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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
Bunuel
In the opening speech at an international telecommunications conference held in Lisbon, a leading cellular service provider claimed that it had regained much of its recently weakened popularity with the implementation of innovative as well as aggressive marketing strategies.

A. it had regained much of its recently weakened popularity with the implementation of innovative as well as aggressive marketing strategies
B. with the implementation of innovative and aggressive marketing strategies, it will regain much of its recently weakened popularity
C. it is regaining much of its recently weakened popularity with the implementation of innovative and aggressive marketing strategies
D. much of their recently weakened popularity had been regained by the implementation of innovative and aggressive marketing strategies
E. with the implementation of innovative and aggressive marketing strategies, it had regained much of its recently weakened popularity

Concepts tested here: Pronouns + Tenses + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• The past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".
• The simple future tense is used to refer to actions that will occur in the future.
• The simple present continuous tense is only used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature.
• Collective nouns (such as "cellular service provider" in this sentence) are always singular.

A: Trap. This answer choice uses the needlessly wordy phrase "innovative as well as aggressive", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

B: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple future tense verb "will regain" to refer to the earlier of two actions that concluded in the past -- cellular service provider regaining much of its popularity and the provider claiming that it had done so; please remember, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past", and the simple future tense is only used to refer to actions that will occur in the future.

C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present continuous tense verb "is regaining" to refer to the earlier of two actions that concluded in the past -- cellular service provider regaining much of its popularity and the provider claiming that it had done so; please remember, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past", and the simple present continuous tense is only used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature.

D: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun phrase "cellular service provider" with the plural pronoun "their"; in this sentence, "cellular service provider" refers to an organization, a single entity composed of many constituents; please remember, collective nouns (such as "cellular service provider" in this sentence) are always singular. Further, Option D uses the passive voice construction "much of their recently weakened popularity had been regained", rendering it awkward and needlessly indirect.

E: This answer choice correctly refers to the singular noun phrase "cellular service provider" with the singular noun "its". Further, Option E correctly uses the past perfect tense verb "had regained" to refer to the earlier of two actions that concluded in the past -- cellular service provider regaining much of its popularity and the provider claiming that it had done so. Additionally, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

Hence, E 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 "Simple Continuous Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):


To understand the concept of "Past Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):


All the best!
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How past perfect tense can be used for regaining a "recently" weakened popularity
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