Despite the fact that the impact of Daylight Saving Time, at the onset

By the time we reach the point where it says “have been shown to be neutral” we know that SVA is being tested here. Based on this we can quickly eliminate Option A. We are then left with:

B – Even though the impact of DST, at the onset of which clocks are set forward by an hour, has been shown to be neutral, at best—research indicates that it actually increases the number of car accidents occurring on the Monday after the clocks spring forward—some countries do not observe it.

Look at these sentences with ‘even though’:
I bought the video game, even though it was expensive.
Even though his car wasn’t in perfect shape, Jake still won the race.

The use of ‘even though’ in this question does not satisfy the above structure. There is no contradiction or contrast that follows the use of ‘even though’. The negative effect that is given (increase in the number of accidents) is not used here as contrast but as a reason why some countries don’t observe it. We can eliminate this.

C – Since the impact of DST, at the onset of which clocks are set forward by an hour, has been shown to be neutral, at best—research indicates that it actually increases the number of car accidents occurring on the Monday after the clocks spring forward—some countries do not observe it.

C is to the point. Since impact of DST is neutral at best or negative, some countries do not follow it. This is the right answer.

D – Because the impact of DST, at the onset of which clocks are set forward by an hour, has been shown to be neutral—at best, research indicates that it may actually result in an increase in the number of car accidents occurring on the Monday after the clocks spring forward—some countries do not observe it.

Here the structure is not what is required. It changes the intended meaning. We need the phrase to say: neutral, at best (and not neutral—at best,). We can eliminate this option.

E – Because DST, at the onset of which clocks are set forward by an hour, has been shown to have a neutral impact, at best—research indicates that it may actually result in a possible increase in the number of car accidents occurring on the Monday after the clocks spring forward—some countries do not observe it.

Redundancy – ‘may’ and ‘possible’ together. Eliminate this option.

Hope this helps.

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-



Choice A: Option A uses "have" to refer to the singular noun "Daylight Saving Time". Furthermore, this option distorts the meaning of the sentence; the use of "Despite" indicates contrast, which does not make sense as the sentence is providing a reason why some countries do not adopt Daylight Saving Time. Thus, Option A is incorrect.

Choice B: Option B shares the second flaw of Option A, as it uses the term "Even though", which also shows contrast. Thus Option B is also incorrect.

Choice C: Option C preserves the intended meaning of the sentence, maintains proper subject-verb agreement, and utilizes proper comma placement. Thus, Option C is the correct answer.

Choice D: In Option D we can see an issue with the placement of the phrase "at best". This phrase should be separated from "neutral" by a comma, modifying it to indicate that the impact of Daylight Saving Time is, in the most positive interpretation, only neutral and never positive. Here, the comma has been placed after at best; thus, if we remove the information between two commas, the sentence will read "Because the impact of Daylight Saving Time, research indicates that it may actually result in an increase in...after the clocks spring forward—some countries do not observe it.", which is not a complete sentence. Therefore, Option D is incorrect.

Choice E: Option E repeats the comma placement error of Option D. Removing the information between commas will result in an incomplete sentence. Furthermore, "may actually result in a possible increase" is wordy and redundant. Thus, Option E is incorrect.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of “Extra Information between Two Commas”, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Ok... all sentence matter. C because we can see opposition - some countries observe and some not so it has additional effects.

generis GMATNinja

Can you explain the reason to eliminate option E?

I eliminated E because "may" and "possible increase" are redundant. A concise way to phrase would be "..it may actually result in increasing the number of accidents"

Let me know your thoughts

This question seems to have an error in every answer.

Choice C - "it" pronoun error. We donot know what it refers to - impact or daylight saving time.
Choice E - "may" and "possible increase" are redundant

My reply is not specific to this question, but you generally don't want to remove an option just because it contains an ambiguous pronoun, unless you've already checked the other options for "bigger" errors. In other words, it is possible for an option that is ambiguous to be correct.

Can anyone explain why D is wrong?

The positioning of at best is not very good in option D.

C ...the impact of Daylight Saving Time... has been shown to be neutral, at best—research indicates that it actually increases...

D ... the impact of Daylight Saving Time... has been shown to be neutral—at best, research indicates that it may actually result in an increase in...

Option C says that the impact is neutral, at best. This is where we want the at best (close to the overall impact). Option D appears to tell us that at best, research indicates something. This makes it harder for the reader to connect the at best to DST, as it seems to (a) refer to something about the research itself or (b) say "at best, DST may actually result in an increase in the number of accidents".

The basic structure we're looking for is "its impact is neutral, at best, or (negative thing)". Option D gives us "its impact is neutral, or at best, (negative thing)".

Also, the may actually result in is slightly wordy.

Two doubts -

1. Despite is used when there are contradictory sentences - which is present in this case. However, the correct option uses "Since".

2. "at best—research indicates that it may actually increase" - why "may" word is omitted in the correct option?

pikolo2510 , I missed this tag. You are spot on.

Option (E) inserted into a shortened sentence:
Because Daylight Saving Time has been shown to have a neutral impact, at best—research indicates that it may actually result in a possible increase in the number of car accidents—some countries do not observe it.

Nice catch! Yes, may and possible are redundant:
"may actually result in a possible increase . . .

Correct answer (C) states "...it actually increases ..."

The redundancy also wobbles towards nonsense.
To my native ear, "DST may actually result in a possible increase in accidents" sounds as if it were an oxymoron. Research identifies that a non-varying factor increases accidents or it does not.

(E)'s phrasing sounds as if Daylight Saving Time is a drunk or sleepy driver who MAY cause an accident.
Sometimes sleepy drivers cause accidents and sometimes they do not.
It appears that every Monday after DST sets in, more car accidents happen.
That coincidence is not variable.
It is not possible that DST may actually increase car accidents. DST actually does increase accidents.

Hi avin2788 ,


In this case, although it may seem as if we have a contradiction, we don't have one.

Research has proven that Daylight Saving Time is neutral at best.
Research has also shown that car accidents increase on the Monday after the time switch.

Daylight Saving Time at best does not help (is unproductive).
At worse, it is unproductive and counterproductive—it causes accidents is counterproductive).

Because Daylight Saving Time has neutral or bad effects, some countries do not use it.
Since DST has neutral or bad effects, some countries do not use it.

No contradiction exists.
X is neutral at best and bad at worst, so some countries do not use it.

May is omitted because it is unnecessary.
It also dilutes the sentence.
Accidents either increase or they do not.
The research shows that accidents do increase.
The "may" is a hedge or a filler.

If Daylight Saving Time is at best neutral in terms of fulfilling its original intent
to conserve energy;
and if DST does increase car accidents (not possibly increase accidents),
the logic underlying some countries' rejection of DST is stronger.

A- HAVE REFERS SINGULAR SUBJECT
B-SEE it is an ongoing discussion use of even though does not present a reason for which some countries don’t follow DST.BKZ IT HAS PROS AND CONS ATTACH TO IT,THE AUTHOR CANT SUPPORT IT.THE BEST WAY IS TO PRESNT A REASON NOT SUPPORT.
THE essence is because/since result of DST is neutral at best, some counties don’t use it.
C-lets keep it.
D- PRESENCE OF “AT BEST” IS AFETR “—” SHOWS THAT ACCIDENTS ARE GOOD THINGS.MEANING ERROR
E-“may actually result in possible” is redundant. also this has a phenomena of recent past and the concept is pretty much in use in the west.so may has no option.because they know the result almost is neutral so why to adopt.This is an well researched concept.GMAT expect us to know certain facts atleast for sentence correction as it is a test of usa.

so OA-C

VeritasKarishma
GMATNinja
Can you please explain why B is wrong and C is correct ?

Posted from my mobile device

GMATNinja VeritasKarishma
In C the subject is the impact...the last part "some countries do not observe it" refers to thew Daylight saving time and not its impact!

E appears both logically and grammatically right..The subject is correctly the Daylight Saving time itself and use of because also seems correct...So i chose E over C...
Ur thoughts pls
Debashis

"it" logically refers to "Daylight Saving Time" so pronoun ambiguity is not a problem in (C). It cannot refer to impact. Ambiguity occurs when a pronoun could refer to either one of two antecedents. e.g.
Take the bag out of the car and get it fixed.
Get what fixed? Bag or car? Not sure.

As for (E), there are problems in that.

Because Daylight Saving Time ... has been shown to have a neutral impact, at best - research indicates that it may actually result in a possible increase in... some countries do not observe it.

There is so much of if and but going on here... "it may actually..." and "in a possible ..."
It should simply be - research indicates it increases ... Research will indicate something concrete - it increases, stays same or decreases.

Despite the fact that the impact of Daylight Saving Time, at the onset of which clocks are set forward by an hour, have been shown to be neutral, at best???research indicates that it may actually increase the number of car accidents occurring on the Monday after the clocks spring forward???some countries do not observe it.

A - Despite the fact that the impact of Daylight Saving Time, at the onset of which clocks are set forward by an hour, have been shown to be neutral, at best???research indicates that it may actually increase

B - Even though the impact of Daylight Saving Time, at the onset of which clocks are set forward by an hour, has been shown to be neutral, at best???research indicates that it actually increases

C - Since the impact of Daylight Saving Time, at the onset of which clocks are set forward by an hour, has been shown to be neutral, at best???research indicates that it actually increases

D - Because the impact of Daylight Saving Time, at the onset of which clocks are set forward by an hour, has been shown to be neutral???at best, research indicates that it may actually result in an increase in

E - Because Daylight Saving Time, at the onset of which clocks are set forward by an hour, has been shown to have a neutral impact, at best???research indicates that it may actually result in a possible increase in


hi , is there any subject verb agreement issue in above question ...because while i was answering this question i noticed a split ...."that it may actually result in an increase" in few options and "indicates that it actually increases" i few other...

Can someone explain why we can't eliminate C based on the fact that the subject is "the impact", and "some countries do not observe it (the impact)" does not make sense?