The use of the bar code, or Universal Product Code, which was created

Question

GMAT® Official Guide 2018

Practice Question  
Question No.: SC 707
Page: 687 
The use of the bar code, or Universal Product Code, which was created in part to enable supermarkets to process customers at a faster rate, has expanded beyond supermarkets to other retail outlets and  have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974 .

(A) have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974

(B) has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when they were first introduced in 1974

(C) have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when first introduced in 1974

(D) has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when the bar code was first introduced in 1974

(E) bar codes have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974

Universal Product Code  
 
 (A) Subject-Verb ( have ); Pronoun ( it )

(B) Pronoun ( they )

(C) Subject-Verb ( have )

(D) CORRECT

(E) Pronoun ( it )

First glance

Most of the answers begin with either  have  or  has ; find the Subject to determine whether the Verb should be singular or plural.
 
  Issues

(1) Subject-Verb:  have

Check the subject-verb pairings for all of the answer choices. Answers (A) and (C) both say  the   use   of the bar code ...   have   become readily accepted .  Use  is singular and  have  is plural, so eliminate choices (A) and (C) for a bad subject-verb match.

Answers (B) and (D) both correctly use  the use ... has become . Answer (E) changes the form to insert a new, plural subject for the final, plural verb:  bar codes have . Keep these choices in.

(2) Pronoun:  it ;  they

The  it  pronoun in the original sentence does match the singular  bar code , but there’s still a difficulty. It is a subject pronoun, so the first expectation is to check the subject earlier in the sentence to see whether that subject is the antecedent for the pronoun. In this case, the subject is  use . But the  use  was not first introduced in 1974. Rather, the bar code was. This potential ambiguity is enough to give   answer (A)   a   question mark  , though the test will likely give you a stronger reason to eliminate this answer (in this case, that’s the   subject-verb mismatch  ).

Answer (B) uses the pronoun  they  in the same position.  Use ,  bar code , and  Universal Product Code  are all singular; none can match with the plural pronoun  they .

Answer (E) introduces a new plural subject,  bar codes , but then pairs that with the singular pronoun  it . In this case, the sentence should use  they ; eliminate   (E)   for a   faulty pronoun match  .
 
  The Correct Answer

Correct answer (D) pairs the singular verb  has become  with the singular subject  use . It avoids the pronoun issue entirely by repeating the words  bar code  rather than using a pronoun.

thangvietnam · Answer

i agree that choice d is best but
"when clause" in choice d modifies "opposition". is this correct?

pls, explain . thanks

BijayKru · Answer

The use of the bar code, or Universal Product Code, which was created in part to enable supermarkets to process customers at a faster rate, has expanded beyond supermarkets to other retail outlets and have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974.

(A) have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974( use of have incorrect): as its not parallel and if you will see the non-underline part. There they have used has. So its a clue for those who are getting confuse between have and has. So right answer should be HAS)

(B) has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when they were first introduced in 1974( They????? to whom its referring. So wrong)

(C) have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when first introduced in 1974( use of have incorrect): as its not parallel and if you will see the non-underline part. There they have used has. So its a clue for those who are getting confuse between have and has. So right answer should be HAS)

(D) has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when the bar code was first introduced in 1974. ( Correct. if you will compare B and D. In place of THEY. they have clearly mentioned the bar code( now its clear to whom its referring)

(E) bar codes have become readily accepted despite initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974( use of have incorrect): as its not parallel and if you will see the non-underline part. There they have used has. So its a clue for those who are getting confuse between have and has. So right answer should be HAS)

BijayKru · Answer

The use of the bar code, or Universal Product Code, which was created in part to enable supermarkets to process customers at a faster rate, has expanded beyond supermarkets to other retail outlets and have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974.

(A)  b]have   become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974

(B)  has  become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when they were first introduced in 1974: has : correct, They refer to??? so wrong

(C)   have   become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when first introduced in 1974

(D)  has  become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when the bar code was first introduced in 1974: has correct

(E)  b]bar codes   have become readily accepted despite initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974

RashedVai · Answer

in choice (E), there is a typo. The word "some" is missing here. The original from OG is given bellow.

(E) bar codes have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974

Bunuel

Bunuel · Answer

________________
Edited. Thank you.

deepshikha12 · Answer

Sentence analysis :

The use of the bar code, or Universal Product Code,  which was created in part to enable supermarkets to process customers at a faster rate ,  has  expanded beyond supermarkets to other retail outlets and  have  become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when  it  was first introduced in 1974.

- the use of bar code - has expanded and have become - SV error. 
- it is referring to "use of bar code", where as it should have been bar code itself.

(A) have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974 - errors as defined

(B)  has  become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when  they  were first introduced in 1974 - they is not right, they referring to bar code - not right

(C)  have  become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when first introduced in 1974 - first intrduced what - use of bar code - wrong

(D) has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when the bar code was first introduced in 1974 - ok

(E) bar codes have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when  it  was first introduced in 1974

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

The concepts that are tested here include  SVA, Pronouns  and  Parallelism .

We can first use SVA and Parallelism to find a foothold in this question. By the time we get to the underlined part of the sentence that begins with ‘have become’ both SVA and Parallelism are flouted.

The previous portion of the sentence says ‘has expanded’. Since it is not underlined, we can go ahead and look at the options vertically to find an option that begins with ‘has’ – why? So that it maintains parallelism and is consistent with the subject.

(A)  have  become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974

(B) has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when they were first introduced in 1974

(C)  have  become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when first introduced in 1974

(D) has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when the bar code was first introduced in 1974

(E) bar  codes have  become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when  it  was first introduced in 1974

Eliminate Options A and C.  E has a different beginning. It’s definitely breaking parallelism.  Eliminate Option E.

Now we need to decide between Options B and D.

B  has the pronoun ‘they’ which is ambiguous. We don’t need any more ammo to  eliminate  this option.

Option D is the best choice here.

Hope this helps!

egmat227 · Answer

803. The use of the bar code, or Universal Product Code, which was created in part to enable supermarkets to process customers at a faster rate, has expanded beyond supermarkets to other retail outlets and have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974.
 Meaning:

The use of the bar code, or Universal Product Code we are talking about use of bar code/UPC
which was created in part to enable supermarkets to process customers at a faster rate Which = UPC or bar code
Was = verb = singular for singular subject bar code
Subject -verb pair present in the which/prepositional clause
has expanded beyond supermarkets to other retail outlets Has expanded = singular present perfect verb for singular subject “ The use”. Present perfect as bar code was developed in past but the use of it still valid in present 
and have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition And = connector 
So subject “the use” has two verb 
1. Has expanded 
2. have become = plural= incorrect. We need singular verb for this
when it was first introduced in 1974. “when” a time marker to show opposition was there when it was launched initially.
“it” = singular bar code

(A) have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974
SV pair doesn’t match.

(B) has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when they were first introduced in 1974
“they” is incorrect. Need singular “it” for singular “the bar code”

(C) have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when first introduced in 1974
SV pair doesn’t match

(D) has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when the bar code was first introduced in 1974
Correct
(E) bar codes have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974

sanjayparihar16 · Answer

Hello,
According to me, "Use of bar code" is subject not only "Use", because use cannot be accepted so it is not the subject. Also, it is not compulsory that the subject need to be a single word, it can be a phrase too, just like in this case.
I hope this helped.

Miles to go before I sleep

mba757 · Answer

A. “The use…has expanded…and have become…” No.
B. “The use…has expanded…and has become…” Yes.
a. “they” has no clear antecedent; “the use” – singular; “of the bar code,” which in a prep phrase….is also singular
C. “The use…has expanded…and have become…” No.
D. “The use…has expanded…and has become…” Yes.
E. “The use…has expanded…and bar codes have…” seems off – needs parallel structure to match “has expanded”
a. Clear error – bar codes have become…despite…when it…”

pemathew · Answer

that was a easy elimination....

CEdward · Answer

The use of the bar code, or Universal Product Code, which was created in part to enable supermarkets to process customers at a faster rate, has expanded beyond supermarkets to other retail outlets and have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974.

(A)  have  become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974

(B) has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when  they  were first introduced in 1974

(C)  have  become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when first introduced in 1974

(D) has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when the bar code was first introduced in 1974  CORRECT

(E) bar codes have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when  it   was first introduced in 1974

BLTN · Answer

In addition to E, the answer represents Run-On sentence. Two ICs are linked by conjunction "and" without comma.

SebaRaffa · Answer

The use (subject)… has expanded (verb)… and (parallel marker) has become (verb)…

B and D stay

D is preferable to B because the use of BAR CODE instead of THEM makes D much sheerer than B.
Additionally, (THEM) might be referring to supermarkets, which for sure were not introduced in 1974.

woohoo921 · Answer

chetan2u

Thank you for your helpful reply.

To clarify my understanding of the correct answer, can't you argue that "has become" is redundant? Wouldn't using "is" avoid the redundancy?
Also, isn't "first introduced" redundant? Wouldn't saying "was introduced" make more sense, assuming that it is unlikely it was introduced many times throughout history because introduced means bought into operation for the first time.

I struggle with redundancy on the GMAT, because I see many explanations on GMATClub rule off incorrect SC answers for being redundant. Although Choice D is the BEST answer here among the choices, some parts do still seem redundant. Thank you again.

egmat · Answer

Hey  woohoo921

Happy to answer your questions on choice D.

Choice D: The use of the bar code, or Universal Product Code, which was created in part to enable supermarkets to process customers at a faster rate, has expanded beyond supermarkets to other retail outlets and  has become  readily accepted despite some initial opposition when the bar code was  first introduced  in 1974.

"has become" vs "is" : 
  Shift and Conflict in Meaning : The verb "is" conveys a fact limited to the present. So, when we say "The use of the bar code is readily accepted  despite some initial opposition when the bar code was first introduced in 1974 " we create a conflict in meaning. How can the use of the bar code be readily accepted when there was  some initial opposition ? The fact that there was some initial opposition implies that earlier it wasn't readily accepted.  The acceptance has grown over time . There has been a transition in its level of acceptance. Hence, we  must  use a verb that conveys this  change of state . So, "has become" is not only  not redundant ,  it's also essential to the meaning of the sentence .

"first introduced" vs "introduced"  : 
  Meaning Analysi s: Although you're right that "introduced" means "brought into operation for the first time", this is  NOT  the only meaning of the word "introduced". As per   meanings 9 and 10   in the Oxford Dictionary, "introduced" also means "to put something into something". So, 'first' is not automatically implied by the word "introduced" in certain meanings.

That said, in this context, there is an important  clue  you've missed. The sentence says that "the use of the bar code has expanded  beyond supermarkets to other retail outlets ". So, clearly, haven't there been  multiple introductions  of the bar code... first in supermarkets, and then in retail outlets ? If this is clearly the case, doesn't it make sense to say "first introduced in 1974" to make it clear that we're talking about the first time the bar code was used anywhere?

To conclude, no,  these expressions are not redundant . Words/phrases/expressions are considered redundant  only when they repeat identical information . Neither of the above classifies as identical information. In order to master this ability to spot redundancy, you must strengthen your ability to analyze meaning closely.

I hope this helps.

Happy Learning!

Abhishek

woohoo921 · Answer

Thank you so much for this thorough explanation! To follow-up, would the use of "is" be correct in this example if you paired it was a change of state such as "now" --> "is now"?

egmat · Answer

Hey  woohoo921

Yes, that would work. "Now" would certainly imply the change of state, and, since these are verb phrases of two independent clauses fused into one, we can change the tense from present perfect (has expanded) to simple present (is).

So, yes, that would work just fine.

Hope this helps.

Happy Learning!

Abhishek

neilm · Answer

The use of the bar code, or Universal Product Code, which was created in part to enable supermarkets to process customers at a faster rate, has expanded beyond supermarkets to other retail outlets and have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974.

here the topic tested are :- Subject-verb Agreement , Parallelism , Pronoun.

SUBJECT   =  The use of the bar code     (Singular Subject) 
 VERB- "have become "    (plural verb) 
According to the rule of Subject verb agreement the subject and verb should agree in number 
they both should be either singular or plural.

(A)  have become  readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974.  Wrong  .
here the verb is plural which is wrong as the subject is singular.

(B) has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when they were first introduced in 1974.   Wrong  
here when we replace the pronoun they with the entire sentence the sentence becomes unclear and grammatically wrong
 pronoun = they
word it referring to = the use of barcodes

NEW SENTENCE:-
has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when the   use of barcodes   were first introduced in 1974.   Wrong

(C)  have become  readily accepted despite some initial opposition when first introduced in 1974.   Wrong  
here the verb is plural which is wrong as the subject is singular.

(D)  has become  readily accepted despite some initial opposition when the bar code was first introduced in 1974.
we cant find any error in this sentence lets hold on to this sentence.

(E) bar codes  have become  readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974.   Wrong  
here the verb is plural which is wrong as the subject is singular.
Also there is an error of parallelism here.

so therefore D is the correct option.

Hope this helps,
Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Deep32470 · Answer

The use of the bar code, or Universal Product Code, which was created in part to enable supermarkets to process customers at a faster rate, has expanded beyond supermarkets to other retail outlets and have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974.

(A) have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974

(B) has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when they were first introduced in 1974

(C) have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when first introduced in 1974

(D) has become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when the bar code was first introduced in 1974

(E) bar codes have become readily accepted despite some initial opposition when it was first introduced in 1974

Here the subject is 'use' which is singular, hence options A, C &E are out. Left are options B & D out of which B also can be elimininated as 'they' in second part of sentence in option B is referring to plural, which is here bar code which is singular, hence only D is left only. However , if suppose B also have mentioned it then what would be the final option?

It will be again D. it is due to in option D, in later part of the sentence after comma, the subject is bar code which is not mentioned in option B, Since at the start of the sentence, the subject is 'use' hence it/they can't make sense refererring back to it. Hence we have to use the subject 'bar code' again.
However, if in the first part of sentence, the subject were 'bar code', then in the later part of the sentence use of 'it' would work.

The use of the bar code, or Universal Product Code, which was created

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The use of the bar code, or Universal Product Code, which was created

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