The economic report released today by Congress and the Federal Reserve

Question

The economic report released today by Congress and the Federal Reserve was bleaker than expected,
.
(E) a situation that is even more deep and prolonged than even the most pessimistic analysts have predicted.

experts, a situation can refer "the economy is bleaker", but cannot refer to "the economic report was bleaker",
am I correct? please confirm

(A) which suggests that the nearing recession might be even deeper and more prolonged than even the most pessimistic analysts have predicted.
(B) which suggests that the nearing recession might be deeper and more prolonged than that predicted by even the most pessimistic analysts.
(C) suggests that the nearing recession might be even deeper and more prolonged than that predicted by even the most pessimistic analysts.
(D) suggesting that the nearing recession might be deeper and more prolonged than that predicted by even the most pessimistic analysts.
(E) a situation that is even more deep and prolonged than even the most pessimistic analysts have predicted.

Please assist with above sentence correction problem.

daagh · Answer

The economic report released today by Congress and the Federal Reserve was bleaker than expected,  which suggests that the nearing recession might be even deeper and more prolonged than even the most pessimistic analysts have predicted.
 
  This is primarily about how the relative pronoun, ‘which’ is misused flouting the touch, rule. Then this is also about using a proper modifier, whether an adverbial one or appositive one to describe the main event.

(A) Which suggests that the nearing recession might be even deeper and more prolonged than even the most pessimistic analysts have predicted. –  Which refers to either the Fed or the Congress or both; this is wrong. Which as a pronoun should refer to the report, which is too far away?

(B) Which suggests that the nearing recession might be deeper and more prolonged than that predicted by even the most pessimistic analysts—same problem as in A

(C) suggests that the nearing recession might be even deeper and more prolonged than that predicted by even the most pessimistic analysts.  This is a fragment. The second verb suggests has no subject. Alternatively, we may say, this is double verbing of the subject Report

(D) suggesting that the nearing recession might be deeper and more prolonged than that predicted by even the most pessimistic analysts. – The use of the adverbial modifier correctly points to the economic report being bleaker. Correct choice 
 
(E) a situation that is even more deep and prolonged than even the most pessimistic analysts have predicted. —one thing is we do not have a matching noun that the situation can define. Secondly, the recession is only nearing and yet to arrive. To describe an impending phenomenon with a present tense verb is illogical

sweetkriti · Answer

A, B in both of these options which is used in correctly. 
C. Verb suggests lacks a suitable subject.
D. Lets keep this aside.
E. Noun + noun modifier can modify any entity in preceding clause. Now here as per sentence a report was released and that was bleak. In the modifier here, it tries to modify a situation where we dont have any referent for that situation.

Now coming back to D, it uses verb ing modifier which modifies the complete clause of preceding sentence and is perfect here.

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Abhishek009 · Answer

Comma + Verb -ing  modifier is correctly used in (D) along with correct idiomatic usage  more x than y ,  errors in other options are highlighted in RED

BillyZ · Answer

Official solution from Veritas Prep.

Modifiers introduced by relative pronouns such as “ which ,” “ whose ,” or “ where ” have a simple rule: They  must modify the noun  (or noun phrase) that  immediately precedes them . Answer choices A and B clearly violate this rule and are incorrect. A keen eye for relative clause errors can be instrumental in working through problems quickly and efficiently. Answer choice C is a textbook example of a  comma splice error ; you cannot write “ the data was bleaker, suggests... " because there is no conjunction to link those clauses. Now that you are left with answer choices D and E, you should find the easy Decision Point relating to diction that many people miss: “ deeper ” vs. “ more deep .” Clearly, “ more deep ” is  incorrect , and the correct answer choice is thus D.

zoezhuyan · Answer

The economic report released today by Congress and the Federal Reserve was bleaker than expected,
.
(E) a situation that is even more deep and prolonged than even the most pessimistic analysts have predicted.

experts, a situation can refer "the economy is bleaker", but cannot refer to "the economic report was bleaker", 
am I correct? please confirm

Naptiste · Answer

Can anyone tell me whether the appositive in E) is correct ?

In my opinion it is.

As Ron explained in Thursday with Ron:

If the appositive is CONCRETE (=something you can detect with your senses), it MUST modify the preceeding noun 
If the appositive is ABSTRACT, it CAN modify the WHOLE IDEA of the preceeding clause

Here, as the appositive is a "a situation", which is ABSTRACT, we can use an appositive.

Can anyone tell me whether my approach is correct please.

PS: We can use other tools to eliminate E)

Thanks

GMATNinja   ExpertsGlobal5

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  Naptiste ,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt.

Your observation here is indeed correct; "a situation" is an abstract appositive, so it can refer to the  idea  of the report being bleaker than predicted.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

VerbalBot · Answer

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The economic report released today by Congress and the Federal Reserve

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The economic report released today by Congress and the Federal Reserve

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