The fifties, for all their advertised conformity, now appear to have

Question

The fifties, for all their advertised conformity, now appear to have been a time of considerable achievement in the arts.

(A) for all their advertised conformity, now appear to have been

(B) despite all their advertised conformity, now appears to be

(C) for all their advertised conformity, now appear that they were

(D) despite all their advertised conformity, now appears as

(E) with all their advertised conformity, now appears

Source: https://www.sentencecorrection.com/

Show Answer

Official Answer

A

HowManyToGo · Accepted Answer

Picked A.

fifties is considered singular only when it is referred as a time period and not when considered as years.

HMTG.

enigmatic007 · Answer

ans is an A... subject- ''the fifties''...needs a PLURAL verb... appear...B, d AND e ARE INCORRECT the use of ' THAT THEY WERE' in C is not convincing hope that helps... Have Fun

mbassmbass04 · Answer

Definetly a Hard One:

The fifties are plural, appear should be without an s and in a plural form,

B, D and E are OUT because they use a singular form of appears.

A uses the present prefect because of now and indicates an Action that started in the past and continuing in the present, 

A is the correct Answer.

riteshgupta1 · Answer

Remember, it is compared with "a time", not times.

So The fifties has to be singular.

gmatisnothard · Answer

The fifties, for all their advertised conformity, now appear to have been a time of considerable achievement in the arts.

(A) for all their advertised conformity, now appear to have been
(B)  despite  all their advertised conformity, now appear to be
(C) for all their advertised conformity, now appear that   they were  
 (D) despite all their advertised conformity, now appears as
(E) with all advertised conformity, now appears

Some thoughts:

Use of fifties: 
See the following sentences from google:
Before the Pill, before mass immigration and long before globalization, the  Fifties were  a time of relative innocence.
=> Fifties were=> Fifties is a plural noun when it means number of years.
On one hand, the  Fifties were  ten years of conformity, of fitting in, of mass consumerism, growing corporate power and reflexive patriotism
=> Again, fifties were.

Conclusion: "Fifties" is a plural noun.

DESPITE:
Despite is used to express contrast. Example:
Despite the rough weather, she came on time.
=> So, the use of despite is incorrect in the given sentence. It changes the meaning of the sentence.

"They were a time" is redundant in C.

So, answer is A.

rollingface · Answer

Could someone please explain why the above logic does not apply? If "the fifties" is being referred to as a plural noun here then the later part of the sentence should read "... now appear to have been  times  of considerable achievement in the arts."

I usually nail SC this one definitely did not strike me as consistent with the GMAT, do we know the source?

mourinhogmat1 · Answer

I couldn't agree more. This source seems way too dubious and the logic of answers aren't quite satisfactory.

First -- The fifties was a period. (A timeframe so singular but the number of days or months is plural?? Debatable) 
Second -- The fifties WAS a period. ( It's in the past.)

I find it easier to rule out based on Timeframe rather than singular/plural on this question.

The fifties,  for all their advertised conformity, now appear to have been  a time of considerable achievement in the arts.

(A) for all their advertised conformity, now appear to have been
 CORRECT 
(B) despite all their advertised conformity, now appear to be
  Now appear to be? So, previously they didn't have considerable achievement in the arts? Senseless.  
(C) for all their advertised conformity, now appear that they were
  This is wordy -- now appear that they were. Now appear that -- is non-idiomatic. I suppose its an old type of question not the new styled of GMAT question.  
(D) despite all their advertised conformity, now appears as
 This changes the meaning because appears as is an idiom used to describe something contrasting what is expected. But that was not the intended meaning here. Second problem here is appears is plural verb and their is plural subject 
(E) with all advertised conformity, now appears
  Notice E also changes meaning. Replacing For all with With all has a subtle shift in meaning. For all has a meaning similar to although or even though but with all means JUST with everything without any contrats.

daagh · Answer

I am afraid there are no two verbs; appear is the only verb that actions the subject ‘the fifties’; ‘to have’ is an infinitive and just a verbal

HKD1710 · Answer

(A) for all  their  advertised conformity, now  appear  to  have been 
(B) despite all their advertised conformity, now  appears  to be
(C) for all their advertised conformity, now appear that they  were 
(D) despite all their advertised conformity, now  appears  as
(E) with all their advertised conformity, now  appears

arya251294 · Answer

All the answer options have  "their"  in them so   "fifties"   is considered plural here.

CEdward · Answer

This is frankly not a good question. What the sentence is trying to convey is the notion that the fifties, as a period, now appears to be. I respectfully disagree with other posts that suggest that fifties is taking on the 'years' meaning here.

Bambi2021 · Answer

Why do we use the word "for" here. It doesnt make sense to me. Shouldnt a word like "despite" be a better fit?

This was a confusing sentence.

Posted from my mobile device

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The fifties, for all their advertised conformity, now appear to have

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The fifties, for all their advertised conformity, now appear to have

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