The Federal Reserve announcement said that growth had accelerated afte

Sorry for the delay!

It wouldn't really make sense for the action of acceleration to start at EXACTLY the same time as the announcement. How can you announce something that hasn't happened yet?

Now we can certainly announce an ongoing process, but in that case we would want something like, "The Federal Reserve announcement said that growth was accelerating..." - that would imply that the acceleration was still happening at the time of the announcement, but we don't have that option here.

As for your examples, "He knew he was right," actually conveys a slightly different meaning than "He knew he had been right":

• "He knew he was right." - The action of being "right" doesn't stop before the action of "knowing". Being "right", in this case, is a continuous action.
• "He KNEW he had been right when he answered the question on the exam, so he was surprised when he saw an "F" on the graded exam." When did the action of "knowing" happen? At some point in the past (the moment he saw that "F" on his exam). When did the action of "being right" happen? At a DISTINCT time in the past (well before the exam was graded). This construction stresses the difference in the timing of the two actions.

We don't need to make that distinction in conversation, but there's a difference between what passes in day-to-day speech and what's correct on the GMAT! And remember, that the GMAT isn't about coming up with hard and fast rules to blindly apply to future problems. We have to compare the five choices and "select the answer that produces the most effective sentence."

Here we have to choose between "had accelerated" and "accelerated". The use of the past perfect ("had accelerated") makes the chronology crystal clear: the acceleration happened in the past (after the slowing), and the announcement happened at a later point in the past. That makes perfect (no pun intended) sense!

The use of the simple past ("accelerated') is less clear and allows for an interpretation that doesn't make any sense (that the acceleration started at the same time as the announcement).

Does this mean we can carve some rules in stone when it comes to the past perfect and apply those rules to every other sentence we see? Absolutely not. But among the five choices on THIS question, (A) is the best.

Dear GMATNinja,

I know we've been talking back and forth about this, but I've just found a sentence and I can't help myself asking what you think.

"At the end of 2001, motion picture industry representatives said that there were about a million copies of Hollywood movies available online, and that they expected piracy to increase as high-speed Internet connections became more widely available"

First of all, since they "said", then shouldn't the content of what they said be in past perfect tense? Second, when they expected, shouldn't they expect something to happen in the future?
(would become rather than became). Thanks!

First of all, since they "said", then shouldn't the content of what they said be in past perfect tense?

Second, when they expected, shouldn't they expect something to happen in the future?

Hi GMATNinja!
Can you please explain why the portion "the policy makers remain concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are few signs of higher energy prices driving up the cost of other goods so far" is in the present tense when the announcement happened in the past. I am having a tough time wrapping my head round it.
Anybody else who can help me with this issue is also welcome.

why option E is not correct?

MartyTargetTestPrep. In TTP i read that when we see the use of words such as "After, Before, At first", it indicates a time sequence that is clear and that a simple past tense can be used here.

In sentences in which the time sequence isnt clear, for ex, Use of word "BY, UNTILL, SINCE", we have to use past perfect tense - has/have.

Accordingly Option E should be correct, but it isnt.

that growth had accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and that the policy makers remain concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are few

I could have made it right as couldn't notice some changes. I was confused whether to use few or little btw.
that growth---- that the policy- parallelism maintained in option A
use of had is compulsary as two timelines are mentioned as second quarter and another quarter.
I think if i used these two signs properly, only left will be the option A.
However i am most of the time got confused with usage of 'few' as i thought that signs is something which is uncountable.

The Federal Reserve announcement said that growth had accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and that the policy makers remain concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are few signs of higher energy prices driving up the cost of other goods so far.


(A) that growth had accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and that the policy makers remain concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are few

(B) growth had accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and that the policy makers remain concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are few

(C) that growth had accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and the policy makers remain concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are little

(D) growth had accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and the policy makers remain concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are little

(E) that growth accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and that the policy makers remain concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are few