Step 1:
You see "its" for choices A, B, and C and "their" for choices D and E. Since the difference is between a plural and singular pronoun, identify what noun "its" refers to. The antecedent is "retailer," which is singular. Thus, D and E are eliminated.
A, B, and C all differ in verb tense. A uses the past perfect, B uses the present perfect, and C uses the present tense. To determine the appropriate verb tense, we must pay attention to other verbs in the sentence or words that indicate when an action takes place. In this case, we can use the phrase "the seven-store retailer SAID" to determine what tense the underlined portion should be in. Did the problem of the "recent extended sale slump" occur before or after the retailer "said it would start a three month liquidation?" Logically, it must have occurred before the retailer "said" since the retailer's liquidation is the consequence of the three month slump. Thus, the tense in the underlined portion should be the past perfect since the past perfect is the tense you use to indicate events that take place in the past before other events in the past (E.g. Before I MET with my tutor, I HAD studied for 30 hours on my own).
andrey_tsi wrote:Reporting that one of its many problems had been the recent extended sales slump in women's apparel, the seven-store retailer said it would start a three month liquidation sale in all of its stores.
(A) its many problems had been the recent
(B) its many problems has been the recently
(C) its many problems is the recently
(D) their many problems is the recent
(E) their many problems had been the recent
