Since 1990 the global economy has grown more than it did

Question

Since 1990 the global economy has grown more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture  to 1950.

(A) Since 1990 the global economy has grown more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture

(B) Since 1990 the growth of the global economy has been more than that during 10,000 years, from when the agriculture began

(C) The growth of the global economy since 1990 exceeds that which had been for 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture

(D) The growth of the global economy since 1990 exceeds what it has been for 10,000 years, from when agriculture began

(E) The growth of the global economy since 1990 exceeds what it did for the 10,000 years from the beginning of agricultre

pqhai · Accepted Answer

Hello monish.

Just want to elaborate the explanation a bit. Hope it helps.

Since 1990 the global economy has grown more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture to 1950.
 
A) Since 1990 the global economy has grown more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture to 1950.
  Correct.  
"Since" is signal of present perfect tense. --> "has grown" is correct.
time frame: from X to Y --> correct.

B) Since 1990 the growth of the global economy has been more than that during 10,000 years, from when agriculture began.
  Wrong.    
from when X  to what ? --> correct idiom is:  from X to Y.

C) The growth of the global economy since 1990 exceeds that which had been for 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture.
  Wrong.    
- "that which" is awkward.
- Same problem as in B. The correct time frame should be "from X to Y".

D) The growth of the global economy since 1990 exceeds what it has been for 10,000 years, from when agriculture began
  Wrong.    
- Because of "since" --> present simple tense "exceeds" is incorrect.
- Same problem as in B. The correct time frame should be "from X to Y".

E) The growth of the global economy since 1990 exceeds what it did for the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture.
  Wrong.   
- Because of "since" --> present simple tense "exceeds" is incorrect.
- Same problem as in B. The correct time frame should be "from X to Y".

Hope it helps.

KarishmaB · Answer

(B) Since 1990 the growth of the global economy has been more than that during 10,000 years, from when the agriculture began to 1950.

"since 1990 the growth has been more..." seems to say that the growth statistic has been more starting from 1990.

In 1990, the growth was more than that during the 10,000 years
In 1991, the growth was more than that during the 10,000 years
...
Today, the growth is more than that during the 10,000 years

Actually it is saying that the growth from 1990 to now has been more than the growth during the 10,000 years.

"from when the agriculture began ..."
We need "from X to Y". X and Y are parallel in option (A) (both are nouns) but not in (B).

Also, use of "the" before agriculture is not correct. When we are talking about things in general, we do not use the definite article.

mydreammba · Answer

Got D......but confused between A and D.can anyone please explain?

Thanks in advance

Got it

margarette · Answer

In D, "from when" is an awkward phrase, and makes it grammatically unclear as to exactly when agriculture began.

skamal7 · Answer

Since 1990 the global economy has grown more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture to 1950.
 
A) Since 1990 the global economy has grown more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture to 1950.
B) Since 1990 the growth of the global economy has been more than that during 10,000 years, from when agriculture began.
C) The growth of the global economy since 1990 exceeds that which had been for 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture.
D) The growth of the global economy since 1990 exceeds what it has been for 10,000 years, from when agriculture began
E) The growth of the global economy since 1990 exceeds what it did for the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture.

I have read this Manhattan forum:
to eliminate  option E : the explanation was given as below:please can some one explain
what it did' doesn't make any sense:
* the growth didn't 'do' anything
* there's no other verb to which 'did' could logically be parallel to complete the comparison

Zarrolou · Answer

E) The growth of the global economy since 1990 exceeds what it did for the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture.

* the growth didn't 'do' anything 
This means that it's inappropriate to say "the growth exceeds what it did", from a logical point of view. The first part is fine ("the growth exceeds ") the second one is logically flawed as the growth cannot do anything ("what it did").
 * there's no other verb to which 'did' could logically be parallel to complete the comparison  
Example:
I sing better than Micheal Jackson   does   (sing).<== does stands for the verb " sing "
Now look at E: there is no verb that "did" can stand for. To give you another example, consider the correct answer:

A) Since 1990 the global economy has grown more than it   did (grow)  during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture to 1950.

gmatassassin88 · Answer

VeritasKarishma

Hi... I am unable to eliminate option B on logical grounds.sentence is intended to compare growth of the economy since 1990 with the growth of the economy during 10000 years. Request you to help in understanding logical errors w.r.t option B

lakshya14 · Answer

Is the use of "has" correct in (A),I think since time reference is given the question, we should opt out the use of "has"?

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi Lakshya, option A uses  present perfect  tense  has grown .

You can watch our  video  on  Present Perfect .

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  Present perfect tense , its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

kornn · Answer

Dear GMATGuruNY DmitryFarber MartyTargetTestPrep AjiteshArun GMATRockstar IanStewart VeritasPrepHailey EducationAisle GMATNinja VeritasPrepBrian RonPurewal , Please confirm whether C. to E. are wrong because "exceedS" should be replaced with "HAS exceedED"? I'm not sure because there are 2 stances on this STANCE 1 : According to explanation from similar question https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-nineteen ... l#p2549075. It's possible that "The growth of the global economy since 1990 " does NOT NEED to be followed by present perfect tense. STANCE 2 : In C: The word since REQUIRES the present perfect tense: the growth...since 1990 has exceeded.... IMO, although The growth of the global economy since 1990 doesn't spell the word ALL explicitly, logically the phrase refers to the ENTIRE/ALL growth from 1990 onward. So, I think despite the word "since", we don't actually need to use perfect tense as STANCE 1 mentions. So, do we require or not require to use present perfect with the word "since" for choice C. in this question?

IanStewart · Answer

C through E are wrong because they set up unclear or nonsensical comparisons. Changing the verb tense doesn't fix that problem.

I'll let the person you're quoting respond about those apparently conflicting "rules" about how to use "since", but most of the time when prep books propose rules like that, they're just not imagining situations where those rules don't apply. In sentences with a word as versatile as "since" (which can be used to mean "from the time of" or to mean "because") you can have any verb tense.

GMATGuruNY · Answer

I received a PM requesting that I comment. ALL growth implies that MANY TYPES of growth exist and that EVERY TYPE of growth is under discussion. THE growth of the global economy refers to ONE SPECIFIC TYPE of growth. THE growth ≠ ALL growth . Thus, option C is not analogous to the OA about ALL chemistry since Robert Byrd . Note also that the blue phrase above does not include a verb. In C, a verb is present ( exceeds ). Generally: When a since -clause refers to time and includes a verb, the verb must be in a perfect tense. This usage of since is by far the most common on the GMAT. When since serves to express a causal relationship, a perfect tense is not required. Only rarely does the GMAT seem to use since to express a causal relationship. An example of this type of usage: https://gmatclub.com/forum/prospecting- ... 92135.html

pk6969 · Answer

Hi! Though I got the correct answer, In E the growth exceeds what it(growth) did(exceeded) for the 10,000 years...... seems right to me. Only what seems a bit awkward as it has been used as a pronoun here. Is this the reason to eliminate E?  AndrewN   GMATNinja   GMATGuruNY

GMATGuruNY · Answer

When  did  stands in for an antecedent verb on the GMAT, the following conditions will generally be satisfied:
1. The sentence compares one complete clause to another, with the use of  than  or  as 
2.  did  serves as the main verb of the second complete clause
3. The two clauses are relatively parallel

OA:   Since 1990 the global economy has grown  more than  it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture to 1950  
Here, all three conditions are satisfied.
Each colored portion constitutes a complete clause.
The two clauses are compared with the use of  than .
The two clauses are relatively parallel in that each is composed of a subject, a verb, and a time modifier.
As a result, it is crystal clear that  did  is standing in for the simple past tense form of the antecedent verb  has grown .
Conveyed meaning:
 Since 1990 the global economy has grown more than it GREW during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture to 1950.

E:  The growth of the global economy since 1990 exceeds  what it did  for the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture to 1950. 
Here, none of the three conditions is satisfied.
The portion in red is not a complete clause but serves as the DIRECT OBJECT of  exceeds .
The entirety of E constitutes one complete clause.
Because the three conditions are not satisfied, the meaning conveyed by  did  is unclear.
Eliminate E.

GMATNinja · Answer

Consider the logic of your interpretation. What does it mean for "one growth to exceed what another growth exceeded?" One period's growth might exceed another period's growth. But it makes no sense to write that the second period's growth is  also  exceeding something. Otherwise, we'd need a third period to compare the second period to.

For starters, we don't have that here. We only have two periods: the growth since 1990 and the growth from the preceding 10,000 years. Also it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense if we did. One thing can exceed another. But it can't exceed what another exceeds.

So (E) isn't wrong because it's awkward. It's wrong because it's incoherent.

The takeaway: you always want to consider an option's meaning before you consider its style, as the latter can be totally subjective.

I hope that clears things up!

Jezza · Answer

why don't we use past perfect in option A? shouldn't it be "the global eco has grown more than it had?, apparently that 10000 years refer to a span of time before 1990?

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  Jezza ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, when the chronology is clear because of terms such as "before/after/when/earlier/later"…or because of clear mention of dates, the use of past perfect tense is not required, though not incorrect either.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

jim441 · Answer

In option A, what does "did" refer to?

is it grew or had grown?

EducationAisle · Answer

grew .

Rule : "to do" forms of the verb ( do/did/does ) can stand for the main verb in the sentence. The main verb can be in  any  tense (for example, in this case "has grown" is present perfect), but  do/does  depict the main verb in  simple present tense , while  did  depicts the main verb in  simple past tense .

So, in this case,  did  stands for the the simple past tense  grew .

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  this aspect of "to do" verbs . Have attached the corresponding section of the book, for your reference.

Since 1990 the global economy has grown more than it did

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Since 1990 the global economy has grown more than it did

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