In the last ten years, the dropout rate among Black high school studen

Question

In the last ten years, the dropout rate among Black high school students  fell substantially over the past decade, while the number of Blacks who attend college is more than twice what it was.

(A) fell substantially over the past decade, while the number of Blacks who attend college is more than twice what it was
(B) fell substantially, while the number of Blacks attending college is more than double what it was at that time
(C) has fallen substantially, while the number of Blacks attending college has more than doubled
(D) has fallen substantially over the past decade, while the number of Blacks attending college is more than twice what it was at that time
(E) has fallen substantially over the past decade, while the number of Blacks who are attending college are more than double what they were

daagh · Accepted Answer

In the last ten years, the dropout rate among Black high school students  fell substantially over the past decade, while the number of Blacks who attend college is more than twice what it was.

(A) fell substantially over the past decade, while the number of Blacks who attend college is more than twice what it was
(B) fell substantially, while the number of Blacks attending college is more than double what it was at that time
(C) has fallen substantially, while the number of Blacks attending college has more than doubled
(D) has fallen substantially over the past decade, while the number of Blacks attending college is more than twice what it was at that time
(E) has fallen substantially over the past decade, while the number of Blacks who are attending college are more than double what they were

Remove A, D and E for redundancy.

It looks as though choice B implies that the rate fell on a particular time in the last ten years. This is logically wrong. The drop in the rate is over a period and hence could be gradual or even erratic, but finally reaching the said the point at the end of the given period.

C says that much by using the present perfect 'has fallen'. C is also more forthright in expressing the increase as 'has more than doubled".

C is the correct choice.

bhavya23 · Answer

as other choices have redundancy issues , i guess answer is c

TestPrepUnlimited · Answer

Correct answer: C

ADE: "over the past decade" is redundant with "In the last ten years" 
ABDE: "At that time" / "what they were" / "what it was" does not refer to any specific time. The structure of the sentence indicates a continuous action for which a verb must be used. 
AB: "In the last ten years" suggests present perfect (continuous action) "has fallen" rather than the simple past "fell"
E: "Are more than double what they were" incorrectly pairs a plural verb and pronoun with the singular "number."

TheNightKing · Answer

It feels so good the moment you realise that's redundant and wait there goes 3 options.!

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Choice A:  Option A use of both the phrases "over the past decade" and "In the last ten years" is redundant, as both phrases convey the same information. Moreover, the use of the phrase "In the last ten years" in the non-underlined portion requires the use of the present perfect verb form "has fallen” because this form is used for continuous actions. Thus, Option A is incorrect.

Choice B:  Option B repeats the tense-related error that Option A displays. Thus, Option B is incorrect.

Choice C:  Option C avoids redundancy and maintains subject-verb agreement and proper tense usage throughout the sentence. Thus, Option C is correct.

Choice D:  Option D repeats the redundancy error that Option A displays. Thus, Option D is incorrect.

Choice E:  Option E repeats the redundancy error that Option A displays. Moreover, Option E displays subject-verb disagreement between the verbs "are" and "were" and the noun "number". Thus, Option E is incorrect.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeqkwGHWoQQ

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

VerbalBot · Answer

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In the last ten years, the dropout rate among Black high school studen

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In the last ten years, the dropout rate among Black high school studen

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