The government's projections on business growth and unemployment, alon

the government projections are plural therefore they need a plural verb. This explains why a is wrong
the reason why E is wrong is that the subject of the sentence, which is government projections, is not an ongoing process
. Therefore a progressive tense "" are "" is unnecessary here. A simple present tense suffices here to show that
X(( projections)), along with Y (( government specific reports )) , predicate (( simple present , indicates)) an action that is not going to continue again and again ( pressure subsiding, but will pause in the present
Also, are indicative is too wordy. Here indicative is an adjective not a main verb.

Therefore E lacks a main verb

Hi Ravindra.here.
I'm still a little bit confused with your explanation.
But X along with Y -- indicate that... sounds less wordy than X along with Y are indicative of.

Thank you for the reply!

may be i wrote too much
let me make it simple
basic gmat rule.
given a choice between simple present and a progressive tense or continuous tense
choose simple present.
Also, since indicative is an adjective and not an verb, therefore are indicative lacks a main verb.
And a subject requires a main verb (( auxillary are+ main verb )) to make a complete sentence
Hope it helps

A - incorrect, singular verb ''indicates'' does not match the plural subject ''government's projections''
B - incorrect, same as A
C - correct, aligns with the subject ''government's projections''
D - incorrect, same as A
E - incorrect, ''are indicative'' is a running sentence and does not match the subject

SV Agreement issues
The government's projections on business growth and unemployment, along with its specific reports on prices and wages in individual companies, (A) indicates inflationary pressures subsiding

The government's projections on business growth and unemployment, along with its specific reports on prices and wages in individual companies, (B) has indicated the subsiding of inflationary pressures

The government's projections on business growth and unemployment, along with its specific reports on prices and wages in individual companies, (D) is indicative that inflationary pressures are subsiding

The government's projections on business growth and unemployment, along with its specific reports on prices and wages in individual companies, (C) indicate that inflationary pressures are subsiding

The government's projections on business growth and unemployment, along with its specific reports on prices and wages in individual companies, (E) are indicative of inflationary pressures subsiding


I eliminated E because "X, Y and Z" don't lead to inflation subsiding, X, Y and Z report that inflation is subsiding, thus they INDICATE that inflation is subsiding.

MartyTargetTestPrep EducationAisle IanStewart What are the reasons for eliminating option E?

Answer E is bad writing for one thing -- there is no good reason to say "Reports are indicative of X" when it is clearer and simpler to say "Reports indicate X". That's all I'd need to notice to pick C over E here. But answer E also changes the meaning of the sentence in a subtle way, as dcummins points out above. As a verb, "indicate" means "point out", so a report can "indicate" that something is happening. But if one thing is "indicative" of another, then it is an "indication" or "sign" of the other. And the "projections and reports" here are not signs of subsiding inflation. Instead, it's the changes in prices and employment, the things the reports are reporting on, that are the signs that inflation is subsiding. So you could correctly say "Increasing employment numbers and falling prices are indicative of subsiding inflationary pressures", but not "A report about employment numbers and prices is indicative of subsiding inflationary pressures."

Hey bv8562

Happy to help you with this.

There are two important reasons for why E is incorrect. Let's understand, by first doing a Meaning Analysis.

Meaning Analysis:
The government's projections on business growth and unemployment, along with its specific reports on prices and wages in individual companies, indicates inflationary pressures subsiding.

Aspects of Meaning:

• The government has made projections on business growth and unemployment in the present.
• How do we know we're talking about the current scenario and not a general principle? The answer/clue "along with its specific reports on prices and wages in individual companies". This phrase, with words such as "specific" and "individual", hint at the current situation and the current prediction, rather than a general principle.
• These government projections indicate that inflationary pressures are subsiding.
• The use of the present continuous "are subsiding" is crucial, owing to the description of the current scenario.

Now that we understand the Intended Meaning, let's look at why choice E is incorrect:

Errors in Choice E:

1. "are indicative of" is a wordier alternative to "indicate", even though it means practically the same thing. Ref: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries. ... indicative
2. The phrase "inflationary pressures subsiding" is devoid of the Present Continuous Tense. This phrase can apply to the past, present, or future. Since this is a mere noun phrase, it refers to the concept of "inflationary pressures subsiding" and fails to convey that this action is happening RIGHT NOW! And this fails to convey the Intended Meaning!

I hope you see why deriving the Intended Meaning is so important to solving SC.

Please feel free to revert for further clarification, if required.

Happy learning!