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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:
25%
(medium)
Question Stats:
73% (01:31) correct
27%
(01:43)
wrong
based on 4554
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Although the restaurant company has recently added many new restaurants across the country and its sales have increased dramatically, its sales at restaurants open for more than a year have declined.
(A) the restaurant company has recently added many new restaurants across the country and its sales have increased dramatically, its
(B) the restaurant company has recently added many new restaurants across the country and its sales increased dramatically, its
(C) many new restaurants have recently been opened across the country and its sales increased dramatically, the restaurant company’s
(D) having recently added many new restaurants across the country and with its sales increasing dramatically, the restaurant company’s
(E) recently adding many new restaurants across the country and having its sales increase dramatically, the restaurant company’s
(A) the restaurant company has recently added many new restaurants across the country and its sales have increased dramatically, its
(B) the restaurant company has recently added many new restaurants across the country and its sales increased dramatically, its
(C) many new restaurants have recently been opened across the country and its sales increased dramatically, the restaurant company’s
(D) having recently added many new restaurants across the country and with its sales increasing dramatically, the restaurant company’s
(E) recently adding many new restaurants across the country and having its sales increase dramatically, the restaurant company’s
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17 Oct 2018, 22:15
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hibobotamuss
While the Official Guide often offers "awkwardness" as a justification for eliminating incorrect options, the reality is that "awkward" is a completely subjective term that doesn't actually mean anything. Frankly, tons of CORRECT answers on the GMAT look pretty freaking awkward to me.
In other words: "awkward" is not a good reason to eliminate anything on the GMAT. There are always better reasons than that -- regardless of what the lazy OG explanation-writers might say.
Quote:
The terms in blue are all the subjects of their respective clauses. Whenever a pronoun is the subject of a clause - or a possessive modifier, as is the case here for the two "its" - the most logical place to look for an antecedent is the subject of the first clause, or "the restaurant company." This makes perfect sense. The company's overall sales have increased even though the company's sales at older restaurants have gone down.
And for what it's worth, using two pronouns to refer to the same antecedent is pretty common, and it's only a problem if the referent is illogical. Here, it isn't.
Quote:
As others have noted, there's an illogical shift in verb tense here. "Has added" and "have declined" are both present perfect, meaning the actions began in the past and continue into the present. However, "increased" is simple past.
While there's no rule forbidding tense shifts within a sentence, there should be some logical reason for the shift. Here, the shift is illogical, since the sentence is basically meaningless unless we're comparing sales in the same period. Contrast this with (A), which keeps all the actions in present perfect.
So (B) is out.
Quote:
First, we have the same verb tense problem as (B). We also have a problematic passive voice construction. While passive voice isn't inherently wrong, the clause "many new restaurants have recently been opened" leaves us wondering who or what was opening these restaurants. Worse still, the singular "its," seems to be referring back to the subject of the previous clause, the plural "restaurants," creating an agreement error. I suppose you could argue that "its" refers to "restaurant company's," but at best this construction is confusing.
So we have all sorts of reasons to ditch (C).
Quote:
There's a clear modifier problem here - the opening phrase seems to be describing the company's sales, leading to the illogical interpretation that the sales are adding restaurants. So (D) is gone, too.
Quote:
(E) has exactly the same modifier problem as (D). So we're left with (A).
The big takeaway: be wary of eliminating an answer choice because of "awkwardness" or pronoun ambiguity (more on pronoun ambiguity in this video). Instead, focus on finding four DEFINITE meaning or grammar problems in the other answer choices.
I hope that helps!
22 Oct 2011, 11:02
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mendelay
I was confused by 'its' but PoE helped to choose 'A'
11 Oct 2021, 08:04
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Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that the restaurant company has recently added many new restaurants across the country and its sales have increased dramatically, but the company's sales at restaurants open for more than a year have declined.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Tenses
A: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the phrase "Although the restaurant company has recently added...dramatically", conveying the intended meaning - that the restaurant company has recently added many restaurants across the country. Further, Option A correctly uses the simple present tense verbs "has...added" and "have increased" to refer to actions that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
B: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb "increased" to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.
C: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "Although many new restaurants have recently been opened...dramatically"; the use of passive voice incorrectly implies that many new restaurants have recently been opened by some unknown entity; the intended meaning is that many new restaurants have recently been opened by the restaurant company.
D: This answer choice incorrectly uses "Although having recently added...dramatically" to modify "the restaurant company’s sales"; illogically implying that the sales have recently added many restaurants across the country; the intended meaning is that the company has recently added many restaurants across the country; please remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option D incorrectly uses the present participle ("verb + ing" - "increasing" in this sentence) to refer to an action that concluded in the past and continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
E: This answer choice incorrectly uses "Although recently adding...dramatically" to modify "the restaurant company’s sales"; illogically implying that the sales have recently added many restaurants across the country; the intended meaning is that the company has recently added many restaurants across the country; please remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option E incorrectly uses the present participle ("verb + ing" - "adding" and "having" in this sentence) to refer to actions that concluded in the past and continue to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
Hence, A is the best answer choice.
To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1minute):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
mendelay
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that the restaurant company has recently added many new restaurants across the country and its sales have increased dramatically, but the company's sales at restaurants open for more than a year have declined.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Tenses
A: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the phrase "Although the restaurant company has recently added...dramatically", conveying the intended meaning - that the restaurant company has recently added many restaurants across the country. Further, Option A correctly uses the simple present tense verbs "has...added" and "have increased" to refer to actions that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
B: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb "increased" to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.
C: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "Although many new restaurants have recently been opened...dramatically"; the use of passive voice incorrectly implies that many new restaurants have recently been opened by some unknown entity; the intended meaning is that many new restaurants have recently been opened by the restaurant company.
D: This answer choice incorrectly uses "Although having recently added...dramatically" to modify "the restaurant company’s sales"; illogically implying that the sales have recently added many restaurants across the country; the intended meaning is that the company has recently added many restaurants across the country; please remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option D incorrectly uses the present participle ("verb + ing" - "increasing" in this sentence) to refer to an action that concluded in the past and continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
E: This answer choice incorrectly uses "Although recently adding...dramatically" to modify "the restaurant company’s sales"; illogically implying that the sales have recently added many restaurants across the country; the intended meaning is that the company has recently added many restaurants across the country; please remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option E incorrectly uses the present participle ("verb + ing" - "adding" and "having" in this sentence) to refer to actions that concluded in the past and continue to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
Hence, A is the best answer choice.
To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1minute):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
Can "its" refer to "country"?? 
) but found a good explanation why "its" can not refer to "country". it is because country is an object of the preposition "across" in this sentence.
