Since 1986 enrollments of African Americans, American Indians, and His

Question

Since 1986 enrollments of African Americans, American Indians, and Hispanic Americans in full-time engineering programs in the United States  has steadily increased, while the number of other students who enter the field has fallen .

(A) has steadily increased, while the number of other students who enter the field has fallen 
(B) has steadily increased, while other students entering the field have declined in number 
(C) increased steadily, while there was a decline in the number of other students entering the field 
(D) have steadily increased, while the number of other students entering the field has fallen 
(E) have steadily increased, while that of other students who enter the field fell

metallicafan · Accepted Answer

+1 D

That's why:

(A) has steadily increased, while the number of other students who enter the field has fallen - Subject-verb agreement error. Enrollments need HAVE.
(B) has steadily increased, while other students entering the field have declined in number - The same error.
(C) increased steadily, while there was a decline in the number of other students entering the field - "Since" needs present perfect (HAVE), not simple past.
(D) have steadily increased, while the number of other students entering the field has fallen - CORRECT
(E) have steadily increased, while that of other students who enter the field fell. - It should be THOSE to refer the enrollments.

I think I deserve kudos 8-)

icandy · Answer

enrollments is plural (A&B out) and we need a continuous tense (C out)

in E, that lacks a clear referent and breaks parallelism by using simple past

D is correct

chicagocubsrule · Answer

D for the reason mentioned above

JohnLewis1980 · Answer

Hi mates,

IMO  D

Enrollments is plural, therefore A and B out.

C out: since needs present perfect.

D out becuase of //ism

OA and Source?

Cheers

PTK · Answer

Guys, it seems that in D enrollments are compared to "while the number of other stydents"... 
thus I choose E instead of D.

TehJay · Answer

(E) is needlessly clunky, and the use of the verb "fell" is incorrect. "Has fallen" is the proper form.

arirux92 · Answer

Other than parallelism,

we need perfect tense to show that the effect is still continuing.

Using simple past would imply that the numbers are no longer going down presently.

oloz · Answer

Since 1986 enrollments of African Americans, American Indians, and Hispanic Americans in full-time engineering programs in the United States  has steadily increased, while the number of other students who enter the field has fallen .

(A) has steadily increased, while the number of other students who enter the field has fallen...  Enrollments is plural, hence needs "have increased" .
(B) has steadily increased, while other students entering the field have declined in number...  Enrollments is plural, hence needs "have increased" . 
(C) increased steadily, while there was a decline in the number of other students entering the field... Use of "Since"requires a Present Perfect verb "has/have Increased" 
(D) have steadily increased, while the number of other students entering the field has fallen...  Correct . 
(E) have steadily increased, while that of other students who enter the field fell. ...   "that of..."  should be replaced by  "Those of"  and Simple past "fell" should be replaced by "have fallen".

Hope this helps... KUDOS please!!! :D

warriorguy · Answer

Subject -Verb error in options A and B - enrollments are plural - hence 'have' over 'has'.

Since 1986 something happened , while something else occurred. This denotes a reference on timeline and we need present perfect to denote the events. C is out.

D is correct

In option E, that of - ambiguous - we need those of to refer to enrollments

Smitc007 · Answer

(E) have steadily increased, while  that of  other students who enter the field fell. ... "that of..." should be replaced by " Those of " and Simple past "fell" should be replaced by "have fallen".

Why can't we use simple past tense here ?
have steadily increased, while those of other students who enter the field fell.

Moderators please help  BKimball   mikemcgarry   carcass   GMATNinja   chetan2u

chetan2u · Answer

While  talks of the same period as the first part..
Now we are talking of something from a certain time, so present perfect i srequired.
Even the second part 'while that of other students who enter the field fell.' is happening still. There is nothing in the sentence that tells us that this is a thing of past. So, you cannot use simple past here.

Abheek · Answer

Quick Question: Does since.. indicates the beginning of a dependent clause?

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  Abheek , here  since  is just used as a  preposition , indicating  time . So,  since  does  not  indicate the beginning of a dependent clause in  this  sentence.

Perhaps you are confusing this with  another  usage of  since :  because .

So, let's take the following example:

Jack did not do well in the exam, since he had not prepared well.

In the above sentence,  since  (used as  because )  does  indicate the beginning of a dependent clause.

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  various usages of “since” . Have attached the corresponding section of the book, for your reference.

daagh · Answer

Since 1986 enrollments of African Americans, American Indians, and Hispanic Americans in full-time engineering programs in the United States  has steadily increased, while the number of other students who enter the field has fallen.
 
(A) has steadily increased, while the number of other students who enter the field has fallen
(B) has steadily increased, while other students entering the field have declined in number
(C) increased steadily, while there was a decline in the number of other students entering the field
(D) have steadily increased, while the number of other students entering the field has fallen
(E) have steadily increased, while that of other students who enter the field fell

The simple algorithm to this tense form question is:

1. Enrollments are plural and hence the singular present perfect 'has' is wrong in A and B. 
2 The word 'since' used as a preposition entails the use of present perfect. C is wrong for using a past tense verb. 
Between D and E, in E, the use of the past tense verb 'fell' is wrong and using a present perfect for one arm while using past tense for the other arm is untenable in a genuine comparison. D is the best choice

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

First clue here is the  subject verb agreement . 
‘ Enrolments have ’ is the right way to go about it.

Options A and B  out.  Eliminate .

Option C  uses the wrong tense here which is confusing.  Eliminate.

Option E  uses ‘that of’ which is ambiguous and incorrect.  Eliminate.

Option D  is the best option.

Hope this helps!

nyadavalwar · Answer

Entering the field has the same meaning as enrollment

jaisonsunny77 · Answer

The subject "enrollments" is plural. Since both (A) and (B) have the singular verb 'has', there is a subject-verb agreement error in these options. Hence, we can    eliminate (A) and (B).

(C) increased steadily, while there was a decline in the number of other students entering the field -  the 'increase' is still ongoing (as indicated by the use of ''since 1986''), whereas the 'decline' is indicated in the past tense. (C) therefore has a verb tense error. Hence,    eliminate (C).

(D) have steadily increased, while the number of other students entering the field has fallen -  (D) has proper subject-verb agreement across both the clauses. There are no errors here. Hence,  (D) is the right answer choice.

(E) have steadily increased, while  that  of other students who enter the field fell -  the pronoun 'that' does not have a clear antecedent. Hence,    eliminate (E) .

mba757 · Answer

OG
A. Since 1986 enrollments….has…
a. Plural subject with singular verb. No.
B. Since 1986 enrollments….has…
a. Plural subject with singular verb. No.
C. Since 1986…(says something has been true in the past (starting from 1986) to the present – and still true)
a. This needs a present perfect verb
b. NOT simple past
D. “…have steadily increased…has fallen….”
E. Enrollments of AAs, Ais, and HAs, in full-time engineering programs…while that of other students who enter…
a. Redundancy – Experts please let me know if this is incorrect!
i. “That of…” (refers to enrollment)
ii. “…enter” (refers to enrollment)
b. Given the comparison marker “while” is used, “fell” should be shifted to present perfect tense

VIGHNESHKAMATH · Answer

In option D, shouldn't we say ''the numbers have fallen'', since we are comparing enrollments (numbers)?

Since 1986 enrollments of African Americans, American Indians, and His

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Since 1986 enrollments of African Americans, American Indians, and His

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