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26 Jun 2021, 22:44
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A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
65%
(hard)
Question Stats:
52% (01:44) correct
48%
(02:00)
wrong
based on 429
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
In its annual shareholder meeting, the utility company said that, contrary to what had been reported in some newspapers, its bondholders, in fact, had not been treated unfairly, and that the bankruptcy plea it had filed the previous month made any such complaint null and void.
A) unfairly, and that the bankruptcy plea it had filed the previous month made
B) unfairly, and the bankruptcy plea that it had filed the previous month made
C) unfairly, with the bankruptcy plea it filed the previous month making
D) unfairly, and that the bankruptcy plea it filed the previous month had made
E) unfairly, and the bankruptcy plea that it had filed the previous month makes
26 Jun 2021, 22:45
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
Overview
This sentence tests simple past and past perfect.
In older official GMAT guides, GMAC seemed to prefer simple past when sequence markers were present.
If "signal" words such as before or after or the previous month were present, the use of past perfect was sometimes deemed unnecessary.
In the last couple of years, in the OGs, you will find correct answers that include both sequence words and past perfect verbs.
Even when meaning is clear, past perfect is sometimes used.
Your best bet is to find a different split: in this case, doing so is not possible..
In this case, meaning is not so clear.
Even though a tepid sequence word exists (we know that the bankruptcy plea had been filed "the previous month"), we need past perfect to highlight the difference between what the company said and what the company had done before saying anything.
THE PROMPT
To make this fact clear, that needs to be repeated after and.
Otherwise, we have:
On the one hand, (1)The utility company said that its bondholders had not been treated unfairly,
and
on the other hand, (2) the bankruptcy plea it had filed the previous month made any such complaint null and void.
Suppose that a lawyer wrote this sentence.
She could write (1), about what the utility said ("said that its bondholders had not been treated unfairly").
And she could give her legal assessment of the situation in (2) (i.e., the bankruptcy plea made any complaint null and void).
We know that we are not listening to a lawyer's report.
We are reading about events. We need a second that to avoid illogic.
• Sequence of events and verbs?
→ We use simple past for later-in-time past events.
→ We use past perfect for earlier-in-time past events.
Past perfect = HAD + past participle (verbED)
Closest to us in past time, the company said something.
Before the company said anything, it . . . had filed a bankruptcy plea.
Before the company said anything, some news papers . . . had reported XYZ
Before the company said anything, its bondholders had not been harmed.
The filing of the bankruptcy plea must be in the past perfect tense had filed and not in the simple past tense filed.
These past events were not contemporaneous.
We use verbs to convey a sense of time—and timing.
We use said in simple past to "mark off time" of the most recent past event, a time before which other things happened.
To describe the things that happened before the company said something, we use past perfect (which is sometimes called "the past of the past").
THE OPTIONS
→ The word that is repeated after and, clearly signaling that the company said two things:
-- that the shareholders had been treated fairly
and
-- that the bankruptcy plea it had filed had made complaints null and void.
→ No magic rule exists to tell us when to repeat the word that.
Especially with reporting verbs followed idiomatically by that, we almost always repeat the word that.
Doing so ties that second phrase or clause back to the core action: the company said that X and [said] that Y
Also, if not repeating that creates even the possibility of misunderstanding, as is the case in this instance, repeat that.
KEEP
The company said two things:
1) that bondholders were not treated unfairly, and
2) that the bankruptcy plea had made such claims null and void
→ We want to avoid confusion.
Correct: The company said that X and said that Y. (You can add a comma for clarity if need be.)
Not: The company said that X, and Y.
ELIMINATE B
→ The use of with distorts the meaning of the sentence by suggesting that the company said something along with its bankruptcy plea.
• verb tense error
The use of the simple past tense filed is incorrect.
The company had filed the bankruptcy plea before it said XYZ.
ELIMINATE C
→ filed should be had filed
ELIMINATE D
• Choice E creates an unclear sentence by omitting the that after and.
ELIMINATE E
The best answer is A.
COMMENTS
I wrote this post once -- and lost it. My apologies.
I will edit and include backshifting for reported speech again.
The analysis here is quite good.
Nicely done. Kudos to correct answers.
Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)
Overview
This sentence tests simple past and past perfect.
In older official GMAT guides, GMAC seemed to prefer simple past when sequence markers were present.
If "signal" words such as before or after or the previous month were present, the use of past perfect was sometimes deemed unnecessary.
In the last couple of years, in the OGs, you will find correct answers that include both sequence words and past perfect verbs.
Even when meaning is clear, past perfect is sometimes used.
Your best bet is to find a different split: in this case, doing so is not possible..
In this case, meaning is not so clear.
Even though a tepid sequence word exists (we know that the bankruptcy plea had been filed "the previous month"), we need past perfect to highlight the difference between what the company said and what the company had done before saying anything.
THE PROMPT
Quote:
Notice that the company said two things.
To make this fact clear, that needs to be repeated after and.
Otherwise, we have:
On the one hand, (1)The utility company said that its bondholders had not been treated unfairly,
and
on the other hand, (2) the bankruptcy plea it had filed the previous month made any such complaint null and void.
Suppose that a lawyer wrote this sentence.
She could write (1), about what the utility said ("said that its bondholders had not been treated unfairly").
And she could give her legal assessment of the situation in (2) (i.e., the bankruptcy plea made any complaint null and void).
We know that we are not listening to a lawyer's report.
We are reading about events. We need a second that to avoid illogic.
• Sequence of events and verbs?
→ We use simple past for later-in-time past events.
→ We use past perfect for earlier-in-time past events.
Past perfect = HAD + past participle (verbED)
Closest to us in past time, the company said something.
Before the company said anything, it . . . had filed a bankruptcy plea.
Before the company said anything, some news papers . . . had reported XYZ
Before the company said anything, its bondholders had not been harmed.
The filing of the bankruptcy plea must be in the past perfect tense had filed and not in the simple past tense filed.
These past events were not contemporaneous.
We use verbs to convey a sense of time—and timing.
We use said in simple past to "mark off time" of the most recent past event, a time before which other things happened.
To describe the things that happened before the company said something, we use past perfect (which is sometimes called "the past of the past").
THE OPTIONS
Quote:
• correct repetition of that
→ The word that is repeated after and, clearly signaling that the company said two things:
-- that the shareholders had been treated fairly
and
-- that the bankruptcy plea it had filed had made complaints null and void.
→ No magic rule exists to tell us when to repeat the word that.
Especially with reporting verbs followed idiomatically by that, we almost always repeat the word that.
Doing so ties that second phrase or clause back to the core action: the company said that X and [said] that Y
Also, if not repeating that creates even the possibility of misunderstanding, as is the case in this instance, repeat that.
KEEP
Quote:
• A missing "that"
The company said two things:
1) that bondholders were not treated unfairly, and
2) that the bankruptcy plea had made such claims null and void
→ We want to avoid confusion.
Correct: The company said that X and said that Y. (You can add a comma for clarity if need be.)
Not: The company said that X, and Y.
ELIMINATE B
Quote:
• strange meaning
→ The use of with distorts the meaning of the sentence by suggesting that the company said something along with its bankruptcy plea.
• verb tense error
The use of the simple past tense filed is incorrect.
The company had filed the bankruptcy plea before it said XYZ.
ELIMINATE C
Quote:
• the bankruptcy plea was filed before the company said XYZ
→ filed should be had filed
ELIMINATE D
Quote:
• The use of the simple present tense makes does not agree with the time period discussed in the sentence.
• Choice E creates an unclear sentence by omitting the that after and.
ELIMINATE E
The best answer is A.
COMMENTS
I wrote this post once -- and lost it. My apologies.
I will edit and include backshifting for reported speech again.
The analysis here is quite good.
Nicely done. Kudos to correct answers.
General Discussion
26 Jun 2021, 23:35
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In its annual shareholder meeting, the utility company said that, contrary to what had been reported in some newspapers, its bondholders, in fact, had not been treated unfairly, and that the bankruptcy plea it had filed the previous month made any such complaint null and void.
A) unfairly, and that the bankruptcy plea it had filed the previous month made Incorrect
two independent clause in a sentence without ' ,' and conjunction
B) unfairly, and the bankruptcy plea that it had filed the previous month made Incorrect
for parallelism that require after and
C) unfairly, with the bankruptcy plea it filed the previous month making Incorrect
with uses changes intended meaning and wrong
D) unfairly, and that the bankruptcy plea it filed the previous month had made Correct
E) unfairly, and the bankruptcy plea that it had filed the previous month makes Incorrect
tense error - present form wrong
for parallelism that require after and
A) unfairly, and that the bankruptcy plea it had filed the previous month made Incorrect
two independent clause in a sentence without ' ,' and conjunction
B) unfairly, and the bankruptcy plea that it had filed the previous month made Incorrect
for parallelism that require after and
C) unfairly, with the bankruptcy plea it filed the previous month making Incorrect
with uses changes intended meaning and wrong
D) unfairly, and that the bankruptcy plea it filed the previous month had made Correct
E) unfairly, and the bankruptcy plea that it had filed the previous month makes Incorrect
tense error - present form wrong
for parallelism that require after and
. Kindly guide me through the approach one should take for such questions. 
