Sentence Correction

In 1981 children in the United States spent an average
of slightly less than two and a half hours a week doing
household chores; by 1997 they had spent nearly six
hours a week.

A. chores; by 1997 they had spent nearly six hours
a week
B. chores; by 1997 that figure had grown to nearly
six hours a week
C. chores, whereas nearly six hours a week were
spent in 1997
D. chores, compared with a figure of nearly six hours
a week in 1997
E. chores, that figure growing to nearly six hours a
week in 1997

IMO B

yes , corect answer is 'b'. But can u pls explain as why this option...as clearly 'had grown' is mentioned in the part of the sentence that occured after the first part (i.e after 1981) .

in B..isnt "that figure" getting compared to "an average"???


Also, as its a chronological order of events ...Why "had " for 1997???

Manhattan SC guide says : When two events have occured in the past at different times .. One should be represented by a simple past and other by a past perfect .

A. chores; by 1997 they had spent nearly six hours
a week ----------> ambiguous because of "they"

B. chores; by 1997 that figure had grown to nearly
six hours a week -------> the "figure" correctly refers to the hours spent

C. chores, whereas nearly six hours a week were
spent in 1997 -----> wrong construction

D. chores, compared with a figure of nearly six hours
a week in 1997 -------> wrong comparison (children are compared to figures)

E. chores, that figure growing to nearly six hours a
week in 1997 --------> Tense error (growing is not correct here)

@ Renaukk

I am a bit confused too but but i just arrived at the conclusion using the steps mentioned above

@Vignesh.4384

Manhattan SC guide says : When two events have occured in the past at different times .. One should be represented by a simple past and other by a past perfect .

I totally agree with you but the tenses should be assigned according to the order of the events...

Neways i would like to know the source .If its not genuine.. then i dont think we shud be bothered..

Source pls...

Source - Gmat paper sets

CITI29 wrote:In 1981 children in the United States spent an average
of slightly less than two and a half hours a week doing
household chores; by 1997 they had spent nearly six
hours a week.

A. chores; by 1997 they had spent nearly six hours
a week
B. chores; by 1997 that figure had grown to nearly
six hours a week
C. chores, whereas nearly six hours a week were
spent in 1997
D. chores, compared with a figure of nearly six hours
a week in 1997
E. chores, that figure growing to nearly six hours a
week in 1997

IMO B

by 1997 that figure had grown.. is perfectly correct!!

the 1997 results showed that the figures had grown.. this means by 1997 the figure had grown..

kiranlegend is right

had in B is used for figure, not for 'hours'
Pls clarify my doubt, without the co-ordinating conjuction, how u can write 2 sentences. I feel, some conjutction like 'whereas' should be there after semicolon in B, to make it more clear. Wht do u guys say. It seems like Run-on sentence.
2 Clauses in a sentence should be joined by co-ordinating conjuction.

Would appriciate if some1 can clarify my doubt.

Thannx

Answer choice B is correct. The verb form "had grown" is the past perfect. Past perfect is used to indicate that a past event (let's call it Event A) occurred prior to some other point in the past (Point B), and served as a kind of background or lead-in to that other point in time.

Often Point B is described as an event, using a past tense verb ("By the time we _got home_, we _had already eaten_ all the chips" -- 'got home' is the B, the point in the past that serves as a kind of reference point, and 'had already eaten' is the A, the event that came *prior* to that) but it doesn't have to be. In this case, Point B, the point in the past, is given simply as "1997," and the form "had grown" is correctly used to indicate that the number grew prior to 1997.

But Karen I have a diff. query...

Pls clarify my doubt, without the co-ordinating conjuction, how u can write 2 sentences. I feel, some conjutction like 'whereas' should be there after semicolon in B, to make it more clear. Wht do u guys say. It seems like Run-on sentence.
2 Clauses in a sentence should be joined by co-ordinating conjuction.

No, after a semi-colon one shouldn't use a conjunction such as 'whereas'. A semi-colon is like a compromise between a comma and a period. It has the same force as a period, in the sense that what comes after the semi-colon should include an independent clause -- a clause that can stand alone as a sentence. If you added 'whereas' to the second clause as it is -- without adding something else that could function as the independent clause -- then it would not be an independent clause anymore.

The thing to keep in mind is that the clauses on each side of the semi-colon should be grammatical even if they stood completely alone as separate sentences.

C. chores, whereas nearly six hours a week were
spent in 1997

should be

...chores; whereas, nearly six hours a week were spent in 1997.