The steel industry has changed radically over the last two decades, as

Question

The steel industry has changed radically over the last two decades,  as large, integrated companies such as Bethlehem Steel  once conducted operations from mining at one end of the process to shipping at the other have greatly downsized, or in some cases shut down altogether.

(A) as large, integrated companies such as Bethlehem Steel

(B) as large, integrated companies, such as Bethlehem Steel, that

(C) with large, integrated companies, such as Bethlehem Steel, that

(D) while large, integrated companies, such as Bethlehem Steel, that

(E) and large, integrated companies such as Bethlehem Steel

daagh · Answer

Radhika

Further to what I said in my previous reply, I am attaching a file that gives a list of GMAT examples in which 'that' is used as a relative pronoun and as a subordinate conjunction. Search for these examples in the forum and look for the correct usage of 'that' from the OAs.

Revisore61790 · Answer

I understand the subject is unclear on A, but I'm not sure I still understand the need for "that". Would B still be correct if "that" was removed as it would seem that "integrated companies" would still be the clear subject?

daagh · Answer

Reason why ‘that’ is required:

Let’s now split the sentence into the components.

1. The steel industry has changed radically over the last two decades

2. as large, integrated companies such as Bethlehem Steel once conducted operations from mining at one end of the process to shipping at the other ---subordinate clause one. 
3. have greatly downsized, or in some cases shut down altogether. This clause is now dangling without proper conjugation with the subordinate clause. 
Now we can see that the subject large integrated companies has two verbs namely, which is grammatically incorrect. This fault is fixed by turning the first subordinate clause into a relative noun and noun modifier, rendering ‘have ….” as the working verb for the subordinate clause. Without the 'that' , the subordinate clause will turn out to bea double - verbed fragment.

sevenplusplus · Answer

B. The steel industry has changed radically over the last two decades, as large, integrated companies such as Bethlehem Steel   that once conducted operations  from mining at one end of the process to shipping at the other have greatly downsized, or in some cases shut down altogether.

Could someone clarify if bold phrase could qualify "such as Bethlehem Steel"? I am not sure if the phrase points to "such as Bethlehem Steel" or to "large, integrated companies".

Thanks in advance.

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  sevenplusplus ,  that  refers to  large, integrated companies .

The simple reason is to note that there is a  comma  before  that . In  normal  situations,  that  does not have a  comma  preceding it.

This comma is actually a  delimiter  for the following  non-essential  phrase:  such as Bethlehem Steel .

So, the  core  of the sentence is:

....large, integrated companies that once conducted operations from...

Now, it is clear that  that  is referring to  large, integrated companies .

bpdulog · Answer

It took me like 10 re-reads but I think I see what the error in B is now as I was also torn between A & B. This article covers the uses of "that":

https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-sent ... s-of-that/

kebab1990 · Answer

I don't understand why there is a comma before "that" in correct answer choice. If "that" is to describe the company, Bethelehem Steel and that should not be exasperated by comma.

Appreciate your explanation very much!

AjiteshArun · Answer

We should think twice before marking an option that introduces a comma between a  that  and the noun that the  that  refers to. This means that the following structure is incorrect:

1.  An event ,  that greatly reduced their numbers...  ← Putting a comma between  event  and  that  is non-standard. We would really not want to mark an option like this one.
2.  An event that ,  greatly reduced their numbers...  ← This one is also incorrect.

However, there is an "exception" to this. If we need a modifier near the  that , we may use commas to "bracket" the modifier.

3.  An event that ,  in our opinion ,  greatly reduced their numbers...  ← Yes, we can see commas here, but those commas are for "in our opinion".
4.  An event that  ,  in our opinion ,   greatly reduced their numbers...  ← (3), without the "in our opinion"

Similarly, in this question:

5.  ... as large, integrated companies ,  such as Bethlehem Steel ,  that once conducted operations...  ← The commas are for "such as Bethlehem Steel".
6.  ... as large, integrated companies  ,  such as Bethlehem Steel ,   that once conducted operations...  ← The  that  refers to  large, integrated companies .

rashwiniyer · Answer

I know lot of explanation has been provided already, but I am afraid I am not clear on why A is wrong and B is correct. Can someone please explain in detail. thanks in advance.

AjiteshArun · Answer

The main thing to keep in mind here is that without a  that , the first verb there will take  companies  as its subject.

...  companies  (a) once  conducted  operations (b)  have greatly downsized ...

This is like saying (ignore any other issues in the examples below):

...  questions   were  once tough  are  now easy...

We have two verbs for  questions , without anything to join them. We could use an  and  or a  but , but we'd end up with something other than the intended meaning.

... questions were once tough and are now easy... 
 ... questions were once tough but are now easy...

Another way to fix this is to "give" the first verb to something else, like  that .

...  questions   that were once tough   are  now easy...

custodio · Answer

The steel industry has changed radically over the last two decades,  as large, integrated companies such as Bethlehem Steel  once conducted operations from mining at one end of the process to shipping at the other have greatly downsized, or in some cases shut down altogether.

(A) as large, integrated companies such as Bethlehem Steel
(B) as large, integrated companies, such as Bethlehem Steel, that

About "that":
I guess we can omit "that" in some cases such as:
1) The book I read. (without "that")
2) The book that I read. (with "that")
Both of these sentences are correct. Even though we did not write "that" in the first example, "that" is implied.

Coming back to the question:
(A) As large, integrated companies such as Bethlehem Steel  once conducted operations from X to Y  have greatly downsized.
should be equal to:
As large, integrated companies such as Bethlehem Steel   THAT  once conducted operations from X to Y  have greatly downsized.

Therefore, I do not understand why so many people in this forum think that (A) has two main verbs (conducted & downsized). I think there is no two main verbs. "Conducted" is a verb of the  modifier  (blue), in which "that" is ommited.

However, in my opinion, why (A) is not correct is because even though "that" is ommited in the  modifier , that  modifier  refers to "Bethlehem Steel". This is not correct, because the  modifier  should modify "large, integrated companies", not "Bethlehem Steel".

On the other side, choice (B) clearly puts "that" to modify "large, integrated companies", hence, is the correct option.

Any thoughts?

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  custodio ,

In such constructions, we can consider the relative pronoun ( that  in your example) to be the subject of the verb in the relative clause:
1.  The   book       that       was recommended   by you     looks    useful. ← Here   book   forms a subject-verb pair with   looks  . We can consider   that   to be the subject of   was recommended  .

In such cases, we  cannot  drop the  that . We can  replace  the entire  that -clause with a different type of modifier, but if we decide to stick with a relative clause, we cannot drop the  that :
2.   The   book       was recommended   by you     looks    useful.  ← If we drop the  that , we end up with two verbs for   book  . This is  not  correct.

Let's take a sentence in which the verb inside the relative clause has a different subject:
3.  The   book    that    you       recommended       looks    useful. ← Here   you   is the subject of   recommended  .

When the verb in the relative clause has a different subject, we should be able to drop the  that :
4.  The   book       you       recommended       looks    useful. ← This sentence is fine.

custodio · Answer

AjiteshArun

Thanks for your answer. I would be glad if you can clarify further.

Based on your answer, I see that:
If the relative pronoun "that" is the subject of the verb in the relative clause, then we CAN'T omit "that". For ex:
The book that was recommended by you looks useful. ("that" is necessary)
 
However, please look at this official correct sentence:
Finally reaching a decision on an issue that has long been politically charged in the Pacific Northwest,  politicians decided to postpone by at least five years an ambitious plan to protect wild salmon and other endangered fish, proposing instead a series of smaller steps intended  to protect the fish.

When I look at
... proposing instead a series of smaller  steps intended to protect the fish 
I observe
THAT is omitted in "steps (THAT) intended to protect the fish."

Clearly, "that" is omitted even "that" is the subject of the word in the relative clause, no?

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  custodio ,

That's a great question. We can look at the example you found, but first, let's take a look at this sentence:
1a. They read the message    that     was written    by us yesterday. ← Here we've used a (passive) verb after the  that . We  cannot  drop the  that  (  they read the message was written by us yesterday  ).

1b. They read the message that    we     wrote    yesterday. ← In this case, we've used both a subject and a verb after the  that . We  can  drop the  that  ( they read the message we wrote yesterday ).

Now, we can replace the entire  that -clause in (1a) with a past participle (another type of modifier):
2. ... the message   written  by us yesterday  ← There is no verb in this entire phrase!

The reason we used  written  is that the verb  write  changes form (past tense:  wrote , past participle:  written ), while  intend  does not (past tense:  intended , past participle:  intended ). The difference is easier to see with  written . That is, in going from (1a) to (2), we didn't just assume that the  that  is there. We replaced the entire modifier.

Finally, let's get to the phrase you found in the OG:
3. ... steps intended to protect the fish ← This  intended  is  not  a (complete) verb. It is a past participle modifier.

If we were to use a  that -clause instead of a past participle, we'd get:
4. ... steps that are intended to protect the fish ← Now we have an actual (complete) verb after the  that . This form ( {is/was/are...} + intended ) means ~ "designed to do something", not ~ "plan to do something".

So, that's the change we need to make in your example.  Steps intended to protect the fish  is  not   steps that intended to protect the fish . It is  steps that are intended to protect the fish .

msali1983 · Answer

My justification for correct answer B.

The First IC is followed by , - now after comma is a long under line, so it can be

modifier issue or parallelism or structure issue.

Parallelism is ruled out. Structure is maintained by using such as to present an example- ( not necessarily correct as per GMAT new rules)

so the main issue remains is modifier issue.

simplifying the sentence , after comma can be followed by another IC connected by either (; ) or by using a Conjunction. 
To see if it is an IC we need to identify the subject and the verb - The subject is -- large, integrated companies, such as Bethlehem Steel,- followed by relative clause - that once conducted operations from mining at one end of the process to shipping at the other- and then the main verb - have greatly downsized -

Now to cross the subtle errors - check the Verb tense and SV agreement.
Note - If the verb was missing - using participle instead - eg having greatly downsized - then the option C would be correct as we are using a prepositional phrase instead of IC and preposition phrase cannot act as a subject and must not have a verb associated with it.

Tanchat · Answer

Dear Experts,

I have a question in (A)

"once" can act as conjunction.
it means as soon as; when.

"once the grapes were pressed, the juice was put into barrels"

then why (A) is incorrect?

ReedArnoldMPREP · Answer

Well, you're right that once *can* be used as a conjunction, as in the sentence you provided. When used as a conjunction, 'once' means 'as soon as' or 'shortly after.'

But that's not how 'once' is used in the sentence as written. Here, we are using 'once' as a modifier to mean 'at one point.' The companies operated   operations *at one point*, but now, those companies have downsized or closed.

The sentence isn't saying, "As soon as the companies operated   operations, those companies downsized or closed.

'Once' is clearly modifying 'conducted' in the sentence.

NextLevelHope · Answer

I'm not able to understand why A is wrong and B is right. Further, why can't there be two verbs in a single clause?

GMATNinja · Answer

Stripping out a bunch of the modifiers in (A), we're left with this:

"The steel industry has changed, as companies  once conducted operations  have greatly downsized, or in some cases shut down altogether."

The part in bold is a problem. Sure, you can have multiple verbs in a single clause, but you need a conjunction to connect them (e.g. "as companies once conducted operations AND have greatly downsized"). As written, (A) is no better than saying "The companies conducted operations have greatly downsized," which doesn't work for the same reason -- there's no conjunction.

Another way to fix the problem is by turning the "once conducted" part into a modifier (e.g. "as companies  THAT once conducted operations  have greatly downsized"), and that's exactly what we get in choice (B).

I hope that helps!

The steel industry has changed radically over the last two decades, as

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The steel industry has changed radically over the last two decades, as

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