub clause, is missing the pronoun its. Wrong

divineacclivity · Answer

B is the best answer.
OE - In choice A, the simple past tense hardly increased does not match the present perfect have allowed; consequently, it seems that two different time periods are being discussed. In B, the best choice, has hardly increased parallels have allowed to indicate that the events described took place at the same time. Also in is the best word here for making a comparison between the beginning and the end of the twenty-year period. Choices C and D are awkward and unidiomatic, and choice E fails to specify where there was no increase in per capita food supply.

Sidharth8 · Answer

A – ‘during’ makes this option wrong. If ‘during’ is used, a specific two decades would have to be mentioned.
B – correct in every way
C – The tense changes (present participle)
D – Same issue as A
E – This phrase is just nonsense. An increase over two decades cannot happen in the present.
 
B is the only correct option.

shreyachopraapple · Answer

Why is the use of “during” incorrect in the first option ?

Posted from my mobile device

Kavya2024 · Answer

But aren't A,B,C,D modifying 'stringent rationing and planned distribution'

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

Even though its per capita food supply hardly increased during two decades, stringent rationing and planned distribution have allowed the People’s Republic of China to ensure nutritional levels of 2,000 calories per person per day for its population.

(A) Even though its per capita food supply hardly increased during -> In non underlined part, "....have allowed" needs parallelism, "simple past- increased" doesn't satisfy it. Incorrect.

(B) Even though its per capita food supply has hardly increased in -> It is better than A. Let's keep it.

(C) Despite its per capita food supply hardly increasing over -> Participle "increasing" is incorrect.

(D) Despite there being hardly any increase in its per capita food supply during -> "being hardly any increase" is incorrect.

(E) Although there is hardly any increase in per capita food supply for -> "Is" denotes Present tense, doesn't makes sense, when we have non-underlined part is in Present perfect tense. Incorrect.

So, I think B.

sarthakpunyani · Answer

Hello,

I rejected the choices that have its in the underlying portion because of my understanding that its should be followed by the noun entity. Could you please clarify my pronoun doubt? Would be of great help. Thanks

krndatta · Answer

ParamjitDasGMAT

What is wrong with the usage of "during".

Is the "Increased in" the correct idiomatic usage? 
Do we prefer though, Although, and even though over despite?

Please elaborate.

Thanks

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  krndatta ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your queries, when "during" is used to refer to a span of time, the noun that refers to that span must be followed by a prepositional phrase; since "in" is, itself, a preposition, such a phrase is not needed when "in" is used to refer to a span of time.

Further, "even though", "although", "despite", and "in spite" all function similarly, and no one is preferred over the others; in this case, the use of "despite" merely leads to less direct construction.

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

krndatta · Answer

ExpertsGlobal5

I didn't understand the first part.

Can you elaborate again please.

Thanks

Jenny677 · Answer

I like B better.

Option B alone seems to correctly uses the present perfect tense.

Thanks
Jenny

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 per capita food supply hardly increased during two dec

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 per capita food supply hardly increased during two dec

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