Steven Westminster helped pioneer the exporting

Steven Westminster helped pioneer the exporting of electronics from China in 1976, the year after Mao Zedong died, and ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm, searching for other countries, from Malaysia to Bangladesh, is capable of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States.

Prethinking: 'ever since' is the tie-breaker. It means 'from that instance in 1976 (after the pioneering event), his firm has done something' - perfect tense because we are not talking about an action that happened at a point of time in the past, but rather talking about something that has been happening.

A)died, and ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm, searching for other countries, from Malaysia to Bangladesh, is capable of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
'Since' must be followed by a perfect tense to show that the action continued for some time. So, a simple present 'is' cannot be used.

B)died; ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm has searched for other countries, from Malaysia to Bangladesh, that has the capability of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
Pronoun error.

C)died, and ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm has searched for other countries, from Malaysia to Bangladesh, capable of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
Right answer.

D)died, and ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm has searched for other countries, from Malaysia and Bangladesh, that are capable of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
From ...and ... is wrong. It should be from .. to..

E)died; ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm has searched for other countries, from Malaysia and Bangladesh, having the capability of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
Wordy and not grammatical

B and E out as no need of semicolon

A- "is" is wrong and
D - " are" is wrong

I will go with C.

OA pls

My 2 cents.
Steven Westminster helped pioneer the exporting of electronics from China in 1976, [IC-1]
the year after Mao Zedong died, and
ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm,[IC-2]
searching for other countries, from Malaysia to Bangladesh,
is capable of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States.

Intended meaning:
Steven Westminster helped pioneer the exporting of electronics from China in 1976.
ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm has searched for OC, from Malaysia to Bangladesh.
OC that are capable of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States.

A)died, and ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm, searching for other countries, from Malaysia to Bangladesh, is capable of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
B)died; ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm has searched for other countries, from Malaysia to Bangladesh, that has the capability of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
C)died, and ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm has searched for other countries, from Malaysia to Bangladesh, capable of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
D)died, and ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm has searched for other countries, from Malaysia and Bangladesh, that are capable of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
E)died; ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm has searched for other countries, from Malaysia and Bangladesh, having the capability of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
>>Having illogically modifies SVCF.

1.From X to Y.
2.“ever since” needs present perfect “has been”.

I wonder why "C" correct? In original question, it means that "consulting firm is capable of..." but in "C", it seems that "capable of " modifies "countries", distorting the meaning of the sentence.

The intended meaning is that in countries from Malaysia to Bangladesh, Steven’s consultancy firm is looking for entities that are capable of supplying big companies in the US. However, the text conveys a wrong meaning that the consultancy firm itself is capable of supplying. This error must be amended. .

The step by step process to arrive at the correct answer is:

1. From Malaysia and Bangladesh is wrong idiom--- Eliminate D and E.
Among A, B and C: Eliminate A for the absurd meaning. Eliminate B for the S-V number mismatch. Get going with C.

Take away: Don’t presume that A always carries the correct meaning. If the meaning is absurd, the immediate task is to look for the correct meaning in some choice.
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In "D", I have corrected "from Malaysia and Bangladesh" to "from Malaysia to Bangladesh". Now can this choice be correct?? Can we prefer this over "C"?

After above correction in choice "D", the only difference is the usage of "that are", which modifies "other countries".

D)died, and ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm has searched for other countries, from Malaysia to Bangladesh, that are capable of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The easiest decision point in this problem relates to the choice of verb. In (A) the present tense “is capable” is incorrect. If you start with the timeline “ever since”, you must accompany that with the present perfect “has been”. In (B) the subject verb-agreement is incorrect: “countries…that has the capability” is wrong in addition to using the awkward “has the capability” instead of “are/is capable”. In both (D) and (E) the sentences use the incorrect “from Malaysia and Bangladesh” instead of “from Malaysia to Bangladesh”. With the word “and” instead of “to,” the sentence nonsensically indicates that the countries are somehow from Malaysia and Bangladesh, when they are supposed to be given as examples. Many people will pick (D), however, and overlook that decision point because they prefer “countries that are capable” over “countries capable of…” Both would be correct if there were no other errors – a classic false decision point. Answer is (C).
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I agree with the right answer because other choices can be eliminated for different reasons as stated above,I do have a small doubt.


Though option B and E are eliminated for obvious reasons , whether above question has two independent clauses is my doubt Because " Steven Westminster helped pioneer the exporting of electronics from China in 1976, the year after Mao Zedong died, "


This has the sub and verb so can it end with a semicolon?

And the continuation also has a verb in it so there are two independent sentences ?


Please help me where am i thinking wrong

Even then C should be preferred because even without the use of "that are" the meaning intended is quite clear. Thus, for conciseness, C should be preferred.

Sent from my Lenovo K53a48 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Hey SonGoku ,

Yes, it can end with a semicolon and then you can have the beginning of an Independent clause. Your thinking about B and E is perfectly fine.

Look at an awesome explanation about semicolons here.

Does that make sense?
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Thanks abhimahna,
That means that is not an essential modifier; Is that the only reason we used comma over there ?

Steven Westminster helped pioneer the exporting of electronics from China in 1976, the year after Mao Zedong died, and ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm, searching for other countries, from Malaysia to Bangladesh, is capable of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States.

Meaning Analysis - SW -started the export of electronics from china in 1976. From 1976 till now , his consulting firm has been searching for countries for export options. (Import to US for supplying electronics to US firms).

A)died, and ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm, searching for other countries, from Malaysia to Bangladesh, is capable of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
-- "ever since" symbolizes the continuity but we have used a present tense and verb-ing modifier here.
-- due to the sentence structure , it appears that "Consulting Firm" is capable of supplying electronics. This is not the intended meaning.

B)died; ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm has searched for other countries, from Malaysia to Bangladesh, that has the capability of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
-- that is modifying "countries" and so should not be using "has".
-- wordy - "someone is capable" is better than "someone has the capability" - Not very imp point but making a note.

C)died, and ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm has searched for other countries, from Malaysia to Bangladesh, capable of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
-- Correct Answer

D)died, and ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm has searched for other countries, from Malaysia and Bangladesh, that are capable of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
-- firm has been searching for counties that are capable - "tense forms" - are / has been doesn't gel here. The question is not - whether the country is capable now. Countries must be capable in past when they were choose.

E)died; ever since, his Silicon Valley consulting firm has searched for other countries, from Malaysia and Bangladesh, having the capability of supplying the big electronics firms in the United States
-- "capable of supplying" is better construction than "having the capability of supplying".

Approach -
1) Eliminate E and D, Malaysia and Bangladesh is incorrect.
2) Eliminate A --> is(singular verb) and countries(plural subject)
3) Eliminate B --> has(singular verb) and countries(plural subject)

I see the faults with the other choices, but just wondering here if C is a run-on sentence?
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