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24 Sep 2018, 00:29
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Can someone please explain the usage of past perfect tense here since there is a time marker "a year earlier". I saw Ron's explanation on this but I am not quite following. Thank you.
24 Sep 2018, 05:09
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Hi viviolivia, indeed this is actually quite a common pattern for past perfect. Couple of other official examples that come to my mind:
In 1981 children in the United States spent an average of slightly less than two and a half hours a week doing household chores; by 1997 that figure had grown to nearly six hours a week.
The first detailed study of magpie attacks in Australia indicates that by the time they reached adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of the women born in the country had been attacked by the birds.
By 1999, astronomers had discovered 17 nearby stars that are orbited by planets about the size of Jupiter.
In fact, considering GMAT's fondness for this kind of pattern (and it's divergence from what many people perceive as a more classical pattern for past perfect tenses), our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses this example, in detail. Have attached the corresponding section of the book, for your reference (specifically refer to the example In 2007, a typical web user spent less than 4 hours a month on Facebook in the attachment).
In 1981 children in the United States spent an average of slightly less than two and a half hours a week doing household chores; by 1997 that figure had grown to nearly six hours a week.
The first detailed study of magpie attacks in Australia indicates that by the time they reached adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of the women born in the country had been attacked by the birds.
By 1999, astronomers had discovered 17 nearby stars that are orbited by planets about the size of Jupiter.
In fact, considering GMAT's fondness for this kind of pattern (and it's divergence from what many people perceive as a more classical pattern for past perfect tenses), our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses this example, in detail. Have attached the corresponding section of the book, for your reference (specifically refer to the example In 2007, a typical web user spent less than 4 hours a month on Facebook in the attachment).
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03 Sep 2020, 23:36
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Nihit
This is a question based mostly on parallelism of comparison.
The comparative expression is in the form of the correlative conjunctions - ‘as----as’.
The options also give us the choice between the expressions “because of” and “because”.
The difference between them is that “because of” is followed by a noun or noun phrase and “because” is followed by a clause since it acts as a subordinating conjunction.
In Option A, the expression “because of” is followed by a noun + participle phrase - “their sales of a year earlier being so bad”. This construction is not considered stylistically graceful. So, Option A can be eliminated.
In Option B, the use of an extra ‘as’ changes the meaning and distorts the comparison.
“as much because of their sales a year earlier having been as bad as because”
The second highlighted portion implies a comparison leaving the first highlighted comparative expression incomplete. So, Option B can be eliminated.
In Option C, the errors of Options A and B have been repeated. So, Option C can also be eliminated.
In Option E also, there is an extra comparative word ‘as’, leaving the comparison incomplete. So, Option E can also be eliminated.
In Option D, the comparison is complete –
“as much because their sales a year earlier had been so bad as because shoppers were getting a head start on buying their holiday gifts”
The rule of parallelism of correlative conjunctions states that whatever kind of word (noun, verb, preposition etc.) comes after the first of the pair of conjunctions must also be present after the second of the pair of conjunctions.
So, the parallelism has also been maintained in Option D – the conjunction 'because' is present after each of the pair of conjunctions.
“as much because their sales a year earlier had been so bad as because shoppers were getting a head start on buying their holiday gifts”
Therefore, D is the most appropriate option.
Jayanthi Kumar.
06 Nov 2020, 12:19
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GMATNinja
Hello GMATNinja would you like to shed some light over here?
A prompt question regarding this SC problem and specifically about answer choice D, is the use of past perfect the best option (wouldn't simple past be much better)? We have an "earlier" that explains the order of elements and as far as I know , whenever the time order is obvious the use of past perfect is redundant (I'm not sure whether it could be even considered wrong)
Hello GMATNinja would you like to shed some light over here?
A prompt question regarding this SC problem and specifically about answer choice D, is the use of past perfect the best option (wouldn't simple past be much better)? We have an "earlier" that explains the order of elements and as far as I know , whenever the time order is obvious the use of past perfect is redundant (I'm not sure whether it could be even considered wrong)
. 
