The spokeswoman for the national laboratory announced that, while the

Question

The spokeswoman for the national laboratory announced that, while the lab  had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, it had become profitable in 2006, and would continue  to yield high profits at least until 2025. 
 
(A) had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, it had become profitable in 2006, and would continue
(B) had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, although becoming profitable in 2006, and will continue
(C) had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, it became profitable in 2006, continuing
(D) operated at a loss in the 1990s, becoming profitable in 2006, then would continue
(E) operated at a loss in the 1990s, becoming profitable in 2006, and continuing

sayantanc2k · Accepted Answer

I would say, the usage of past perfect  had done  is OK here. The past perfect tense occurred within an announcement that happened in the past. Therefore usage of past perfect is necessary.

Whenever we are expressing someone's statement that happened in the past, all the tenses within the statement must be shifted "one step backward", i.e. past becomes past perfect, simple present becomes simple past and future (will) becomes conditional ( would).

A simpler example:

Present tense : John  says  that he went to school, plays football regularly and will sleep at night.

Past tense: John  said  that he had gone to school, played football regularly and would sleep at night.

Bunuel · Answer

Magoosh Official Explanation:

The first verb,  to operate , refers to a past event (in the 1990s), so that should be past perfect in indirect speech. This is correct in  (A) – (C) . The second verb,  to become profitable , is also in the past (2006), so this also should be past perfect in indirect speech: only  (A)  has this correct. The final event,  to continue to yield , refers to the future, so this should be the hypothetical future, “ would continue to yield “, which  (A) & (B) & (D)  have correct. All three verbs should remain in parallel: it is not correct to change some to participles, as  (C) & (E)  do.

The only possible answer is (A).

From  Sequence of Tenses on GMAT Sentence Correction

sagarsir · Answer

The spokeswoman for the national laboratory announced that, while the lab had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, it had become profitable in 2006, and would continue to yield high profits at least until 2025.

A)had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, it had become profitable in 2006, and would continue
B)had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, although becoming profitable in 2006, and will continue ----- although becoming profitable in 2006 --- INCORRECT
C)had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, it became profitable in 2006, continuing ---- continuing ---- INCORRCECT
D)operated at a loss in the 1990s, becoming profitable in 2006, then would continue ---- becoming profitable in 2006 ---- INCORRECT
E)operated at a loss in the 1990s, becoming profitable in 2006, and continuing ---- becoming profitable in 2006, and continuing ---- INCORRECT

That leaves with option A

mvictor · Answer

A)had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, it had become profitable in 2006, and would continue
looks good. past perfect is ok, since the SW announced - already in the past, and she describes something that happened before she announced.
would continue - perfectly fine to describe a future event in the past.

B)had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, although becoming profitable in 2006, and will continue
will continue - incorrect.

C)had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, it became profitable in 2006, continuing
continuing - ing modifier that modifies the clause - this is illogical to use here. the fact that it became profitable in 2006 will result in high profits at least until 2025? no.

D)operated at a loss in the 1990s, becoming profitable in 2006, then would continue
becoming now acts as an ing modifier. the fact that the lab operated at loss in 1990 resulted in becoming profitable in 2006? this is non-sense.

E)operated at a loss in the 1990s, becoming profitable in 2006, and continuing
same as in D.

A is the best.

Aves · Answer

A is the best choice indeed but I wonder if the comma before "while" is essential.

tryambaks · Answer

The spokeswoman for the national laboratory announced that, while the lab had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, it had become profitable in 2006, and would continue to yield high profits at least until 2025.

Here the main sentence is 
The spokeswoman for the national laboratory announced that it had become profitable in 2006, and would continue to yield high profits at least until 2025.

- This is the core intention of author that he wanted to express

The part while the lab had been operating at a loss in the 1990s - is acting as a modifier here which is giving some additional information about the earlier performance. So it is with in  , .... ,  structure.

daagh · Answer

The spokeswoman for the national laboratory announced that , while the lab had been operating at a loss in the 1990s , it had become profitable in 2006, and would continue to yield high profits at least until 2025.

---, while the lab had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, --- Is this just an inessential info or a required necessary info? Let’s remove the part and see.

The spokeswoman for the national laboratory announced that it had become profitable in 2006, and would continue to yield high profits at least until 2025.

It looks as though the original intent has been lost after removing the modifier. That the lab had made a loss in the 1990s is essential to stress that this is a case of a turn-around. A turn-around in a corporation's lifespan is a very important aspect, which goes into the evaluation of the company’s fundamentals. Therefore, I feel that the comma after 'that' could have been a typo or a slip rather than intended or even a mistranscription

thangvietname · Answer

wrong question

many times, the native speaker use had done wrongly
had done never go with a specific time in the past . look back grammar books to know this point

goforgmat · Answer

what the part that daagh has highlighted?if you remove the dependent clause starting with while the sentence doesnt convey what it should.

sayantanc2k · Answer

I am not clear about query. If you are inquiring about the verb tense in the dependent clause, past perfect continuous is alright because if the announcement were in present tense then the tense of the verb "operate" within the announcement would be past continuous - because the statement is in past the tense within the announcement has been taken "one step backward".

MIN750GMAT · Answer

Isn't the "it" in option A an infringement on parallelism?

AjiteshArun · Answer

We have a list of two verbs:

The spokeswoman announced that, while the lab had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, it (a)   had become  profitable in 2006 ,  and  (b)   would continue  to yield high profits at least until 2025 .

The  it  is "outside" the list. For example:

While she is known for X, she is also a P and a Q.

The P and Q are not connected to X, and the word  she  is not part of the list.

milanrajb · Answer

I would request help here.

The spokeswoman announced that, (a) while the lab had been operating at a loss in the 1990s, (b) it had become profitable in 2006, and (c) would continue to yield high profits at least until 2025.

(a) I understand is non-essential clause.
(b) The use of it is required

(c) But for this section why there is comma before and. If there is a comma then the part after and should be an independent clause.

Can some one help me understand it?

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  milanrajb ,

Not every   ,  and  will introduce an independent clause. Generally, we should not consider comma "rules" (except for issues like comma splices) to be very reliable.

itaquequasi · Answer

I am not understanding why 'became' isn't correct.

The spokeswoman for the national laboratory announced that, while the

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The spokeswoman for the national laboratory announced that, while the

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