The results of the recent diet program that was launched early this ye

Question

The results of the recent diet program that was launched early this year are evident in all the participants’ average weight,  which reduced by almost 7kg on an average during the first 2 months of the program after it increased  by 8% in the last three years.

A. which reduced by almost 7kg on an average during the first two months of the program after it increased
B. which had reduced by almost 7kg on an average during the first two months of the program after it had increased
C. which has increased by almost 7kg on an average during the first two months of the program after increasing
D. with a 7kg reduction on an average during the first two months of the program after increasing
E. with a 7kg reduction on an average during the first two months of the program after having increased

GMAT VERBAL Daily Challenge RC/CR/SC (2022) Project

ElninoEffect · Answer

A. which reduced by almost 7kg on an average during the first two months of the program after it increased
 which is modifying average weight. it symbolizes average weight. average weight increased in past so correct tense has been used.
Everything looks fine.

B. which  had reduced  by almost 7kg on an average during the first two months of the program after it  had increased 
 Timeline is distorted by the use of two past perfect tense, now we can't say which event happened first.

C. which  has increased  by almost 7kg on an average during the first two months of the program after increasing
 Average weight has reduced not increased.

D.  with a 7kg reduction on an average  during the first two months of the program after  increasing 
 1)by removing almost we are adding certainty to the statement which changes the meaning.
2)Also now meaning is ambiguous - with a 7kg reduction on an average on what.? Weight or average weight.
3) What is increasing.?
 
E. with a 7kg reduction on an average during the first two months of the program after having increased
 Same as D

gloomybison · Answer

The results of the recent diet program that was launched early this year are evident in all the participants’ average weight, which reduced by almost 7kg on an average during the first 2 months of the program after it increased by 8% in the last three years.

A. which reduced by almost 7kg on an average during the first two months of the program after it increased
I think this one looks fine; though "it" might cast doubts, since it is referring to a possessive "participants’ average weight" but it is definitely not an absolute deal breaker so Keep A

B. which had reduced by almost 7kg on an average during the first two months of the program after it had increased
if you think the timeline of events from a logical standpoint it is fair to think that people got weight first, than the diet program launched and afterwards they lost weight, as a result of the program.
When ı look at the non-underlined portion we have "was launched" (A past simple in passive). So we shouldn't really use "had reduced"(A past perfect) otherwise it would illogically imply that participants lost weight before joining the program! so B is out of the window

C. which has increased by almost 7kg on an average during the first two months of the program after increasing
"has increased" (a present perfect) implies that it is still increasing/we are still experiencing the effects of increase, but as far as question tells us the results came in so it is long gone that weight is still increasing by 7 kg...so C is gone

D. with a 7kg reduction on an average during the first two months of the program after increasing
"With a 7 kg" is a little bit off on meaning...If we are literal with meaning it would imply that "result are evident...with a 7 kg reduction" how come result can be evident with a 7 kg reduction? so D is out

E. with a 7kg reduction on an average during the first two months of the program after having increased
Same problem with D... also why would you use "having increased"? what we need is succinct and clear phrases rather than long redundant ones...so E is out

So the answer is A as in Apple

ElninoEffect · Answer

carcass

Help us with the official explanation.

gmatophobia · Answer

Option A - Doesn't the use of past tense ('reduced') indicate that the action is over in the past ?

IMO A implies, the weight reduced by almost 7kg (and the participants are no longer experiencing any weight reduction now). This seems incorrect.

I think there is a typo in C (should be "which has  increased  reduced", but grammatically C is better than A.

Thoughts?

ElninoEffect · Answer

Hey AbhiroopGhosh

My whole reasoning of choosing A was it was better than all the other options and i never ever dreamed that C would be the answer it just doesn't make sense.

Now coming to your question, I decoded the meaning as the average weight reduced by almost 7 kg on average in the first 2 months of the program (which started earlier this year, hence past) after(denoting timeline) it increased by 8% in the past three years. - So since the weight increased in the past the use of past tense seemed correct to me.

No doubt if C had used decreased it's better than A but the meaning is entirely opposite right now.

I always give preference to meaning over grammer.

Now you tell me where i am at fault.?

gloomybison · Answer

AbhiroopGhosh

The thing is participants saw the results; they already lost almost 7 kg during the first 2 months 
we are not given on which month we are in the question but we can infer that these 2 months during which participants lost weight ended. Also we are not given further info whether they are still experiencing weight lost, even if they do they may very well lost more than 7kg, implying that they no longer experience 7 kg of weight loss, but rather they experience weight loss of more than 7 kg maybe 10 maybe 15 dunno...

Carcass · Answer

Here there is a lot what the GMAT is in its essence.

On one hand, we solve the question using our knowledge of the grammar rules: in A we do have the past tense that clearly indicates an action or something in the past completely and stop. Instead in C, we do have a tense that indicates the action is happening after a specific event in the past. The usage of the present perfect tense is appropriate.

Now this is the most beautiful part of the whole story. IF you stick using ONLY and SOLELY the grammar rules you never score high. You do not need the Official explanation either. you need your logic

The results of the recent diet program that was launched early this year are evident in all the participants’ average weight,  which reduced by almost 7kg on an average during the first 2 months of the program after it increased  by 8% in the last three years.

A. which reduced by almost 7kg on an average during the first two months of the program after it increased

Only seeing IT in A you do have a red flag: it stands for what ? KG? average ? or program ?

Also the phrase is basically the following:

the program,

1) whose results
2) and that was launched

ended with blah blah = a specific weight

The program, blah blah ..............which reduced ?? what reduces ?? itself and its average? or weight ??

C. which has increased by almost 7kg on an average during the first two months of the program after increasing

The results of X >>>> show us >> Y and Y , that comes AFTER X and is the weight, has increased!!!!

Pretty straight

Hope this helps

gmatophobia · Answer

Hey ElninoEffect gloomybison , Thanks for responding ! Appreciate sharing your thoughts and line of reasoning. While I am not a verbal expert (in fact light years away from being one

) sharing my thoughts in a bit detail. Please pardon my ignorance and correct me where you guys feel my thoughts have gone wrong. Here are my two cents on the sentence. I generally break the sentence and read. The original sentence is presented in blue font and my thinking is in italics- The results of the recent diet program that The sentence presents result of a recent diet program Let me read further .. was launched early this year The program was launched early this year. The relative pronoun 'that' refers to the program are evident in all the participants’ average weight The program was launched early this year, but the results are still evident as of the time the sentence was made. So, there is a connection between some past event and the present moment. 'May be' the sentence uses present perfect tense. Let me read further ... which reduced by almost 7kg on an average during the first 2 months of the program The relative pronoun which refers to the weight. So the weight of the participants reduced by almost 7 kgs during the first 2 months of the program The reduction of the weight is probably a part of the results that we were presented in the non underlined portion. The effect of the weight reduction is still felt, however the use of past tense gives an impression that the action is over. The use of present perfect tense can resolve this. For ex: I have eaten my dinner. The action of eating is over in the past, however I can feel its effect (may be I am full). after it increased by 8% in the last three years. 'it' refers to the weight of the participants so .. the weight reduced after it increased by 8% in the last three years in the last three years - is a timeframe. Past tense is used to denote an action at a particular time in the past. As we a referring to a duration here , may be a better construction can be made To sum up - there were two key areas in the sentence which was the basis of selecting C - 1) use of 'are evident', indicating that the effect is still relevant in the time the sentence is made 2) use of a past time frame 'in the last three years.' C resolves both the above points The results of the recent diet program that was launched early this year are evident in all the participants’ average weight which has increased by almost 7kg on an average during the first two months of the program after increasing by 8% in the last three years. I agree that C is not logically correct with the usage of "increased by almost 7kg"; however, if I consider that to be a typo error, the grammatical construction of the sentence seemed right to me. P.S. - Again, I am not an expert so I wouldn't be surprised if the explanation is totally off

Carcass · Answer

OE

EnterSky · Answer

Also in Option A, shouldn't there be  "which is reduced"  instead of  "which reduced"  to make it logical past tense? 
 ...weight, which reduced...  ---> weight is reducing something
e.g. Govt reduced tax rates
 ...weight, which is reduced... ---> weight itself is reduced by some other factor
e.g. Water level in a well is reduced due to less rain

Can anyone clear this doubt?
Thanks

VerbalBot · Answer

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The results of the recent diet program that was launched early this ye

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The results of the recent diet program that was launched early this ye

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