In the 1940s popular magazines in the United States began to report on

Hi Sunny, I am assuming that you intend to mention that since the word previously depicts chronology (time-sequence) of events, and so, Past perfect is not required to depict this chronology.

Actually there are quite a few official sentences where GMAT does seem to prefer the usage of Past perfect in such cases as well. For example, a correct sentence from OG Verbal Review 2016:

The personal income tax did not become permanent in the United States until the First World War; before that time the federal government had depended on tariffs as its main source of revenue.

Notice that despite the presence of before (similar to previously in the sentence under consideration), the sentence still uses past perfect.

In fact, I would be curious to know if you have come across any official sentence that does not use a past perfect tense in such scenario.

In the 1940s popular magazines in the United States began to report on the private lives of persons from the entertainment industry, in despite of the fact that they previously had featured individuals in business and politics.

Please try to relate with time/tenses.

An example similar to this: Whereas previously I did/had scored well in Maths, In 2013 I began to forget important formulas for this subject after I started working.

Focus on highlighted part.

why did/had scored (Past Perfect or Simple Past)? - It is to covey that action of scoring well happened prior to 2013. And began (simple past) for the latest event.

If "previously" wouldn't have been used. We have had to use - "Past Perfect".
Otherwise, we can use simple past or past perfect. Both conveys same meaning.

A. in despite of the fact that they previously had featured individuals.

in despite of the fact - is incorrect usage.
Placement of previously - is incorrect

B. in spite of the fact previously that these publications featured articles on those
Usage of that - incorrect.

C. whereas previously there were those individuals featured in articles
there were those individuals - I think it is incorrect here. don't have best way to justify it.

D. whereas previously those individuals they featured were
Incorrect constructions. those individuals they featured. Hence Incorrect.

E. whereas previously these publications had featured articles on individuals.
This is the best of all.
had featured - Correct use of tense.
previously - is placed correctly. This is to convey that These publication had featured article before 1940.

Hence - E.

past perfect doesn't make sense in option E.

i believe u r of that opinion because previously is used in the sentence , but the usage of previously makes the usage of past prefect not neccessary but definitely not incorrect.

"previously" already suggests the sequence of actions. Isn't the usage of past perfect optional then?

"Previously" and "had" are definitely a bit redundant.

This is probably the move unless you have a choice between one that does and one that doesn't have this issue:
Overall, tense is often not an exact thing, and multiple tenses can work in a situation. So, generally, you need a pretty clear tense issue to eliminate a choice on the basis of tense.

Imo E is the most concise and no ambiguity

Hi Experts, what is wrong with option D?

In the 1940s popular magazines in the United States began to report on the private lives of persons from the entertainment industry, in despite of the fact that they previously had featured individuals in business and politics.


A. in despite of the fact that they previously had featured individuals – too long

B. in spite of the fact previously that these publications featured articles on those – the same

C. whereas previously there were those individuals featured in articles – change the meaning

D. whereas previously those individuals they featured were – what THEY?

E. whereas previously these publications had featured articles on individuals - CORRECT

[quote="Bunuel"]In the 1940s popular magazines in the United States began to report on the private lives of persons from the entertainment industry, in despite of the fact that they previously had featured individuals in business and politics.


A. in despite of the fact that they previously had featured individuals

B. in spite of the fact previously that these publications featured articles on those

C. whereas previously there were those individuals featured in articles

D. whereas previously those individuals they featured were

E. whereas previously these publications had featured articles on individuals

"previously" normally is used for simple past because it say about the past. but in context of a past action, "previously" show an time frame precede the past action. so, past perfect is a must in the second past of sentence. simple past "featured" is totally wrong.

"those individuals" is wrong because "those ' refers to something mentionned before. there is no such thing.

in choice B , "previously" is in wrong place
in choice C. it is unclear who makes featuring while the focus of sentence is on who make featuring

In the 1940s popular magazines in the United States began to report on the private lives of persons from the entertainment industry, in despite of the fact that they previously had featured individuals in business and politics.


PURELY PRONOUN REFERENT BASED ANSWER

A. in despite of the fact that they previously had featured individuals

B. in spite of the fact previously that these publications featured articles on those

C. whereas previously there were those individuals featured in articles

D. whereas previously those individuals they featured were

E. whereas previously these publications had featured articles on individuals


EVERY THEY SHOULD HAVE A PLURAL PRONOUN
IF THERE ARE MORE THAN TWO NOUNS, SUCH CASES OCCUR.
GMAT WILL TRY TO MISLEAD YOU WITH AN AMBIGUITY.

In the 1940s popular magazines in the United States began to report on the private lives of persons from the entertainment industry, in despite of the fact that they previously had featured individuals in business and politics.


A. in despite of the fact that they previously had featured individuals
"In despite of" is incorrect. The idiom is "In spite of the fact" or just "despite the fact." Incorrect

B. in spite of the fact previously that these publications featured articles on those
"In spite of the fact" means that the fact they previously featured articles on businessmen/politicians previously prevented them from featuring entertainers. Whenever you use "X in spite of Y," it means that Y usually prevents X from taking place. There's no logical reason in the sentence to belive that covering businessmen/politicians prevents the magazine from covering entertainers. Incorrect

C. whereas previously there were those individuals featured in articles
"Whereas" represents a comparison. "X whereas Y" "Popular magazines......, whereas previously there were those individuals." This is comparing the reporting of magazines to individuals. Illogical meaning. Incorrect

D. whereas previously those individuals they featured were
"Whereas" represents a comparison. "X whereas Y" "Popular magazines...., whereas previously those individuals." This is comparing the reporting of magazines to celebrity occupations. Illogical meaning. Incorrect.

E. whereas previously these publications had featured articles on individuals
"Whereas" represents a comparison. "X, whereas Y." "Popular magazines...., whereas previously these publications." This fixes the comparison issue. This compares magazines to publications, which is logical. Correct.

A: Previously and had are redundant.
Also Wrong Idiom

B: That, those are ambiguous

c: Those is wrong, no antecedent

d: They produces pronoun ambiguity

E: Correct. past perfect tense

well I think the past tense here is not a problem. "those individuals" is wrong. You use those to refer to people or things which have already been mentioned. So here, those individuals equal to individuals from the entertainment industry, which is completely wrong.

hope that helps.

Hello Kanna444,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe that we can help resolve your doubt.

In Option E, the elements joined by the conjunction phrase "whereas previously" are "popular magazines...began to report on the private lives of persons from the entertainment industry" and "these publications had featured articles on individuals in business and politics". Both these elements are independent clauses with the same structure; the difference in preposition usage - "from" versus "in" - does not constitute a break in parallelism, as both convey the same meaning - that the individuals featured were involved in a particular industry. By contrast, in Option D the second element is the passive voice construction "those individuals they featured were in business and politics"; the passive voice makes this Option less parallel than Option E is and makes this option needlessly indirect. Please remember, parallelism is determined by the nature of the elements - what part of speech they are and what role they play in the sentence - and their structure. Smaller differences, such as the use of a different preposition rarely matter.

Moreover, please keep in mind that on the GMAT, you must look for the best among the available options, not a perfect one.

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

Hi Vegita,
"They" is a pronoun used to refer to two or more people or "things" previously mentioned or easily identified.
So, yes "they" as a referent of publications is correct.

Example: Publications these days are full of rubbish, and now they just serve the purpose of titillating the audience.

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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Tenses+ Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• The correct, idiomatic constructions are “in spite of” and “despite”.
• Adverbs can only modify adjectives and actions.
• The past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".
• The simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.

A:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “in despite of”; please remember, the correct, idiomatic constructions are “in spite of” and “despite”. 

B:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb “reported” to refer to the earlier of two actions – the magazines beginning to report on the private lives of persons from the entertainment industry and the magazines featuring articles on individuals in business and politics; remember, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past", and the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.
2/ Option B incorrectly uses the adverb “previously” to modify the placeholder pronoun “that”; remember, adverbs can only modify adjectives and actions.

C:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb “reported” to refer to the earlier of two actions – the magazines beginning to report on the private lives of persons from the entertainment industry and the magazines featuring articles on individuals in business and politics; remember, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past", and the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.
2/ Option C uses the passive construction "there were those individuals featured in articles", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb “were” to refer to the earlier of two actions – the magazines beginning to report on the private lives of persons from the entertainment industry and the magazines featuring articles on individuals in business and politics; remember, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past", and the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.

E: Correct.
1/ This answer choice correctly uses the past perfect tense verb “had broadcast” to refer to the earlier of two actions – the magazines beginning to report on the private lives of persons from the entertainment industry and the magazines featuring articles on individuals in business and politics.
2/ Option E uses the conjunction “whereas”, avoiding the idiom error seen in Option A.
3/ Option E correctly uses the adverb “previously” to modify the clause “these publications had featured”.
4/ Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



To understand the concept of "Past Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team