The political masters of the health care system have not listened to

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that it has been unprofitable for the political masters of the health care system to listen to professional health planners.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Pronouns + Tenses

• “do so” is the correct, idiomatic usage when “do” refers to an action; in this construction, “so” rather than a pronoun is used to refer to the action, as pronouns cannot refer to actions.
• Present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
• Past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".

A: This answer choice incorrectly uses the pronoun phrase "that thing" rather than "so" to refer to the action of listening to "professional health planners"; please remember, “do so” is the correct, idiomatic usage when “do” refers to an action; in this construction, “so” rather than a pronoun is used to refer to the action, as pronouns cannot refer to actions.

B: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrase "has not been profitable", conveying the intended meaning - that listening to professional health planners has failed to produce profits for the political masters of the health care system. Further, Option B correctly uses "do so" to refer to the action of listening to "professional health planners". Additionally, Option B correctly uses the present perfect tense verb "has not been" to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present.

C: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "has been unprofitable"; the use of the word "unprofitable" incorrectly implies that listening to professional health planners has led to losses for the political masters of the health care system; the intended meaning is that listening to professional health planners has failed to produce profits for the political masters of the health care system. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the pronoun phrase "that thing" rather than "so" to refer to the action of listening to "professional health planners"; please remember, “do so” is the correct, idiomatic usage when “do” refers to an action; in this construction, “so” rather than a pronoun is used to refer to the action, as pronouns cannot refer to actions.

D: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "has been unprofitable"; the use of the word "unprofitable" incorrectly implies that listening to professional health planners has led to losses for the political masters of the health care system; the intended meaning is that listening to professional health planners has failed to produce profits for the political masters of the health care system.

E: This answer choice incorrectly uses the past perfect tense verb "had not been" to refer to an event that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is only used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".

Hence, B is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of "Past Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team