Many population studies have linked a high-salt diet to high rates of

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:

Many population studies have linked a high-salt diet to high rates of hypertension and shown that in societies where they consume little salt, their blood pressure typically does not rise with age.

A. shown that in societies where they consume little salt, their

B. shown that in societies that have consumed little salt, their

C. shown that in societies where little salt is consumed,

D. showing that in societies where little salt is consumed,

E. showing that in societies where they consume little salt, their

After a quick glance over the options, a few key differences jump out:

1. shown vs. showing (Verb Form & Parallelism)
2. where they consume / that have consumed / is consumed (Verb Form & Pronouns)
3. Using “their” after the comma or not (Pronouns)

Since #1 is an easy either/or split, let’s start there! No matter which one we choose, we’ll eliminate 2-3 options rather quickly. This is mainly a matter of parallelism! We need to make sure the verb tense we use matches up with the earlier “linked.”

(*Note: We are using the most recent version of this question, which does not match feedback in the comments. Options D & E were updated at some point after this was originally posted.)

A. shown that in societies where they consume little salt, their

B. shown that in societies that have consumed little salt, their

C. shown that in societies where little salt is consumed,

D. showing that in societies where little salt is consumed,

E. showing that in societies where they consume little salt, their

We can eliminate options D & E because “showing” isn’t parallel to “linked.” Now that we have things narrowed down a bit, let’s move on to focusing on #2 and #3 on this list:

A. shown that in societies where they consume little salt, their
This is INCORRECT because it contains a couple vague pronouns! It’s not 100% clear what “they” and “their” are referring to. Logically, “they” and “their” refer back to “societies,” which makes no sense. A society is not the same thing as a person and cannot consume salt or get high blood pressure - however, the people within the society can.

B. shown that in societies that have consumed little salt, their
This is also INCORRECT because of the vague pronoun “their,” which is attempting to state that a society gets high blood pressure, not the people within that society, which makes no logical sense.

C. shown that in societies where little salt is consumed,
This is our CORRECT choice! It gets rid of the vague pronouns, and the meaning is clear to readers.

There you have it - option C is our winner!

Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

Thanks for your question,

No, you cannot use "where" for non-locations on the GMAT. It sometimes happens in informal speech/writing, but for the GMAT, it's a no-no.

I hope that helps!