Never before had the e-business industry faced as many

Question

Never before had the e-business industry  faced as many financial losses and employee cutbacks as they had  in the late 1990s.

a.faced as many financial losses and employee cutbacks as they had

b.had to face as many financial losses and employee cutbacks as it has to

c.faced the financial losses and employee cutbacks that they had faced

d.had to face as many financial losses and employee cutbacks as

e.faced as many financial losses and employee cutbacks as it faced

gmat1220 · Answer

E by elimination !

The first split is had / faced. But since you already used the  first "had" . Kind of makes me suspect this option. Clearly 3:2 split is A,C, E and B,D. B and D gone.

Its easy walk since A, C have "they" which cannot refer to singular noun. E remains.

gmat1220 · Answer

I want to hear what others think. Anyone agree / disagree?

subhashghosh · Answer

E, a past perfect and a past tense are there.

hellishbrain · Answer

If I change the Q to S+V format it would look like

"The e-business industry had never before faced as many financial losses and employee cutbacks as they had in the late 1990s."

'late 1990s' is simple past and 'before' makes use of past perfect('had faced') correct.

Only wrong thing here is use of 'they' for e-business industry.

'had' in B and D makes them wrong.

E is clear choice.

zuperman · Answer

E
1) S-V agreement (e-business industry-->they)
2) ....has to in the late 1990s - Present should be past
3) S-V agreement (e-business industry-->they)
4) ....had the e-business industry had to face...incorrect
5) Right usage of tense and S-V agreement

Never before had the e-business industry faced as many

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