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chamisool
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In a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings Carl 14 Mar 2012, 18:52
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Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

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55% (hard)

Question Stats:

58% (01:34) correct 42% (01:35) wrong based on 638 sessions

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In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, who is a financial planner, is explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams.

A. In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, who is a financial planner, is explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams
B. In a continuing series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, has been explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams
C. In a continuing series involving back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, has explained the basics of money by means of simple graphs and diagrams
D. In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings a financial planner, Carl Richards, had been explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams
E. In a continuing series from back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, was explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams
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B
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chamisool
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In a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings Carl 16 Mar 2012, 13:42
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Ok, thank you for the replies. I also chose A but the answer is actually B according to the source. I apologize for including the wrong OA because I was hoping someone would question the OA I provided so we can get a good discussion but many of you guys appear to agree with it.

Now I don’t know if there is a mistake with the question but here is the explanation according to Aristotle SC. Do you guys agree or disagree with the explanation?

Explanation:
Official Answer (OA) – B
Concepts Tested – Tense, Diction
A – Since we are referring to a continuing series ‘is explaining‘ is the incorrect tense since
the action has been continuing from the past. (SC Grail – pg. 56)

C – ‘involving‘ distorts the meaning of the sentence. Since we are referring to a continuing
series ‘has explained‘ is the incorrect verb since the action still continues.

D – ‘continuous‘ distorts the meaning of the sentence. Use of past perfect tense ‘had‘ is
incorrect since there are no two things taking place at different times in the past.

E – ‘from‘ back of the napkin makes no sense, it should be ‘of‘. Since we are referring to a
continuing series ‘was‘ is the incorrect verb since the action still continues.
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In a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings Carl 17 Mar 2012, 15:37
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chamisool
Seems as though people still prefer A over B. :(
I chose B because of its use of the present perfect tense.

Present perfect = "HAVE/HAS + Past Participle".

So in this case with choice B, it says "Has + Been". The use of the present perfect is used when explaining things that occurred in the past but also continue to occur in the present (as noted by the "continuing series").
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In a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings Carl 21 Apr 2012, 02:59
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I do not agree with the perception of the use of progressive tense in four of the choices in this topic. It may be noted that a progressive tense is used to describe some thing that is/was/has been /had been happening at the moment of saying it Here we are not making a running commentary of an event We are just expressing Carl’s style of explaining. We should normally use a simple present tense ‘explains”

All the four choices A, B, D, and E are wrong. D and E in addition shift the tense from the present to past. At best, we can agree with Chocie C, which uses present perfect tense ‘has explained’. If it is a one-time event, go for present perfect. If it is a generality, then go for simple present (which is not there) So C is the best. This is IMO
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In a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings Carl 21 Apr 2012, 10:49
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I personally went with B. We are talking about an event that happened in the past and is still continuing into the future.

B makes perfect sense to me.

A is talking as if Car is actually "Explaining and doing that action" right that moment.

And here's the actual source from NYtimes

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/your ... llery.html

In a continuing series of back-of-the-napkin drawings and posts on the Bucks blog. Carl Richards, a financial planner, has been explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams. Here we bring them to you all in one place for easier browsing.
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In a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings Carl 09 Aug 2013, 08:15
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chamisool
In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, who is a financial planner, is explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams.

A. In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, who is a financial planner, is explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams.
B. In a continuing series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, has been explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams.
C. In a continuing series involving back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, has explained the basics of money by means of simple graphs and diagrams.
D. In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings a financial planner, Carl Richards, had been explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams.
E. In a continuing series from back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, was explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams.

Option B would be perfect except for the problem with intended meaning.
In a continuing series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner

In my opinion Carl Richards is the financial planner, but as per this sentence a financial planner is qualifying the noun back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards
shouldn't there be a comma before Carl Richards to separate it from back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings

Experts please help.
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In a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings Carl 09 Aug 2013, 14:07
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In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, who is a financial planner, is explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams.[/u]

A. In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, who is a financial planner, is explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams. "is explaining is wrong" should be past tense & not present tense
B. In a continuing series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, has been explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams.
C. In a continuing series involving back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, has explained the basics of money by means of simple graphs and diagrams. should be in present perfect tense
D. In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings a financial planner, Carl Richards, had been explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams.
E. In a continuing series from back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, was explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams.
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In a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings Carl 05 Apr 2015, 11:45
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In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, who is a financial planner, is explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams.

A. In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, who is a financial planner, is explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams -- is explaining shows present continuous

B. In a continuing series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, has been explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams --- has been explaining shows correct verb usage

C. In a continuing series involving back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, has explained the basics of money by means of simple graphs and diagrams --- has explained distorts continuity

D. In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings a financial planner, Carl Richards, had been explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams --- continuous is wrong, should be -ing form

E. In a continuing series from back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, was explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams --- from is wrong, should be of [/quote]



IMO B is correct
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In a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings Carl 16 Jun 2015, 23:05
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King407
In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, who is a financial planner, is explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams.

A. In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, who is a financial planner, is explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams -- is explaining shows present continuous

B. In a continuing series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, has been explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams --- has been explaining shows correct verb usage

C. In a continuing series involving back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, has explained the basics of money by means of simple graphs and diagrams --- has explained distorts continuity

D. In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings a financial planner, Carl Richards, had been explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams --- continuous is wrong, should be -ing form

E. In a continuing series from back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, was explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams --- from is wrong, should be of


Hi Reto,

In A "who is a financial planner" is unnecessary since we dont have two people and the person concerned is immediately before the comma.

Also in a process that started earlier and is still continuing we use "has been" instead of "is".

Kindly notice that in option A "the series is continuous" while in B "the series is continuing".

Hence in option A the word "continuous" is an adjective modifying the "series" and in option B "continuing" is an adjective showing that the series is still going on.

Hope its in black and white. :)

Regards,
Dom.
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In a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings Carl 06 Nov 2016, 11:09
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metu0math
Why not a? I think this question is not a proper one! There is no problem with who is a ...

Posted from GMAT ToolKit

A is grammatically correct, but B is better for the following reasons:

1. Concision: "who is" are two extra words to convey the same meaning.
2. Tense: The series has started some time ago and is still continuing. Hence present perfect rather then present continuous is better. (though the meaning that the explanation is happening right now is not quite wrong either).

In the real GMAT, you may probably expect to get more severe errors in the wrong options.
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In a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings Carl 06 Mar 2017, 06:28
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The sentence talks about a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings. Therefore, in such a case the usage of present perfect is not the ideal usage as it reflects an event that is completed in present. It makes sense to use Present continuous sense and therefore, option B is appropriate.
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In a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings Carl 19 Apr 2017, 18:59
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Merged topics. Please, search before posting questions!
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In a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings Carl 25 May 2017, 14:54
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chamisool
In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, who is a financial planner, is explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams.

A. In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, who is a financial planner, is explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams
B. In a continuing series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, has been explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams
C. In a continuing series involving back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, has explained the basics of money by means of simple graphs and diagrams
D. In a continuous series of back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings a financial planner, Carl Richards, had been explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams
E. In a continuing series from back‐of‐the‐napkin drawings Carl Richards, a financial planner, was explaining the basics of money through simple graphs and diagrams
This is really one of the worst attempts at a GMAT SC practice questions that I have ever seen. This might be the single worst question on the entire GMAT Club site. That's impressive, in a strange way.

I don't know why "simple graphs and diagrams" is underlined, since it's the same in all five answer choices. Considering how much is underlined, a ridiculously small amount of the sentence varies from one choice to the next.

I can imagine scenarios in which any of the five answer choices could be correct. Of course the meaning is different in all five, so that doesn't make any answer better than any other.

Mike
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In a continuous series of back of the napkin drawings Carl 15 Feb 2022, 14:43
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