Sentence Correction

At a recent conference, the Transit Authority has stated that the provisions in the Clean Air Act fail to promote mass transit as an alternative to private transportation.

has stated that the provisions in the clean air act fail

stated that the provisions of the Clean air act fail

has stated that the provisions of the Clean Air Act will fail

stated that the provisions in the Clean Air Act are a failure

has stated the provisions in the Clean Air Act failed

ans b..Can some one explain,how they can eliminate "has" in statement a and is it right to say provisions in or provisions of

IMO B
Resaons
the answer choices start with 'has stated' and 'stated'
has stated -- present perfect participle means the action started in past and is still going on.
stated (verb)-means the action(verb) was completed.
As the conference was held in past .So ,'Stated' verb is correct .
B and D are left .
Provisions - the act of providing
Provisions( the act of providing) in x
Provision( the act of providing) of x
so the provision of is 100 times better.

So B is correct one.

Sapna

I think u made a typo in option B

It should be FAILED in plave of FAIL... Plz check n confirm..

Thanks!

gauravgundal wrote:IMO B
Resaons
the answer choices start with 'has stated' and 'stated'
has stated -- present participle means the action started in past and is still going on.
stated (verb)-means the action(verb) was completed.
As the conference was held in past .So ,'Stated' verb is correct .
B and D are left .
Provisions - the act of providing
Provisions( the act of providing) in x
Provision( the act of providing) of x
so the provision of is 100 times better.

So B is correct one.

'Has stated' is not a present participle its 'present perfect'.
present participle is 'I am sleeping' , 'I am doing' , etc.

So A is not ruled out because of the reason which you said .. Present perfect is action completed just now /or with respect to present.

Its just that when you already have a time marker like 'recent' there is no need to use present perfect as already its being intended that its a recent phenomena.

I agree with osirus that it should be "failed" and not "fail"

Just saw that this questions is taken from Kaplan workbook

Below is the explanation given by Kaplan :

When you scan the choices, notice you have to choose
between three that begin with "has stated" and two
that begin with "stated."Many GMAT sentence completions
exhibit this "3-2 split" answer choice pattern.
Use this to your advantage. Begin by deciding which
of the two forms, "has stated" or "stated," is correct.
This is strategic: You deal with one small problem at
a time, and narrow your choices down. The Transit
Authority made their statement and it was over. The
action didn't continue. So you should say "the Transit
Authority stated." (B), "the provisions fail to promote
mass transit" is more concise than (D), "the provisions
are a failure to promote mass transit."


The explanation contradicts itself. The statement "the provisions fail to promote
mass transit" ---

indicates that the provisions fail each time to promote mass transit

I don't think "the provisions fail to promote mass transit" is a complete sentence.

It should have been " the provisions fail to promote mass transit each time"

or

"the provisions failed to promote mass transit.

or

the provisions always fail to promote mass transit.


Example : I fail to bring my workbook in class ---incorrect(incomplete sentence)

I fail to bring my workbook every time/each time in class. --correct and complete sentence

I always fail to bring my work book in class.

Does any one agree with me?

would love to see any Kaplan instructor making a point on this one.

The meaning of the sentence changes if "failed" is used in lieu of "fail", but the usage of "fail" is still valid.

With "failed", option (B) becomes "stated that the provisions of the Clean air act failed".

This implies that the Clean Air Act was analyzed for effectiveness, but for a specific duration of time. Suppose this duration has a Start date and an End date. Using "failed", the analysis of the effectiveness of the Clean Air Act would have an End date which occurs prior to or equal to the date that the conference was held.

Using "fail", as written, the implication is that this analysis of the Clean Air Act has been analyzed for some duration of time, but that this analysis is ongoing - that is, the analysis has not been concluded.

Again, the meaning of the sentence is changed if we use "failed" instead of "fail", but this does not negate the validity of the usage of "fail".

Thanks tomada,

but, that's what I am taking about --- I am not saying that "failed" is the best option. It's one of the option possible.

I would always agree that "the provisions in the clean air act always fail to promote...."

because "fail" is an ongoing activity and it required to be indicated by time(when) ....so always makes it.

when did the provisions fail? they fail always.

Example : He fails in his exams. when? He always fails in his exams.

I succeed in my exams. but, when?

I always succeed in my exams.

Usually we add few words in such cases.

Generally, I fail in my exams.

That's what my point is.