Major retailers are suffering because e-commerce companies began to of

Question

Pack 13, Question 3 of 5:

Major retailers are suffering because e-commerce companies began to offer individuals one-day shipping on purchases,  despite the fact that they previously had offered  standard shipping that could take several days or weeks for delivery. 
 
A. despite the fact that they previously had offered
 
B. in spite of the fact previously that these companies offered
 
C. whereas previously they were offering
 
D. whereas previously there were those companies that offered
 
E. whereas previously these companies had offered

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NiftyNiffler · Answer

Major retailers are suffering because e-commerce companies began to offer individuals one-day shipping on purchases,  despite the fact that they previously had offered  standard shipping that could take several days or weeks for delivery.

A. despite the fact that they previously had offered  -- "they" has ambiguous referent
 
B. in spite of the fact previously that these companies offered  -- wordy and grammatically erroneous

C. whereas previously they were offering  -- same error as A and past continuous verb tense doesn't work in the context as it was not a continuous process in past until this very time.

D. whereas previously there were those companies that offered  -- "there were those companies" means some other company in this context
 
E. whereas previously these companies had offered  -- CORRECT, these companies correctly refers to e-commerce companies and "whereas" sets the contrast

The answer should be  E , IMO.

NunuBot · Answer

Major retailers are suffering because e-commerce companies began to offer individuals one-day shipping on purchases,  despite the fact that they previously had offered standard shipping that could take several days or weeks for delivery .

A. despite the fact that they previously had offered

B. in spite of the fact previously that these companies offered

C. whereas previously they were offering

D. whereas previously there were those companies that offered

E. whereas previously these companies had offered

---

Eliminate A / B  because of "despite" / "in spite of". These phrase signifies some contradictions between two clauses - it makes sense that competitors moving from several days to same day delivery would hurt retailers. No contradiction here.

Eliminate C  because the antecedent of "they" is unclear - is it major retailers, or e-commerce companies?

Eliminate D  because "those companies" sounds like they are not referring to the same companies mentioned previously.

E is the answer . Whereas clearly joins the two clauses together, and repeating the noun makes the subject of the second clause unambiguous.

Worthy to note in E - "had offered" is the correct tense to use, meaning to offer before they "began to offer".  However , the "previously" in the sentence already clearly establishes the sequence of event, making "offered" a better choice.

(If you remove "previously" or "had" from the sentence, the meaning remains the same. It is redundent, but not a deal breaker.)

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thenikhilseth · Answer

My choice is  E option.

1)  Despite/ In spite/ Whereas  
The intended meaning is conveying clearly through 'whereas'. Whereas always shows a slight comparison and Despite or In spite is too strong in this context.
Eliminate A and B

2) D is very unclear-  there+ were+ those+ that 
In C,  pronoun error-  Reference of 'They' is unclear.

A.  despite  the fact that  they  previously had offered

B.  in spite of the  fact previously that  these  companies offered

C. whereas previously  they  were offering

D. whereas previously  there were those companies that offered

E. whereas previously these companies had offered-   BINGO

aniket2045 · Answer

Answer is E..

A. despite the fact that they previously had offered - Wrong use of despite the fact that

B. in spite of the fact previously that these companies offered - wrong use of in spite of the fact. Past perfect is needed to distinguish between timelines.

C. whereas previously they were offering - Past perfect is needed to distinguish between timelines.

D. whereas previously  there were  those companies that offered - Unnecessary use of there were.

E. whereas previously these companies had offered - perfect...whereas shows the contrast and past perfect distinguish between timeline.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation

Major retailers are suffering because e-commerce companies began to offer individuals one-day shipping on purchases,  despite the fact that they previously had offered  standard shipping that could take several days or weeks for delivery. 
 
 A.  despite the fact that   they  previously  had offered 
B.  in spite of the fact  previously that  these companies   offered 
C.  whereas  previously  they   were offering 
D.  whereas  previously there were  those companies   that offered  
 E.  whereas  previously  these companies   had offered  
 
After a quick glance over the options, there are a few key differences we can focus on:
 1. “despite the fact that” / “in spite of the fact that” / “whereas” (Conciseness)
2. “they” / “these companies” / “those companies” (Pronouns/Meaning)
3. had offered / offered / were offering (Verb Tense) 
 
 Let’s start with #1 on our list.  This is an issue of wordiness. While both phrases “despite the fact that” and “in spite of the fact that” are not grammatically wrong, per se, they are overly wordy. The word “whereas” means pretty much the same thing but only uses one word.  So, let’s eliminate options A & B because they both use overly wordy phrases.

Now that we have it narrowed down to 3 options, let’s take a closer look at #2 & #3 on our list:
 
 C. whereas previously  they were offering  
This is  INCORRECT  for two reasons. First, the pronoun “they” is too vague. It’s not 100% clear if “they” is referring to retailers or e-commerce companies. Second, the verb “were offering” isn’t correct – we’re talking about an event that occurred before the past tense “began to offer,” so we need to use the past perfect tense.
 
 D. whereas previously there were those companies that  offered  
While this sentence avoids the vague pronoun “they,” it is still  INCORRECT  because it uses past tense to describe an event that occurred before another past event.
 
 E. whereas previously  these companies had offered  
This is  CORRECT  because it’s not overly wordy, doesn’t contain any vague pronouns, and uses past perfect tense to show the clear order of events.
 
 There you have it – option E is the correct choice! 
 
Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  NiftyNiffler ! You cracked the code on this one, and your explanations were spot on! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done, NunuBot ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you! As to your note: You still should use past perfect tense in that situation. Saying "previously" is a nice indicator of the sequence of events, but the proper verb tense is still necessary to make it 100% clear to readers what events occur in what order.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done  thenikhilseth ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  aniket2045 ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you for catching the wordiness and verb tense errors!

Adambhau · Answer

EMPOWERgmatVerbal

Isn't previously and past perfect redudant in option E?

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Adambhau  thanks for asking about this!

When it comes down to it, if you were to take out the word "previously" in your own writing, it would likely be fine. It's a bit redundant, but not in a harmful or annoying way. Depending on who you're writing to, it might be nice to help clarify for readers in what order things happen.

The fact that it's included in all the options means it's not really something you should focus on. Try to focus more on the differences because that will help you answer these questions more quickly. Your goal with the GMAT sentence correct questions is to find the best option of the 5 - and that doesn't always mean the correct choice is 100% perfect, or written exactly how we'd like it. The other 4 options had much bigger problems, so option E is the best of the bunch.

We hope that helps! Keep tagging us if you have any other questions!

Major retailers are suffering because e-commerce companies began to of

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Major retailers are suffering because e-commerce companies began to of

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