Last visit was: 11 Sep 2026, 12:07 It is currently 11 Sep 2026, 12:07
Home
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
Poor Quality|      
User avatar
EtaCarnia
User avatar
Joined: 10 Jul 2017
Last visit: 13 Apr 2026
Posts: 70
Own Kudos:
48
 [1]
Given Kudos: 75
Location: India
Schools: Sauder '22 DeGroote "22 Smurfit Alberta University
GPA: 3.5
Schools: Sauder '22 DeGroote "22 Smurfit Alberta University
Posts: 70
Kudos: 48
 [1]
According to a continuous study conducted by the NASA's Goddard instit Updated on: 09 Jan 2022, 13:21
Originally posted by EtaCarnia on 09 Jan 2022, 13:03.
Last edited by Bunuel on 09 Jan 2022, 13:21, edited 2 times in total.
Renamed the topic and edited the question.
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
00:00
Start Timer
Pause Timer
Resume Timer
Show Answer
Hide
Show
History
E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

85% (hard)

Question Stats:

23% (01:07) correct 77% (01:21) wrong based on 96 sessions

History

Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
According to a continuous study conducted by the NASA's Goddard institute, the global average temperature has been trending higher since 1988, a trend that was attributed to climate change.

A. has been trending higher since 1988, a trend that was attributed to climate change.

B. had been trending higher since 1988, a trend that was attributed to climate change.

C. have been trending higher since 1988, a trend that was attributed to climate change

D. were trending higher since 1988, a trend that has been attributed to climate change

E. have been trending higher since 1988, a trend that has been attributed to climate change

This Question is Locked Due to Poor Quality
Hi there,
The question you've reached has been archived due to not meeting our community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Looking for better-quality questions? Check out the 'Similar Questions' block below for a list of similar but high-quality questions.
Want to join other relevant Problem Solving discussions? Visit our Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Forum for the most recent and top-quality discussions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
ShowHide Answer
Official Answer
E
User avatar
IanStewart
User avatar
GMAT Tutor
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Last visit: 10 Sep 2026
Posts: 4,146
Own Kudos:
11,531
 [1]
Given Kudos: 98
Location: United States
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V47
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V47
Posts: 4,146
Kudos: 11,531
 [1]
According to a continuous study conducted by the NASA's Goddard instit 09 Jan 2022, 13:33
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
What is the source? No answer is right, though answer A is the only one that's close. The subject of the verb is "temperature", which is singular, and answers C, D and E all use plural verb forms, so they're all wrong. There's also no justification for saying "had been trending" since temperatures are still increasing, leaving A as the only option that uses the right verb form.

It's a fundamentally strange sentence, because it essentially says "the climate is changing, a trend that is attributed to climate change", when it surely means to say that the change is attributable to fossil fuel emissions.
User avatar
EtaCarnia
User avatar
Joined: 10 Jul 2017
Last visit: 13 Apr 2026
Posts: 70
Own Kudos:
48
 [1]
Given Kudos: 75
Location: India
Schools: Sauder '22 DeGroote "22 Smurfit Alberta University
GPA: 3.5
Schools: Sauder '22 DeGroote "22 Smurfit Alberta University
Posts: 70
Kudos: 48
 [1]
According to a continuous study conducted by the NASA's Goddard instit 09 Jan 2022, 22:23
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi IanStewart

This is one of the practice question from GmatWhiz. They say it's a 650-700 level question . I could not understand their line of reasoning for the correct answer. That's why i posted this question here.
User avatar
IanStewart
User avatar
GMAT Tutor
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Last visit: 10 Sep 2026
Posts: 4,146
Own Kudos:
11,531
Given Kudos: 98
Location: United States
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V47
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V47
Posts: 4,146
Kudos: 11,531
According to a continuous study conducted by the NASA's Goddard instit 10 Jan 2022, 09:46
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Thanks for the information about the source. I didn't see that the question had an OA attached before, but if the question is transcribed correctly and that's the OA the source provides, it's just not right. I can't even imagine how an explanation could try to justify it.
User avatar
ChakAvi
User avatar
Joined: 27 Jul 2020
Last visit: 14 Apr 2023
Posts: 27
Own Kudos:
66
Given Kudos: 33
Location: India
Posts: 27
Kudos: 66
According to a continuous study conducted by the NASA's Goddard instit 10 Jan 2022, 10:15
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Since, I couldn't find any suitable answer, I tried to eliminate the most improbable ones.
'global temp...has' feels correct, but 'was attributed' seems wrong. Long back we reasoned climate change, but we r not doing now? So, kept 'A' on hold.
Next, eliminated B & D bcoz of 'had been' & 'were'. Present perfect is required. Hence, A, C and E remains.
In C also, same 'was attributed'. So, A is better than C atleast.
But E says 'has been attributed'. Now this part seems ok to me. SO, by making hell of an assumption that 'global temp' - by anyway- a plural entity, which I may not be knowing, I marked E.

**I know my reasoning are full of flaws. But still .. :P :P **
User avatar
jatin093
User avatar
Joined: 17 May 2021
Last visit: 09 Jan 2024
Posts: 90
Own Kudos:
38
Given Kudos: 24
Location: India
Schools: IIM (A) ISB '24 (WL) Judge '24 (D) Imperial (D) Haas '25 Said '24 Kenan-Flagler '25 NUS '25
GMAT 1: 640 Q48 V29
GMAT 2: 730 Q50 V39
GMAT 3: 710 Q48 V39
GRE 1: Q166 V152
GPA: 3.4
Products:
My Reviews
Schools: IIM (A) ISB '24 (WL) Judge '24 (D) Imperial (D) Haas '25 Said '24 Kenan-Flagler '25 NUS '25
GMAT 3: 710 Q48 V39
GRE 1: Q166 V152
Posts: 90
Kudos: 38
According to a continuous study conducted by the NASA's Goddard instit 13 Jan 2022, 00:53
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
A. has been trending higher since 1988, a trend that was attributed to climate change. -> tense error

B. had been trending higher since 1988, a trend that was attributed to climate change. -> since there is no end date for the trend provided, so past tenses cannot be used

C. have been trending higher since 1988, a trend that was attributed to climate change -> tense error

D. were trending higher since 1988, a trend that has been attributed to climate change -> tense error

E. have been trending higher since 1988, a trend that has been attributed to climate change -> SV agreement error but the only option that uses present tense, hence, marked E
User avatar
Kapil1650
User avatar
Joined: 22 Nov 2020
Last visit: 24 Oct 2023
Posts: 59
Own Kudos:
18
Given Kudos: 30
Posts: 59
Kudos: 18
According to a continuous study conducted by the NASA's Goddard instit 14 Jan 2022, 05:10
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Global average temp since 1988: means list of all the temp hence plural form shall be taken ie have not has . And between C and E, C writes the last sentence in simple past: totally incorrect! ,,, that is why I chose E !

Posted from my mobile device
User avatar
IanStewart
User avatar
GMAT Tutor
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Last visit: 10 Sep 2026
Posts: 4,146
Own Kudos:
11,531
 [1]
Given Kudos: 98
Location: United States
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V47
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V47
Posts: 4,146
Kudos: 11,531
 [1]
According to a continuous study conducted by the NASA's Goddard instit 21 Jan 2022, 17:20
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Kapil1650
Global average temp since 1988: means list of all the temp hence plural form shall be taken ie have not has .
Show more

Perhaps that's how the source justifies the answer, but an average is a single quantity, not a plural quantity. If the question is transcribed correctly and lists E as the answer, it is simply wrong, and I'd suggest using a source that is more reliable. There are more than enough official questions available to practice from these days, thankfully, and those are all good.

This Question is Locked Due to Poor Quality
Hi there,
The question you've reached has been archived due to not meeting our community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Looking for better-quality questions? Check out the 'Similar Questions' block below for a list of similar but high-quality questions.
Want to join other relevant Problem Solving discussions? Visit our Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Forum for the most recent and top-quality discussions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7399 posts
AbhishekP220108
Verbal Forum Moderator
704 posts