Studies over the past decade indicate people working at home

Question

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1) 
 For SC butler Questions  Click Here

Studies over the past decade  indicate people working at home or outside the office as tending to work longer hours, contrary t o employers’ initial fears.

A) indicate people working at home or outside the office as tending to work longer hours, contrary to

B) indicate people who work at home or outside the office as tending to work longer hours, in contradiction of

C) indicate that people who work at home or outside the office tend to work longer hours, contrary to

D) have indicated longer hours of work by people who work at home or outside the office, contrary to

E) indicate that people who work at home or outside the office had tended to work longer hours, contrary to

generis · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)

THE PROMPT  
 
• The "cleanest" and preferred way to use the verb  indicate  in the context of studies is to follow  indicate  with the word  that .

THE OPTIONS  
 
• wrong meaning
→ a study could theoretically  display  or  characterize  people as "tending to  indicate  almost always means to  show, demonstrate, or prove —in which case  indicate  is a reporting verb and should be followed by the word  that 
ELIMINATE A
 
• you will never see the phrase "in contradiction of" on GMAT
→  contradicting  is possible
→  contrary to , in the other options, is better

•  indicate  should be  indicate that  (like option A)

• the meaning problem in option A exists in option B
ELIMINATE B 
 
• I see no errors
→ indicate is followed by  that 
→ the inelegant  as tending to  has been switched to the solid and active verb  tend 
→  contrary to  is idiomatic. And short.
KEEP

•  Nothing is wrong with  have indicated.  In fact, that construction in this context is common. 
The original OE writer is  wrong.  Full stop. I would not emulate him unless you know why you are doing so.

• Strange meaning. Maybe garbled meaning.
→ Can a study "indicate" longer hours of work by people who work at home?

• Not as strong as C.
→ This phrasing is passive (work BY people) (indicate ... longer hours of work by people . . .) whereas (C)'s construction is in active voice (S/V: people tend)
ELIMINATE D
 
•  had tended  is not as effective a verb choice as the simple "tend" 
→ almost always,  had tended  (past perfect) is for the earlier of two events that both ended in the past.
→ no reason exists for the verb tense shift
ELIMINATE E

The best answer is C.

NOTES

I like explanation a lot more than I like assertion.
I'm seeing a little too much assertion. Just a heads up.

My typically strict standards are relaxed: if you have the correct OA with some explanation, you get kudos.

COMMENTS

Good job, everyone, for continuing to work during a hellish-but-not-permanent time.
Well done. Stay safe!

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (C) . It took me 49 seconds.

(A) "Indicate people as tending to work longer hours" is unusual. We can also say that verb (tend) is preferred over adjective (tending)
(B) See above 
(C) Clear and straightforward. 
(D) "have indicated" is okay, but "indicate longer hours" is not idiomatic. 
(E) The past perfect tense is not justified when the main clause uses simple present tense. We might accept "tended to work longer hours" (simple past) since the studies might have focused on past behaviors. But past perfect ("had tended") cannot be supported.

Nipungupta9081 · Answer

IMO C

E has a tense change ( X )

DinoPen · Answer

Studies over the past decade  indicate people working at home or outside the office as tending to work longer hours, contrary to  employers’ initial fears.

A) indicate people working at home or outside the office as tending to work longer hours, contrary to 
'studies ... indicate people' does not make sense. Needs a use of 'that'. Also, 'as tending' is the wrong construction.

B) indicate people who work at home or outside the office as tending to work longer hours, in contradiction of 
'studies ... indicate people' does not make sense. Needs a use of 'that'. Also, 'as tending' is the wrong construction.

C) indicate that people who work at home or outside the office tend to work longer hours, contrary to
 Correct use of pairing 'indicate that'. 'people ... tend to work ..' is correct.

D) have indicated longer hours of work by people who work at home or outside the office, contrary to
 'longer hours of work by people' is awkward construction. C is much better.

E) indicate that people who work at home or outside the office had tended to work longer hours, contrary to
 'had tended' is incorrect -- should be 'tend' to match with tenses of 'studies indicate'.

akadiyan · Answer

Ans   C

A) indicate people working at home or outside the office as tending to work longer hours, contrary to -  INCORRECT 
'That' is missing next to indicate, so the phrase "indicate people as tending to work.." is not correct

B) indicate people who work at home or outside the office as tending to work longer hours, in contradiction of -  INCORRECT 
Same as above

C) indicate that people who work at home or outside the office tend to work longer hours, contrary to -  CORRECT 
Corrects all error and conveys intended message.

D) have indicated longer hours of work by people who work at home or outside the office, contrary to -  INCORRECT 
longer hours of work by people is incorrect construction and does not convey any meaning.

E) indicate that people who work at home or outside the office had tended to work longer hours, contrary to -  INCORRECT 
had tended introduces unneccesary tense error.

winterschool · Answer

Studies over the past decade indicate people working at home or outside the office as tending to work longer hours, contrary to employers’ initial fears.

A)  indicate people  working at home or outside the office as tending to work longer hours, contrary to  Incorrect

that require after indicate

B)  indicate people  who work at home or outside the office as tending to work longer hours, in contradiction of  Incorrect

that require after indicate

C)  indicate that people who work at home or outside the office tend to work longer hours, contrary to   Correct

D)  have  indicated longer hours of work by people who work at home or outside the office, contrary to  Incorrect

passive form and that require after indicate

E) indicate that people who work at home or outside the office  had  tended to work longer hours, contrary to  Incorrect

tense error - had uses wrong

jessiemjx · Answer

IMO C

ramlala · Answer

Studies over the past decade  indicate people working at home or outside the office as tending to work longer hours, contrary to  employers’ initial fears.

A) indicate people working at home or outside the office as tending to work longer hours, contrary to
 indicate  shall be followed by that to convey meaning correctly. Also  people working....as thending  does not make any sense

B) indicate people who work at home or outside the office as tending to work longer hours, in contradiction of 
 indicate  shall be followed by that to convey meaning correctly. Also  as thending & in contradiction of  does not make any sense

C) indicate that people who work at home or outside the office tend to work longer hours, contrary to 
No remarks

D) have indicated longer hours of work by people who work at home or outside the office, contrary to 
Use of present perfect tense is not appropriate.

E) indicate that people who work at home or outside the office had tended to work longer hours, contrary to
Use of past perfect tense is not appropriate.

IMO C

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here .

Studies over the past decade indicate people working at home

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Studies over the past decade indicate people working at home

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards