The percentage of people aged 25–44 living alone increased abruptly be

I am still confused. Why is C wrong? Since A used living which I thought is wrong because it should be past tense not present continuous. Please explain where I am going wrong

Also, I always try to avoid -ing verbs because I read it somewhere that GMAT doesn't like them... Which cases is it ok to use -ing verbs?

over the next five years in question requires "has" .. As the percentage will be continuing to rise in next five years ?

I would like an explanation for the OA
A) "The percentage of people aged 25–44 living alone increased abruptly between 1990 and 1995 and" continued to rise ...

Here, shouldn't verb sequencing be taken into account?
The way I understand it, percentage between 1990 and 1995 increased - earlier event
it continued to increase for next 5 years - later event.
Therefore, I believe past perfect tense "had increased" needs to be used.

The percentage of people aged 25–44 living alone "had increased" abruptly between 1990 and 1995 and "continued" to rise more slowly over the next five years.

Thanks in advance!

Official explanation:

Step 1: Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors

The original sentence sounds correct and exhibits parallel structure: “increased abruptly ... and continued to rise more slowly ...” But you should check out the other choices to see whether you may have missed something.

Step 2: Scan and Group the Answer Choices

Note that (B), (D), and (E) contain “there was” or “there has been.” This type of construction is rarely correct on the GMAT. Unless the other choices commit grievous errors, be prepared to eliminate these.

Step 3: Eliminate Choices Until Only One Remains

You can eliminate (B), (D), and (E) because “there” constructions (“there was,” “there has been,” etc.) should generally be avoided; these constructions are wordy and often turn verbs into passive voice. (C) is wrong here because the present perfect tense, “has continued,” indicates that the action began in the past but continues into the present. Because the sentence is discussing what happened between 1995 and 2000, the simple past tense is correct. Therefore, (A) is in fact correct.

The percentage of people aged 25–44 living alone increased abruptly between 1990 and 1995 and continued to rise more slowly over the next five years.

A. The percentage of people aged 25–44 living alone increased abruptly between 1990 and 1995 and
B. There was an abruptly increased percentage of people aged 25–44 who lived alone between 1990 and 1995 and they
C. The percentage of people aged 25–44 who lived alone increased abruptly between 1990 and 1995 and has
D. There has been an abrupt increase in the percentage of people aged 25–44 living alone between 1990 and 1995 and it
E. Between 1990 and 1995, there was an abrupt increase in the percentage of people aged 25–44 who lived alone which


- There B & D wrong.
- C - ....& has (wrong parallel construction we do require has before &) therefore wrong
- E - There ... where? can't see also , which is the construction not which.

TADA - ANS IS A

The percentage of people aged 25–44 living alone increased abruptly between 1990 and 1995 and continued to rise more slowly over the next five years.

A. The percentage of people aged 25–44 living alone increased abruptly between 1990 and 1995 and
B. There was an abruptly increased percentage of people aged 25–44 who lived alone between 1990 and 1995 and they
C. The percentage of people aged 25–44 who lived alone increased abruptly between 1990 and 1995 and has
D. There has been an abrupt increase in the percentage of people aged 25–44 living alone between 1990 and 1995 and it
E. Between 1990 and 1995, there was an abrupt increase in the percentage of people aged 25–44 who lived alone which


- There B & D wrong.
- C - ....& has (wrong parallel construction we do require has before &) therefore wrong
- E - There ... where? can't see also , which is the construction not which.

TADA - ANS IS A

There is nothing wrong with starting a sentence with "there." (I just did it!) Despite the OE, look for a proper reason for every elimination.

B) First, we don't want to say that there was a percentage, increased or otherwise. We want to say that there was an INCREASE IN the percentage. Second, THEY is incorrect. The people didn't rise; the percentage did.

D) The present perfect ("has been") isn't appropriate to describe a period that has already ended. The use of IT is also problematic. This could refer (correctly) to "percentage," but that's not entirely clear, especially since we have a singular subject ("increase"). If we really wanted to use this structure, we would want to say "and this percentage continued."

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