Several years ago, a leading packaged food manufacturer, seeking to ap

Question

Several years ago, a leading packaged food manufacturer, seeking to appeal to consumers who increasingly favor fresh foods,  has acquired a company that specializes in freezing produce immediately after harvest as a subsidiary .

A. has acquired a company that specializes in freezing produce immediately after harvest as a subsidiary

B. has acquired as a subsidiary a company that specializes in freezing produce immediately after harvest

C. acquired like a subsidiary a company that specializes in freezing produce immediately after harvest

D. acquired as a subsidiary a company that specializes in freezing produce immediately after harvest

E. acquired a company specializing in the freezing of harvested produce immediately afterward as a subsidiary

LIBERTYRodP · Answer

ANSWER D.

A and B  are eliminated because the present perfect tense "has acquired" does not agree with the context of the sentence "several years ago".

C  is eliminated because "like" is used for similarities or comparisons, not for "roles". We need a "role" here.

E  is eliminated because the meaning is ambiguous. "freezing of harvested produce immediately afterward as a subsidiary" implies that the company performed the "freezing" as a "subsidiary" , which is nonsensical.

gvij2017 · Answer

Several years ago, ...Needs past tense...so A and B are out at first glance. 
C is out because of "acquired like a company"

Between D and E, acquired a company is correct instead of acquired as a subsidiary a company.

E is correct.

daagh · Answer

Several years ago, a leading packaged food manufacturer, seeking to appeal to consumers who increasingly favor fresh foods,  has acquired a company that specializes in freezing produce immediately after harvest as a subsidiary.

A. has acquired a company that specializes in freezing produce immediately after harvest as a subsidiary – 1. Has acquired is the wrong tense for a bye-gone event 2. ‘As a subsidiary’ should be placed after the word’ company’.

B. has acquired as a subsidiary a company that specializes in freezing produce immediately after harvest – The present perfect ‘has acquired’ is wrong as in A.

C. acquired like a subsidiary a company that specializes in freezing produce immediately after harvest – We can’t use ‘like ‘here as there is no comparison involved in this case

D. acquired as a subsidiary a company that specializes in freezing produce immediately after harvest – The correct choice. Uses proper tense and modification.

E. acquired a company specializing in the freezing of harvested produce immediately afterward as a subsidiary --- The placement of the phrase ‘as a subsidiary’ is wrong as in A.

It is D.

abhineetmanu · Answer

In this question, we are talking about something which was happened in the past(Company acquired several years ago)
In correct option D is it not incorrect to use present tense "specializes" for defining the company's specialization as the whole sentence should be in past tense. 
Expert Please clarify my doubt.

daagh · Answer

abhi

It is not so I suppose. WE are required to use the present tense specializes because the company is still specializing. If we were to the past ‘specialized’, then it will mean that the subsidiary company specialized only in the past and does not do presently. This will be a deviation of logic.

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

STEP 1: READ THE ORIGINAL SENTENCE CAREFULLY, LOOKING FOR ERRORS

The underlined portion of the sentence says what the food manufacturer did “ everal years ago.” It begins with the verb “has acquired.” This is the present perfect verb tense, which is used to describe an action that began in the past and is still occurring. In this case, the acquisition of the subsidiary happened entirely in the past—“ everal years ago”—so this verb tense is incorrect.

Keep reading to see whether there are other errors the correct answer must fix. At the end is the modifying phrase “as a subsidiary.” Logically, this phrase describes how the company was acquired. Because of its placement, however, it describes how the company freezes produce. The placement of this phrase too far from the action it modifies is a modification error, so your answer choice must also fix this problem. As soon as you found a problem with this sentence, you could eliminate (A) as a potential choice. The correct answer will fix the verb tense and modification problems without introducing other errors.

STEP 2: SCAN AND GROUP THE ANSWER CHOICES 
Now quickly do a vertical scan of the choices, looking for any that repeat the error. There’s a 3-2 split at the beginnings of the choices. Along with (A), (B) repeats the verb error, since it begins with “has acquired.” Note that if you hadn’t spotted the verb error when reading the original sentence in step 1, the fact that the choices differ by verb tense would be a signal to consider this grammatical issue and double-check whether the tense used in the sentence is correct, essentially returning to step 1. At this point, you’d look for clues to the time frame of the action and determine that you need a verb that puts the action entirely in the past.

STEP 3: ELIMINATE CHOICES UNTIL ONLY ONE REMAINS 
Eliminate (A) and (B) for using the wrong verb tense. The three remaining choices all begin the same way, but they differ at the end. (C) and (D) end with “immediately after harvest,” while (E) ends with “immediately afterward as a subsidiary.” If you spotted the modification error in step 1, you already know that (E)’s placement is incorrect. Otherwise, you can figure it out now: the modifying words here should be describing the freezing of the produce, and the fact that the acquired company fits into its parent’s organizational structure as a subsidiary has nothing to do with how it freezes green beans. Eliminate (E). Now read (C) and (D) in parallel. With “acquired like a subsidiary,” (C) seems to be saying that the acquired company is similar to a subsidiary but not actually a subsidiary, which does not make sense. This word choice introduces a comparison that the author is not trying to make. Eliminate (C).

That leaves only one choice, (D).  Read this answer back into the sentence to confirm there are no errors: “Several years ago, a leading packaged food manufacturer, seeking to appeal to consumers who increasingly favor fresh foods, acquired as a subsidiary a company that specializes in freezing produce immediately after harvest.”

VerbalBot · Answer

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Several years ago, a leading packaged food manufacturer, seeking to ap

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Several years ago, a leading packaged food manufacturer, seeking to ap

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