missionGMAT007 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

A

See the splits its/their:
The seven-store retailer is Singular so usage of Their is wrong.
Discard D and E.

Besides hes/had been there is one more issue.
The adjective "recent" should be used with "extended sales slump" not the adverb "recently".
Discard B and C

Answer A

missionGMAT007 wrote: Can you please explain - had been VS has been

Has been: Action started in the past and is continuing to the Present.

The Door has been closed.
The door was open in Past. Closing started in past. Now, it is in the state of closed.

Had been: Same to has been in complete past sense. Action started in the more past and is continuing to the recent past.

In the problem SAID is the Past. So prior to this is "had been the recent extended sales slump".
The problem was "extended sales slump". It was still a problem when the store said it.

Has been: Action started in the past and is continuing to the Present.

The Door has been closed.
The door was open in Past. Closing started in past. Now, it is in the state of closed.

Had been: Same to has been in complete past sense. Action started in the more past and is continuing to the recent past.

In the problem SAID is the Past. So prior to this is "had been the recent extended sales slump".
The problem was "extended sales slump". It was still a problem when the store said it.

I got A as well.

The whole Has Been vs Had Been doesn't make any sense to me though, can you please further clarify? Sounds like your saying Had Been is an action that was completed in the past and Has Been is an action that started in the past but still continues in the present, is this correct? Would assume that if they sentence said "Reporting that one of its ongoing problems HAS been the ...." would that be correct to use has been?

phoenixhazard wrote: The whole Has Been vs Had Been doesn't make any sense to me though, can you please further clarify? Sounds like your saying Had Been is an action that was completed in the past and Has Been is an action that started in the past but still continues in the present, is this correct? Would assume that if they sentence said "Reporting that one of its ongoing problems HAS been the ...." would that be correct to use has been?

Please go through this:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/usage-of-has ... 19983.html

Awesome explanation by Stacey Koprince.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-tense-tu ... 70148.html

Nice Tense Tutorial.

The whole Has Been vs Had Been doesn't make any sense to me though, can you please further clarify? Sounds like your saying Had Been is an action that was completed in the past and Has Been is an action that started in the past but still continues in the present, is this correct? Would assume that if they sentence said "Reporting that one of its ongoing problems HAS been the ...." would that be correct to use has been?

I think phoenix has a point....the qn demands that the responder understands whether 'the slump' is still on-going vs complete.

I want to say that you can use the term 'slump' only when the phonomenon has ended. Hence B

comment!

ov25 wrote:

The whole Has Been vs Had Been doesn't make any sense to me though, can you please further clarify? Sounds like your saying Had Been is an action that was completed in the past and Has Been is an action that started in the past but still continues in the present, is this correct? Would assume that if they sentence said "Reporting that one of its ongoing problems HAS been the ...." would that be correct to use has been?

I think phoenix has a point....the qn demands that the responder understands whether 'the slump' is still on-going vs complete.

I want to say that you can use the term 'slump' only when the phonomenon has ended. Hence B

comment!

Hi,

The usage of Had been is correct here. Reason:

1. "the seven-store retailer said" This is a Past Simple Action.
2. What was the problem... "It had been the recent extended sales slump".... This should be Past Perfect Action.

The slump started in Past and was continuing when the retailer cited the same. I agree that the slump may be still continuing now, but how do you know the same? The retailer reported the same and for us it ends there in the past where he SAID so.

Digging too much into it will be cumbersome. I really ask you to follow this awesome post by Stacey Koprince of MGMAT...

https://www.beatthegmat.com/usage-of-has ... 19983.html