Sentence Correction

Though the term "graphic design" may suggest laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, they have come to signify widely ranging work, from package designs and company logotypes to signs, book jackets, computer graphics, and film titles.

(A) suggest laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, they have come to signify widely ranging
(B) suggest laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, it has come to signify a wide range of
(C) suggest corporate brochure and annual report layout, it has signified widely ranging
(D) have suggested corporate brochure and annual report layout, it has signified a wide range of（B）
(E) have suggested laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, they have come to signify widely ranging



Choices A and E are wrong because of singular noun subject and plural pronoun.


Choice D Uses plural verb for singular subject "term"

Now I am struck between choices B and C.

"Wide range of" sounds good to my ears but I want to learn how to work on these kind of questions.


Please help!

Though the term "graphic design" may suggest laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, they have come to signify widely ranging work, from package designs and company logotypes to signs, book jackets, computer graphics, and film titles.

(A) suggest laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, they have come to signify widely ranging
(B) suggest laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, it has come to signify a wide range of
(C) suggest corporate brochure and annual report layout, it has signified a widely ranging
(D) have suggested corporate brochure and annual report layout, it has signified a wide range of
(E) have suggested laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, they have come to signify widely ranging

In A and E, they (plural) does not agree with term (singular).
Eliminate A and E.

In C and D, corporate brochure and annual report layout seems to imply that the SAME LAYOUT is used for corporate brochures and annual reports.
Not the intended meaning of the original sentence.
Eliminate C and D.

The correct answer is B.

The present perfect (has + VERBed) serves to express a PAST action that affects the PRESENT.

C and D: it has signified
Here, the usage of the present perfect (has signified) implies that the term "graphic design" signified a wide range of work at an indefinite moment in the PAST and that this action somehow affects the present.
Not the intended meaning.
The intended meaning is that the term "graphic design" signifies a wide range of work in the PRESENT.
Eliminate C and D.

OA: it has come to signify a wide range of work
Here, the usage of the infinitive -- to signify -- implies that the term "graphic design" serves TO SIGNIFY a wide range of work IN THE PRESENT.

Hi Mitch,

I have understood everything in your post except the last point:

"OA: it has come to signify a wide range of work
Here, the usage of the infinitive -- to signify -- implies that the term "graphic design" serves TO SIGNIFY a wide range of work IN THE PRESENT.
"

Can you please explain that in detail.

vishalwin wrote:Hi Mitch,

I have understood everything in your post except the last point:

"OA: it has come to signify a wide range of work
Here, the usage of the infinitive -- to signify -- implies that the term "graphic design" serves TO SIGNIFY a wide range of work IN THE PRESENT.
"

Can you please explain that in detail.

John has come to New York.
Conveyed meaning:
At some point in the PAST, John began to travel, with the result that he NOW is in New York.

The same line of reasoning applies to the OA:
The term has come to signify a wide range of styles.
Conveyed meaning:
At some point in the PAST, the term began to undergo a change in meaning, with the result that it NOW signifies a wide range of styles.

GMATGuruNY wrote: OA: The term has come to signify a wide range of styles.
Conveyed meaning:
At some point in the PAST, the term began to undergo a change in meaning, with the result that it NOW signifies a wide range of styles.

GMATGuruNY wrote:OA: it has come to signify a wide range of work
Here, the usage of the infinitive -- to signify -- implies that the term "graphic design" serves TO SIGNIFY a wide range of work IN THE PRESENT.

GMATGuruNY wrote: C and D: it has signified
Here, the usage of the present perfect (has signified) implies that the term "graphic design" signified a wide range of work at an indefinite moment in the PAST and that this action somehow affects the present.
Not the intended meaning.
The intended meaning is that the term "graphic design" signifies a wide range of work in the PRESENT.
Eliminate C and D.

HI Mitch,
I'm confused from your above THREE quotes that what EXACTLY the DIFFERENCE between has signified and has come to signify...!!

Could you please clarify ?

P.S: Precisely, I understand your explanation for has signified TENSE!
But, I'm getting lost when I read your other TWO quotes on the OA to understand the implication of has come to signify -- these two quotes on OA appears to be BIT contradicting to me. Also, at this point I'm NOT able to distinguish between your explanation for has signified and that for has come to signify (in the VERY first quote). Kindly help!

RBBmba@2014 wrote:[P.S: Precisely, I understand your explanation for has signified TENSE!
But, I'm getting lost when I read your other TWO quotes on the OA to understand the implication of has come to signify -- these two quotes on OA appears to be BIT contradicting to me. Also, at this point I'm NOT able to distinguish between your explanation for has signified and that for has come to signify (in the VERY first quote). Kindly help!

The term HAS SIGNIFIED a wide range of styles.
Here, the usage of has signified implies that the act of SIGNIFYING took place in the PAST.
Not the intended meaning.
The intended meaning is that the term CURRENTLY signifies a wide range of styles.

The term HAS COME to signify a wide range of styles.
Here, the usage of has come implies that the act of COMING took place in the past, while the usage of to signify implies that the act of SIGNIFYING takes place in the PRESENT.
Conveyed meaning:
The term HAS COME -- in other words, the term HAS CHANGED over time -- with the result that it NOW serves TO SIGNIFY a wide range of styles.
This is the intended meaning.

GMATGuruNY wrote: The term HAS SIGNIFIED a wide range of styles.
Here, the usage of has signified implies that the act of SIGNIFYING took place in the PAST.
Not the intended meaning.
The intended meaning is that the term CURRENTLY signifies a wide range of styles.

The term HAS COME to signify a wide range of styles.
Here, the usage of has come implies that the act of COMING took place in the past, while the usage of to signify implies that the act of SIGNIFYING takes place in the PRESENT.
Conveyed meaning:
The term HAS COME -- in other words, the term HAS CHANGED over time -- with the result that it NOW serves TO SIGNIFY a wide range of styles.
This is the intended meaning.

I still got some doubt as I'm not able to catch the subtle difference in MEANING,I think.

The term HAS SIGNIFIED: the act of SIGNIFYING took place in the PAST and still the term serves TO SIGNIFY in the PRESENT -- a STRAIGHTFORWARD implication of PRESENT PERFECT Tense. Right ?

The term HAS COME to signify: the act of COMING took place in the past -- in other words, the term HAS CHANGED over time -- with the result that it NOW serves TO SIGNIFY. So,here also it seems to me that because of PRESENT PERFECT usage, this CHANGE (re the act of SIGNIFYING) began in the PAST with the result that it NOW serves TO SIGNIFY a wide range of styles.

Hence,the point is that in the BOTH of the above cases it seems that the action began in the PAST and still continues in the PRESENT. So,where I'm getting it wrong ?

Please help!

Hi GMATGuruNY,
Could you please share your feedback on the concerns raised above ?

Look forward to hear from you. Much thanks in advance!

RBBmba@2014 wrote: The term HAS SIGNIFIED: the act of SIGNIFYING took place in the PAST and still the term serves TO SIGNIFY in the PRESENT -- a STRAIGHTFORWARD implication of PRESENT PERFECT Tense. Right ?

The present perfect serves to express a PAST ACTION that somehow AFFECTS the present.
It does NOT necessarily express an action that CONTINUES in the present.
John has finished the meal.
Here, John finished the meal IN THE PAST.
He is NOT finishing the meal in the present.
The purpose of the present perfect is to convey that the act of finishing -- an act that took place IN THE PAST -- somehow affects THE PRESENT.

Generally, for the present perfect to express an action that started in the past and continues in the present, a TIME MODIFIER such as since or so far is required.
So far, John has attended 10 classes.
Here, the usage of so far implies that John attended 10 classes in the past and might still be attending classes in the present.

The term has signified a wide range of styles.
Here, there is no time modifier such as since or so far.
As a result, the usage of the present perfect (has signified) does NOT convey that the act of signifying continues in the present.
Rather, this usage implies that the act of signifying took place IN THE PAST.
Not the intended meaning, as discussed in my post above.

Hi Mitch,
That clarifies things...! Just a quick question -

As we know, generally, to + VERB serves to express an INTENDED ACTION -- at some point IN THE FUTURE, so how in this SC the usage of to signify implies that the act of SIGNIFYING takes place in the PRESENT ?

Please clarify.

GMATGuruNY wrote: Generally, for the present perfect to express an action that started in the past and continues in the present, a TIME MODIFIER such as since or so far is required.

Do we've any Official SC at hand in which the above rule is NOT followed in any way ?

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Hi Mitch,
That clarifies things...! Just a quick question -

As we know, generally, to + VERB serves to express an INTENDED ACTION -- at some point IN THE FUTURE, so how in this SC the usage of to signify implies that the act of SIGNIFYING takes place in the PRESENT ?

Please clarify.

OA: the term has come to signify
The present perfect (has come) serves to indicate that the term underwent a change in the PAST.
The infinitive (to signify) serves to express an action that happens in the PRESENT -- AFTER the past act of changing.

GMATGuruNY wrote: Generally, for the present perfect to express an action that started in the past and continues in the present, a TIME MODIFIER such as since or so far is required.

Do we've any Official SC at hand in which the above rule is NOT followed in any way ?

Please refer to my post here:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/suggested-po ... 88786.html

GMATGuruNY wrote: OA: the term has come to signify
The present perfect (has come) serves to indicate that the term underwent a change in the PAST.
The infinitive (to signify) serves to express an action that happens in the PRESENT -- AFTER the past act of changing.

gmatguru,
i've a doubt here.

in one of your posts, you've mentioned that to + VERB serves to express an INTENDED ACTION -- at some point IN THE FUTURE, whereas, in this sc you mention "The infinitive (to signify) serves to express an action that happens in the PRESENT -- AFTER the past act...".

so, my question is how to + VERB refers to PRESENT in one case and FUTURE in another case ?

can you please help me understand this ?

ngk4mba3236 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote: OA: the term has come to signify
The present perfect (has come) serves to indicate that the term underwent a change in the PAST.
The infinitive (to signify) serves to express an action that happens in the PRESENT -- AFTER the past act of changing.

gmatguru,
i've a doubt here.

in one of your posts, you've mentioned that to + VERB serves to express an INTENDED ACTION -- at some point IN THE FUTURE, whereas, in this sc you mention "The infinitive (to signify) serves to express an action that happens in the PRESENT -- AFTER the past act...".

so, my question is how to + VERB refers to PRESENT in one case and FUTURE in another case ?

can you please help me understand this ?

Generally, an infinitive modifier serves to express an action intended to happen AFTER the modified verb.
If the modified verb expresses an action happening in the PRESENT, then the infinitive modifier serves to express an action intended to happen in the FUTURE.
If the modified verb expresses an action that happened in the PAST, then the infinitive modifier serves to express an action intended to happen sometime AFTER that past action.
In the SC above, the infinitive action (to signify) happens in the PRESENT -- AFTER the past action expressed by the modified verb (has come).

Here's my approach. Go directly to the answer choices and match up the ranging/range of up against the non-underlined part, "work, from package..." "Ranging work" is nonsensical. Ranging cannot modify work. Eliminate all but B & D. Repeat the same process with suggest/have suggested. Graphic design is not plural so B is the answer.

vishalwin wrote:Though the term "graphic design" may suggest laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, they have come to signify widely ranging work, from package designs and company logotypes to signs, book jackets, computer graphics, and film titles.

(A) suggest laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, they have come to signify widely ranging
(B) suggest laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, it has come to signify a wide range of
(C) suggest corporate brochure and annual report layout, it has signified widely ranging
(D) have suggested corporate brochure and annual report layout, it has signified a wide range of（B）
(E) have suggested laying out corporate brochures and annual reports, they have come to signify widely ranging



Choices A and E are wrong because of singular noun subject and plural pronoun.


Choice D Uses plural verb for singular subject "term"

Now I am struck between choices B and C.

"Wide range of" sounds good to my ears but I want to learn how to work on these kind of questions.


Please help!

hi experts@verbal,
could you please shed some light on the differences between these two phrases --

"widely ranging" and "a wide range of".

thank you!