Never before had American businesses confronted so many challenges as

Question

Never before had American businesses confronted  so many challenges as they did during the Great Depression .

(A) so many challenges as they did during the Great Depression

(B) so many challenges at one time as they confronted during the Great Depression

(C) at once so many challenges as they confronted during the Great Depression

(D) as many challenges as it did during the Great Depression

(E) as many challenges as they did during the Great Depression

KanishkM · Answer

Businesses, plural pronoun they, we can eliminate D

as many as, Correct idiom, we can eliminate A and B

C is wordier.

(E) as many challenges as they did(confronted) during the Great Depression

Veljkoc94 · Answer

I believe the word business is singular, considering businesses is plural for. Therefore D.

Arro44 · Answer

Business is indeed singular, however, "businesses" are mentioned in the original statement.
Hence, option D can be eliminated.

That's leaves us with option E.

Abhishek009 · Answer

As many as is correct idiomatic usage, further they clearly refer to " Businesses " hence IMHO Answer must be (E)

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

You’ve memorized that the proper comparison construction is as . . . as, so you know that the sentence contains an idiomatically improper construction (it also probably sounds strange to you!). Start by eliminating all answers that don’t correct so many . . . as to as . . . as. Choices (A), (B), and (C) retain the improper construction, so cross them out.

Now consider Choices (D) and (E). Both maintain the original verb, which is fine. The sentence compares two different periods of time. The first portion of the sentence refers to the period before the Great Depression, which requires the past perfect verb had . . . confronted. The underlined part of the sentence simply requires the past tense verb did to maintain the proper tense. Choice (D) creates a new error in pronoun agreement by using the singular pronoun it to refer to the plural noun businesses. Choice (E) is the correct answer: Never before had American businesses confronted as many challenges as they did during the Great Depression.

shahsuhailp · Answer

Never before had American businesses confronted  so many challenges as they did during the Great Depression.

Errors:
1) Idiom error: so many X as Y is incorrect. Correct usage is as many X as Y

Note: they correctly refers to plural noun businesses

Answer: E. Corrects the error and retains they.

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

Never before had American businesses confronted so many challenges as

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Never before had American businesses confronted so many challenges as

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards