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07 Jan 2022, 00:31
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A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
45%
(medium)
Question Stats:
61% (01:37) correct
39%
(01:28)
wrong
based on 209
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
The percentage of people remaining single in Holland increased abruptly between 1980 and 1990 and continued to rise more gradually over the next 10 years.
A) The percentage of people remaining single in Holland increased abruptly between 1980 and 1990 and continued to rise more gradually over the next ten years.
B) The percentage of people remaining single in Holland increased abruptly between 1980 and 1990 and has continued to rise more gradually over the next ten years.
C) The percentage of people remaining single in Holland increased abruptly between 1980 and 1990 and had continued to rise more gradually over the next ten years.
D) There had been an abrupt increase in the percentage of people remaining single in Holland between 1980 and 1990 and it continued to rise more gradually over the next ten years.
E) There was an abrupt increase in the percentage of people remaining single in Holland between 1980 and 1990 which continued to rise more gradually over the next ten years.
Source - Chili Hot GMAT: Verbal Review
07 Jan 2022, 00:35
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
THE PROMPT
• VERB TENSE: a few takeaways
→ As a general rule, GMAC prefers simple past (and simple present).
1. When events are finished; sequence is either clear or not important (the events happened simultaneously, for example); and no connection to the present exists, use simple past tense.
2. When one past event precedes another past event and sequence is not clear, most of the time, use past perfect (HAD + past participle verbED).
We also use past perfect to describe an event that happens up to a certain time in the past.
By the time X, Y [Y takes the past perfect]
Correct: By the time the strange winter fire reached Boulder, Colorado, most residents had evacuated.
3. When events or their effects start in the past and continue into the present, use present perfect, which is sometimes called the "bridge from past to present."
Correct: Extreme weather caused by global warming has decimated many parts of the world.
THE OPTIONS
• The time (the "when") is fixed and discrete (not continuous).
• Both events (increased and continued to rise ... over the next ten years) are finished.
The first event ended in 1990.
The second event ended in 2000.
I realize that we are all a bit time-disoriented, but the current year is 2022.
KEEP
• The present perfect tense (has continued) is inconsistent with the timing of an event that took place in the fairly distant past (two decades ago) and that has no inherent or implicit connection to the present.
• It does not matter that the "continued to rise" occurred over a decade ("the next ten years"). That time period is over.
Saying "has continued" implies that the percentage is still rising, right now. Just one problem. It's more than 20 years later.
ELIMINATE B
A certain group as a percentage the population increased sharply and continued to increase gradually for another decade.
• Even if you want to argue that a sequence does exist (first, from 1980 to 1990, the population increased abruptly and second, for the next ten years, the population continued to rise):
-- From the dates, the word continued, and the phrase to rise for the next ten years, we know the sequence of events.
-- Worse, this sentence incorrectly renders the later event in the past perfect verb tense but should render the earlier event in past perfect.
That is, if past perfect were to be used (and it is not needed), we should see:
The percentage of people remaining single in Holland had increased abruptly between 1980 and 1990 and continued to rise more gradually over the next ten years.
ELIMINATE C
→ it seems to refer to an abrupt increase but should refer to the percentage of people remaining single.
• construction - passive construction
→ GMAC almost never uses phrases such as There were, There are, or There had been.
Take a look in the OGs. You will find only a handful of such questions.
The passive construction there had been is considered weak.
The strength of active construction is revealed by the better option (A): can you see that option D's construction sort of weighs you down?
• verb tense error
Finally, with respect to the past perfect verb tense, it is not warranted: we have dates. We know the sequence. We do not need had been.
→ To test, insert "was" for "had been" and compare to option A.
Option A uses the simple past in active voice rather than passive voice.
Option A wins.
ELIMINATE D
• Which should be preceded by a comma.
In British English, which and that are interchangeable. Not so in formal U.S. English. Not so on the GMAT:
→ i]Which[/i] introduces nonessential modifiers and is flanked by commas.
→ That introduces essential modifiers and is not flanked by commas.
• the antecedent of which is not clear.
Does which refer to the percentage of people or to an abrupt increase?
ELIMINATE E
The best answer is A.
COMMENTS
theirrationalmind (great username), TBT , and thakurrani81 , welcome to SC Butler.
theirrationalmind , I like the way you explained how and why option D tempted and finally won you.
You reasoned well; you just took one small wrong turn—one that I suspect you will not take again.
I am glad that you liked the question.
(Just to be clear to others: it doesn't matter whether two events happen in two different decades.
I can say, "He studied French in high school as a teenager but decided to learn Farsi when he enrolled in night school in his thirties.")
TBT , I hope that my explanation answers your question about why option D is incorrect.
(Sequence is clear: no need for past perfect. GMAC prefers simple past when possible. Passive construction typically creates a weaker sentence. The antecedent of the pronoun it is not very clear or not very sensible or both.)
thakurrani81 , thank you for answering that very question. Nice job.
This question is subtle and difficult.
If you missed it, do not worry.
Next time you won't fall for the trap.
Nice work, all.
zhanbo, I am bumping you to Best Community Reply.
Stay safe, everyone.
THE PROMPT
Quote:
• VERB TENSE: a few takeaways
→ As a general rule, GMAC prefers simple past (and simple present).
1. When events are finished; sequence is either clear or not important (the events happened simultaneously, for example); and no connection to the present exists, use simple past tense.
2. When one past event precedes another past event and sequence is not clear, most of the time, use past perfect (HAD + past participle verbED).
We also use past perfect to describe an event that happens up to a certain time in the past.
By the time X, Y [Y takes the past perfect]
Correct: By the time the strange winter fire reached Boulder, Colorado, most residents had evacuated.
3. When events or their effects start in the past and continue into the present, use present perfect, which is sometimes called the "bridge from past to present."
Correct: Extreme weather caused by global warming has decimated many parts of the world.
THE OPTIONS
Quote:
• Simple past tense is appropriate: two events in the past happened at or during a specified time and both are finished.
• The time (the "when") is fixed and discrete (not continuous).
• Both events (increased and continued to rise ... over the next ten years) are finished.
The first event ended in 1990.
The second event ended in 2000.
I realize that we are all a bit time-disoriented, but the current year is 2022.
KEEP
Quote:
• The present perfect tense (has continued) is inconsistent with the timing of an event that took place in the fairly distant past (two decades ago) and that has no inherent or implicit connection to the present.
• It does not matter that the "continued to rise" occurred over a decade ("the next ten years"). That time period is over.
Saying "has continued" implies that the percentage is still rising, right now. Just one problem. It's more than 20 years later.
ELIMINATE B
Quote:
• The past perfect tense had continued is not required because we are not making a distinction between the sequence of two past tense events or trying to sort out which of two previous events happened first.
A certain group as a percentage the population increased sharply and continued to increase gradually for another decade.
• Even if you want to argue that a sequence does exist (first, from 1980 to 1990, the population increased abruptly and second, for the next ten years, the population continued to rise):
-- From the dates, the word continued, and the phrase to rise for the next ten years, we know the sequence of events.
-- Worse, this sentence incorrectly renders the later event in the past perfect verb tense but should render the earlier event in past perfect.
That is, if past perfect were to be used (and it is not needed), we should see:
The percentage of people remaining single in Holland had increased abruptly between 1980 and 1990 and continued to rise more gradually over the next ten years.
ELIMINATE C
Quote:
• pronoun error / confusion
→ it seems to refer to an abrupt increase but should refer to the percentage of people remaining single.
• construction - passive construction
→ GMAC almost never uses phrases such as There were, There are, or There had been.
Take a look in the OGs. You will find only a handful of such questions.
The passive construction there had been is considered weak.
The strength of active construction is revealed by the better option (A): can you see that option D's construction sort of weighs you down?
• verb tense error
Finally, with respect to the past perfect verb tense, it is not warranted: we have dates. We know the sequence. We do not need had been.
→ To test, insert "was" for "had been" and compare to option A.
Option A uses the simple past in active voice rather than passive voice.
Option A wins.
ELIMINATE D
Quote:
• As is the case in option D, There was is an inherently passive construction and not one favored by GMAC.
• Which should be preceded by a comma.
In British English, which and that are interchangeable. Not so in formal U.S. English. Not so on the GMAT:
→ i]Which[/i] introduces nonessential modifiers and is flanked by commas.
→ That introduces essential modifiers and is not flanked by commas.
• the antecedent of which is not clear.
Does which refer to the percentage of people or to an abrupt increase?
ELIMINATE E
The best answer is A.
COMMENTS
theirrationalmind (great username), TBT , and thakurrani81 , welcome to SC Butler.
theirrationalmind , I like the way you explained how and why option D tempted and finally won you.
You reasoned well; you just took one small wrong turn—one that I suspect you will not take again.
I am glad that you liked the question.
(Just to be clear to others: it doesn't matter whether two events happen in two different decades.
I can say, "He studied French in high school as a teenager but decided to learn Farsi when he enrolled in night school in his thirties.")
TBT , I hope that my explanation answers your question about why option D is incorrect.
(Sequence is clear: no need for past perfect. GMAC prefers simple past when possible. Passive construction typically creates a weaker sentence. The antecedent of the pronoun it is not very clear or not very sensible or both.)
thakurrani81 , thank you for answering that very question. Nice job.
This question is subtle and difficult.
If you missed it, do not worry.
Next time you won't fall for the trap.
Nice work, all.
zhanbo, I am bumping you to Best Community Reply.
Stay safe, everyone.
07 Jan 2022, 01:10
Kudos
Bookmarks
My answer is (A). It took me 01:23.
(A) Simple past tense "increased" and "continued" are paired together to describe a phenomenon from 1980-2000.
(B) Present perfect tense of "has continued to rise" indicates that such gradual growth continues until today. But the sentence discussed a phenomenon from 1980-2000.
(C) Past perfect tense of "had continued" incorrectly suggests that what happened between 1990-2000 occurred before what happened between 1980-1990.
(D) "it continued" = "an abrupt increase in the percentage of people continued " to rise more gradually. The meaning is rather incongruous.
(E) (1) There should be a comma before "which"
(2) The antecedent of which is probably "an abrupt increase in the percentage of people remaining single in Holland". It does not make sense to say "an abrupt increase in the percentage of people remaining single in Holland " continued to rise more gradually.
(A) Simple past tense "increased" and "continued" are paired together to describe a phenomenon from 1980-2000.
(B) Present perfect tense of "has continued to rise" indicates that such gradual growth continues until today. But the sentence discussed a phenomenon from 1980-2000.
(C) Past perfect tense of "had continued" incorrectly suggests that what happened between 1990-2000 occurred before what happened between 1980-1990.
(D) "it continued" = "an abrupt increase in the percentage of people continued " to rise more gradually. The meaning is rather incongruous.
(E) (1) There should be a comma before "which"
(2) The antecedent of which is probably "an abrupt increase in the percentage of people remaining single in Holland". It does not make sense to say "an abrupt increase in the percentage of people remaining single in Holland " continued to rise more gradually.
