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605-655 Level|   Comparisons|   Idioms/Diction/Redundancy|   Verb Tense/Form|                  
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 25 Mar 2020, 08:25
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isn't this sentence a subjunctive mood and use of could is needed?
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 25 Mar 2020, 09:41
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lakshya14
isn't this sentence a subjunctive mood and use of could is needed?
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Hello, lakshya14. It is funny, I answered a question similar to this recently, but the question type was not even SC. You have to be careful in how you interpret these long-winded sentences. Examine the sentence shell:

Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an early signal... the end of the year.

Before you latch onto may be and decide anything about the verb tense, consider the placement and meaning of signal. A signal can still indicate something definitively, even if the outcome of a recent trend is indefinite. Choice (E) conveys this meaning succinctly and clearly:

Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an early signal that prices of gasoline and heating oil will stay higher than usual through the end of the year.

Notice, too, that (E) avoids the confusion of throughout at the end of the underlined portion. To what time period are the analysts referring here? Throughout would indicate just the end of the year, whereas the forecast seems to be that the prices will stay higher through the end of the year, or from the recent rise to the last turn of the calendar to close out the year.

I hope that helps. If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

- Andrew
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 27 Mar 2020, 08:42
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jayarora
Hi Expert @e-gmat GMATNinja

Snippet from Manhattan:
The conditional tense is formed by combining would with the base form of
the verb: would provide. This construction expresses the future from the point
of view of the past.
The typical sequences for these types of sentences are either Present + Future
or Past + Conditional:
Right: The scientist BELIEVES that the machine WILL BE
wonderful.
Present Future
Wrong: The scientist BELIEVES that the machine WOULD BE
wonderful.
Present Conditional
Right: The scientist BELIEVED that the machine WOULD BE
wonderful.
Past Conditional
Wrong: The scientist BELIEVED that the machine WILL BE
wonderful.
Past Future

Why is option E correct?

Analysts SAID that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an early signal that prices of gasoline and heating oil WILL stay higher than usual through the end of the year

Thanks in advance
Show more

Hi Jay

The conditional associated with the past tense verb "said" is "may be" and not "will stay". This indicates uncertainty as to the future course of events, as opposed to "would be", which indicates certainty.

The "will stay" is a part of the future events which are uncertain. The answer to the question "what did the analysts say?" is not that "prices of gasoline and heating oil will stay higher" but that "the recent rise in fuel prices may be an early signal..".

Hope this clarifies.
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 02 Apr 2020, 07:22
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jayarora
Hi Expert @e-gmat GMATNinja

Snippet from Manhattan:
The conditional tense is formed by combining would with the base form of
the verb: would provide. This construction expresses the future from the point
of view of the past.
The typical sequences for these types of sentences are either Present + Future
or Past + Conditional:
Right: The scientist BELIEVES that the machine WILL BE
wonderful.
Present Future
Wrong: The scientist BELIEVES that the machine WOULD BE
wonderful.
Present Conditional
Right: The scientist BELIEVED that the machine WOULD BE
wonderful.
Past Conditional
Wrong: The scientist BELIEVED that the machine WILL BE
wonderful.
Past Future

Why is option E correct?

Analysts SAID that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an early signal that prices of gasoline and heating oil WILL stay higher than usual through the end of the year

Thanks in advance
Show more
For one thing, none of the options have "would", so we already know for sure that "would" is not necessary! Remember, GMAT SC isn't about rigidly applying a black and white set of rules. Instead, it's about picking the BEST option out of the five available options.

True, the verb "said" is in the past tense. But let's look at the rest of the sentence:

    "The recent rise in fuel prices may be an early signal that prices of gasoline and heating oil will stay higher than usual through the end of the year."

Notice that the verb "may be" is actually in the present tense. If that's confusing, consider this slightly altered version:

    "The recent rise in fuel prices IS an early signal that prices will stay higher..."

In both of these examples, we have a present tense verb followed by a future tense verb. The only difference in choice (E) is that we have an additional "reported speech" layer ("Industry analysts said that...").

But again, rather than splitting hairs over the conditional tense, let the answer choices do the work for you. None of the options use "would", so we know that "would" is not necessary. So whatever "rule" you thought might apply here can be thrown out the window while doing your POE. :)

lakshya14
isn't this sentence a subjunctive mood and use of could is needed?
Show more
Subjunctive mood is not needed here. The sentence is a factual report of something that the analysts said... and that something is an uncertain prediction, as indicated by the verb "may be".

I hope this helps!
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 27 Jun 2020, 09:08
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AbdurRakib
The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review 2018
Practice Question
Sentence Correction
Question no. 274
Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an early signal of the possibility of gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usually through the end of the year.

(A) of the possibility of gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usually through
(B) of the possibility that gasoline and heating oil prices could stay higher than usual throughout
(C) of prices of gasoline and heating oil possibly staying higher than usually through
(D) that prices of gasoline and heating oil could stay higher than they usually are throughout
(E) that prices of gasoline and heating oil will stay higher than usual through

Show Spoiler
https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/09/business/fuel-prices-move-higher-and-trend-is-expected-to-persist.html

Fuel prices have risen over the last two weeks, and analysts warn that the increase may be an early signal that prices of gasoline and heating oil could stay higher than usual through the end of the year, in large part because of chronically low stockpiles of crude oil and petroleum products in the United States.
Show more

DmitryFarber VeritasKarishma

Isn't the meaning of A, B, and C wrong? I mean the "Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an early signal of the possibility/ of prices" seems wrong. Does "signal of the possibility/ of prices" makes sense? Many tks! :)
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 27 Jun 2020, 15:41
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Will2020 It's a bit odd to have an early signal of a possibility. Either it's possible or not, right? We just want to know if it will happen, and that's what we might have an early signal of. As for the construction after "possibility," either we say "possibility of" + noun or "possiblity that" + clause. So we can say "the possibility of higher prices" or "the possibility of a price increase." We can only say "the possibility of prices staying higher" if we treat "prices staying higher" as a noun phrase, and that's not great. Typically if we do something like that, it's because a) there's not a clearer way to say it and b) we have made the first noun into a possessive. For instance, we might say "the possibility of the event's cancellation." Here, that doesn't look like a great option, especially when we're given "possibility that" in three of the choices.
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 29 Jun 2020, 05:11
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AbdurRakib
The Official Guide for GMAT Verbal Review 2018
Practice Question
Sentence Correction
Question no. 274
Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an early signal of the possibility of gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usually through the end of the year.

(A) of the possibility of gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usually through
(B) of the possibility that gasoline and heating oil prices could stay higher than usual throughout
(C) of prices of gasoline and heating oil possibly staying higher than usually through
(D) that prices of gasoline and heating oil could stay higher than they usually are throughout
(E) that prices of gasoline and heating oil will stay higher than usual through

Show Spoiler
https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/09/business/fuel-prices-move-higher-and-trend-is-expected-to-persist.html

Fuel prices have risen over the last two weeks, and analysts warn that the increase may be an early signal that prices of gasoline and heating oil could stay higher than usual through the end of the year, in large part because of chronically low stockpiles of crude oil and petroleum products in the United States.

DmitryFarber VeritasKarishma

Isn't the meaning of A, B, and C wrong? I mean the "Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an early signal of the possibility/ of prices" seems wrong. Does "signal of the possibility/ of prices" makes sense? Many tks! :)
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"may be a signal" already shows uncertainty. No need to pile on "possibility" :)
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 18 Jul 2020, 00:31
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Hello Experts,
I came across this question and through quick and easy elimination (Through v/s Throughout and Usually v/s usual) I was able to arrive as the answer. However the question tags indicate that this is a 700 level question, Can we expect a question of this difficulty to come as a 700-level question
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 18 Jul 2020, 07:24
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vmadan10
Hello Experts,
I came across this question and through quick and easy elimination (Through v/s Throughout and Usually v/s usual) I was able to arrive as the answer. However the question tags indicate that this is a 700 level question, Can we expect a question of this difficulty to come as a 700-level question
Show more
Hello, vmadan10. Yes, this is a Hard question, per the official designation. Sometimes you may encounter a question that is direct and simple for you, but that may not be the case for the majority of test-takers. When that happens, even though you will not have the benefit of knowing the question difficulty when it pops up on the screen, you should just take the question in stride and prepare for the next challenge. There might be another question that you find difficult that, for whatever reason, many other test-takers have answered with ease. (I know it has happened to me at times when combing through the OG.)

- Andrew
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 19 Sep 2020, 14:00
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Quote:
Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an early signal of the possibility of gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usually through the end of the year.

(A) of the possibility of gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usually through
(B) of the possibility that gasoline and heating oil prices could stay higher than usual throughout
(C) of prices of gasoline and heating oil possibly staying higher than usually through
(D) that prices of gasoline and heating oil could stay higher than they usually are throughout
(E) that prices of gasoline and heating oil will stay higher than usual through
Show more

Hi honorable experts,
MartyTargetTestPrep, GMATNinja, GMATGuruNY, VeritasPrepHailey, BrightOutlookJenn, AjiteshArun
Q1: What does 'they' mean in choice D? Does it mean 'prices'? Or, is there any pronoun ambiguity with 'they'?
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 24 Sep 2020, 13:44
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Quote:
(D) that prices of gasoline and heating oil could stay higher than they usually are throughout

Hi honorable experts,

Q1: What does 'they' mean in choice D? Does it mean 'prices'? Or, is there any pronoun ambiguity with 'they'?
Show more
Since the sentence mentions nothing other than prices that would stay higher, there is no ambiguity. "They" would logically refer only to "prices."
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 25 Jan 2021, 14:41
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Hi GMATCLUB community,

In the options A and B, Though we already have a lot of pointers to take a pass on them,
Quote:
(A) of the possibility of gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usually through
Show more
isn't prices, only referring to heating oil ? We need prices to refer to both gasoline and heating oil, but based on the original construction, it seems to refer only to heating oil.


Can anyone help to clarify ?
Much Thanks :)
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 25 Jan 2021, 15:30
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penco
Hi GMATCLUB community,

In the options A and B, Though we already have a lot of pointers to take a pass on them,
Quote:
(A) of the possibility of gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usually through
isn't prices, only referring to heating oil ? We need prices to refer to both gasoline and heating oil, but based on the original construction, it seems to refer only to heating oil.


Can anyone help to clarify ?
Much Thanks :)
Show more


Hello penco,

I will be glad to help you out with this one. :-)

If we logically analyze this sentence, it will be clear to us that the word "prices" is applicable to both "gasoline" and "heating oil". If we isolate "gasoline" from "prices", then the sentence will convey that "there is a possibility of gasoline staying higher than usual". This sentence makes no sense. What does even mean to say that gasoline will stay higher than usual?

Hence, it is obvious that the word "prices" associated with both the preceding noun entities.

Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
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saigalabhishek
GMATNinja please explain.
Others are not clear

Posted from my mobile device
Quote:
(A) of the possibility of gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usually through
A few things are off here.

First, we already have “may be” in the first part of the sentence, so we don’t need another indicator of conditional—the word “possibility” is redundant.

More importantly, that redundancy skews the meaning a bit. Was "gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usual" previously NOT a possibility? But because there's been a recent rise in fuel prices, "gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usual" is NOW a possibility?? That's not quite the author's intention. We aren't talking about a change in what's actually possible. Instead, we're talking about what the recent rise in fuel prices might signal.

Second, “usually” is not used correctly here. Notice that we have a comparison between the normal ("usual") prices and the current prices. As always, we want the comparison to remain parallel — "higher" is an adjective that describes “prices”, so “usual” (as an adjective) should also describe “prices.” The correct form here is “usual,” not “usually”.

Quote:
(B) of the possibility that gasoline and heating oil prices could stay higher than usual throughout
In (B), we have THREE indicators of conditional: "may be," "possibility" and "could." So we have the redundancy issue that we saw in (A), only worse, and the corresponding meaning issue.

We also have an idiom problem. We normally don’t encourage worrying about idioms (to see why, check out this article), but here’s a quick explanation of the difference between “through” and “throughout”:

  • When discussing time, “through” implies a moving towards the end or completion of something. For example, ”the quarantine will last through the month of June” — it will last until the end of June.
  • “Throughout”, when discussing time, usually means during the entire situation. For example, “the birds sang throughout the day” — the birds were singing all day.
  • In this sentence, what we care about is that the prices could stay high up until the end of the year, so “through” is better.

We can get rid of (B).

Quote:
(C) of prices of gasoline and heating oil possibly staying higher than usually through
Again, “usually” is incorrect, as explained above, and that on its own is probably a good enough reason to get rid of (C). The redundant conditionals (“may be” and “possibly”) give us another vote against this choice.

There's also a subtle difference in meaning here: "staying" almost makes it sound like the prices are CURRENTLY "higher than usual through the end of the year." But that's not logical because we are talking about a conditional in the future -- we don't know whether the prices will be higher yet. That's no smoking gun, but it's certainly another vote against this one.

We can get rid of (C).

Quote:
(D) that prices of gasoline and heating oil could stay higher than they usually are throughout
The use of "usually" here is ok because it modifies the verb "are," not “prices.”

But we still have redundant conditionals (“may be” and “could”). And, as in (B), “through” would be more appropriate than “throughout.”

Also, the use of "are" introduces a subtle ambiguity in meaning. "Higher than they usually are throughout the end of the year" seems to suggest that we are referring to some consistent end-of-year price level (one that is generally repeated year after year) and comparing current prices of gasoline and heating oil to the usual level (a bit like this example, where we are referring to past data and trends: "Hotel prices are lower than they usually are at this time of year.").

Again, that is a very subtle meaning issue. But we already have a couple votes against (D), so let's see if (E) is any better.

Quote:
(E) that prices of gasoline and heating oil will stay higher than usual through
Here we have only “may be” as our conditional, so no redundancy issues. “Through” is the appropriate idiom, and “usual” correctly modifies “prices” and keeps the comparison parallel.

(E) is the best option!
Show more


GMAT NINJA- Thanks for writing such a detailed answer. Truly appreciate the kind of work you are doing here.
My one doubt remaining would be the use of "will" in the answer choice (E)

We would agree that the author wants to discuss "possibility" right? We can surely say that with the presence of "may be" but then how can we use "will"? Isn't will use to denote certain outcomes?

Appreciate it if you could find out the time to respond to this query.
Thanks.
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 05 Mar 2021, 11:45
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GMAT NINJA- Thanks for writing such a detailed answer. Truly appreciate the kind of work you are doing here.
My one doubt remaining would be the use of "will" in the answer choice (E)

We would agree that the author wants to discuss "possibility" right? We can surely say that with the presence of "may be" but then how can we use "will"? Isn't will use to denote certain outcomes?

Appreciate it if you could find out the time to respond to this query.
Thanks.
Show more
Thank you for the kind words!

This is an interesting question. Generally speaking, if we're talking about a possibility, the notion that the outcome isn't certain should be expressed somewhere in the sentence, but there are different ways to do this. For example:

    The Pelicans might win the title this year.

Here, the Pelicans winning the title is not a sure thing. (Particularly if they keep forgetting that Zion Williamson is on the team in the fourth quarter.) The word "might" captures the uncertainty. So far so good. But I could also write:

    Zion Williamson's ascension as a dominant scorer could be an indication that the Pelicans will the title.

Now, it's still not a sure thing that the Pelicans will win, but because we use the phrase "could be an indication," we've captured the uncertainty. Put another way, the clause "the Pelicans will win," is presented as a possible scenario, rather than a statement of fact, so "will" is correct.

This is basically the same construction we see in (E). Take another look:

Quote:
Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an early signal that prices of gasoline and heating oil will stay higher than usual through the end of the year.
Show more
Again, we don't know for sure that gas and oil prices will remain higher, but the phrase "may be an early signal" conveys this idea, so "will" is fine.

I hope that helps!
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saigalabhishek
GMATNinja please explain.
Others are not clear

Posted from my mobile device
Quote:
(A) of the possibility of gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usually through
A few things are off here.

First, we already have “may be” in the first part of the sentence, so we don’t need another indicator of conditional—the word “possibility” is redundant.

More importantly, that redundancy skews the meaning a bit. Was "gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usual" previously NOT a possibility? But because there's been a recent rise in fuel prices, "gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usual" is NOW a possibility?? That's not quite the author's intention. We aren't talking about a change in what's actually possible. Instead, we're talking about what the recent rise in fuel prices might signal.

Second, “usually” is not used correctly here. Notice that we have a comparison between the normal ("usual") prices and the current prices. As always, we want the comparison to remain parallel — "higher" is an adjective that describes “prices”, so “usual” (as an adjective) should also describe “prices.” The correct form here is “usual,” not “usually”.

Quote:
(B) of the possibility that gasoline and heating oil prices could stay higher than usual throughout
In (B), we have THREE indicators of conditional: "may be," "possibility" and "could." So we have the redundancy issue that we saw in (A), only worse, and the corresponding meaning issue.

We also have an idiom problem. We normally don’t encourage worrying about idioms (to see why, check out this article), but here’s a quick explanation of the difference between “through” and “throughout”:

  • When discussing time, “through” implies a moving towards the end or completion of something. For example, ”the quarantine will last through the month of June” — it will last until the end of June.
  • “Throughout”, when discussing time, usually means during the entire situation. For example, “the birds sang throughout the day” — the birds were singing all day.
  • In this sentence, what we care about is that the prices could stay high up until the end of the year, so “through” is better.

We can get rid of (B).

Quote:
(C) of prices of gasoline and heating oil possibly staying higher than usually through
Again, “usually” is incorrect, as explained above, and that on its own is probably a good enough reason to get rid of (C). The redundant conditionals (“may be” and “possibly”) give us another vote against this choice.

There's also a subtle difference in meaning here: "staying" almost makes it sound like the prices are CURRENTLY "higher than usual through the end of the year." But that's not logical because we are talking about a conditional in the future -- we don't know whether the prices will be higher yet. That's no smoking gun, but it's certainly another vote against this one.

We can get rid of (C).

Quote:
(D) that prices of gasoline and heating oil could stay higher than they usually are throughout
The use of "usually" here is ok because it modifies the verb "are," not “prices.”

But we still have redundant conditionals (“may be” and “could”). And, as in (B), “through” would be more appropriate than “throughout.”

Also, the use of "are" introduces a subtle ambiguity in meaning. "Higher than they usually are throughout the end of the year" seems to suggest that we are referring to some consistent end-of-year price level (one that is generally repeated year after year) and comparing current prices of gasoline and heating oil to the usual level (a bit like this example, where we are referring to past data and trends: "Hotel prices are lower than they usually are at this time of year.").

Again, that is a very subtle meaning issue. But we already have a couple votes against (D), so let's see if (E) is any better.

Quote:
(E) that prices of gasoline and heating oil will stay higher than usual through
Here we have only “may be” as our conditional, so no redundancy issues. “Through” is the appropriate idiom, and “usual” correctly modifies “prices” and keeps the comparison parallel.

(E) is the best option!
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Hi, In option D& E if we look at "usually are" and "usual" part only, "is usual or usually are" is used for comparision between a normal trend of something to its current state (For eg: I ran faster than is usual), whereas "usual/the usual" is used as a noun which replaces for a noun with some other as in comparsion (For eg: The car he brought today is bigger than the usual, here usual refer to some other car that he brings everyday) As per the sentence, prices of gasoline before is compared to prices of gasoline now, i.e change in trend of samething.

For a moment if we consider only the comparsion flaw in sentence, can you help me where I am going wrong?
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an Updated on: 07 Mar 2022, 11:36
Originally posted by GMATNinja on 27 Apr 2021, 11:20.
Last edited by GMATNinjaTwo on 07 Mar 2022, 11:36, edited 2 times in total.
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Mayank221133
Hi, In option D& E if we look at "usually are" and "usual" part only, "is usual or usually are" is used for comparision between a normal trend of something to its current state (For eg: I ran faster than is usual), whereas "usual/the usual" is used as a noun which replaces for a noun with some other as in comparsion (For eg: The car he brought today is bigger than the usual, here usual refer to some other car that he brings everyday) As per the sentence, prices of gasoline before is compared to prices of gasoline now, i.e change in trend of samething.

For a moment if we consider only the comparsion flaw in sentence, can you help me where I am going wrong?
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It sounds like you are trying to invent/apply some rules governing when to use is usual, usually are, the usual, etc., and that's a dangerous game to play. As described in our beginner's guide to SC, you're much better off focusing on definite errors first and then comparing the remaining choices based on meaning.

Note that usual is typically used as a modifier. For example,

    "The detectives rounded up the usual suspects." - Here "usual" modifies a noun ("suspects").

When usual is used in a comparison, the noun being modified is often implied. Here's an example from an official question:

    "Analysts blamed May's sluggish retail sales on unexciting merchandise as well as the weather, which was colder and wetter than usual in some regions, slowing sales of barbecue grills and lawn furniture."

What's actually being compared here? Well, (1) the weather in May and (2) the usual weather ("the weather [in May] was colder and wetter than [the usual weather]"). Notice that we don't need the article ("the") since we aren't actually writing out the second noun ("weather").

We have something similar in choice (E), where we compare (1) the anticipated prices of gasoline and heating oil to (2) the usual prices of gasoline and heating oil:

    "Prices of gasoline and heating oil will stay higher than [the usual prices of gasoline and heating oil]." - The second noun ("prices of gasoline and heating oil") is implied, so we don't need the article ("the").

When comparing "usually are" and "usual" in (D) and (E), we aren't trying to decide which is better because of some mechanical idiom rules. Instead, we are interested in the meaning issue that arises in choice (D), as explained in this post. Trying to come up with black-and-white rules for the "correct" word choice will likely do you more harm than good.

I hope that helps!
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 02 Aug 2021, 19:24
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In the Choice E, the likelihood has been converted to a certainty. How is that accurate?
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 12 Aug 2021, 12:23
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NareshGargMBA
In the Choice E, the likelihood has been converted to a certainty. How is that accurate?
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Take a look at this post earlier in the thread and see if that clarifies things for you.

If the issue is still unclear, please let us know!
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Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an 16 Sep 2021, 03:51
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Correct Option E

Industry analysts said that the recent rise in fuel prices may be an early signal of the possibility of gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usually through the end of the year.

Elimiation process :
1. though (moving in one side and out of the other side of)
vs throughout - (in every part of) Eliminates - (B,and D)
2. Possibility is reducdancy to non underline word "May" - Elimiates A
3. Stay (verb) vs Staying (present participle of word - stay), if we look at the intended meaning of the statement, it speaks about future tense, and some times, simple present tense is used to refer future tense - eliminates (A, and C)
4. Could (used to indicate possibility) makes it reduancy with non underline word - "May" elimiates - D

(A) of the possibility of gasoline and heating oil prices staying higher than usually through
(B) of the possibility that gasoline and heating oil prices could stay higher than usual throughout
(C) of prices of gasoline and heating oil possibly staying higher than usually through
(D) that prices of gasoline and heating oil could stay higher than they usually are throughout
(E) that prices of gasoline and heating oil will stay higher than usual through - Correct
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