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Reporting that one of its many problems - Specific Doubts

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Reporting that one of its many problems - Specific Doubts

by gmatjeet » Thu Jun 30, 2011 3:20 pm
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

OA :A

Very specific doubts.

- How to choose Recent vs Recently and decide correct?
I did not understand the difference between these? In any other question if i face similar situation how to decide?

- Please explain why HAD BEEN is better than HAS BEEN?

Reporting that one of its many problems has been the recently 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.

I view the events as below: The retailer said - past about starting a sale. Problem was there from before past and because there is mention that the problem is also related with a word RECENTLY so HAS BEEN seems to be correct.

- One of its many problems IS -> Should the verb be IS? WHAT IS THE SUBJECT HERE? Problems or One?

I know quite a lot of questions but i am unable to make sense of the OG V explanation here.
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by sameerballani » Fri Jul 01, 2011 7:06 am
gmatjeet 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

OA :A

Very specific doubts.

- How to choose Recent vs Recently and decide correct?
I did not understand the difference between these? In any other question if i face similar situation how to decide?

BOTH Extended and RECENT are meant to modify sales SLUMP(noun)
you replace slump with deterioration
RECENT EXTENDED sales deterioration: means - recent sales deterioration, which extended more than expected.
RECENTLY EXTENDED sales deterioration: makes it seem as if the sales deterioration was purposely extended.

- Please explain why HAD BEEN is better than HAS BEEN?

Reporting that one of its many problems has been the recently 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.

This would certainly change the meaning. It would show as if the process is going on, whereas in original it means the process is over. Also the word REPORTING points towards the change in verb tenses.
The company executive would have said: one of its many problems WAS the recent extended sales slump in women's apparel, and IT WILL start a three month liquidation sale in all of its stores.

when reporting
past changes to past perfect.
future changes to conditional.

I view the events as below: The retailer said - past about starting a sale. Problem was there from before past and because there is mention that the problem is also related with a word RECENTLY so HAS BEEN seems to be correct.

- One of its many problems IS -> Should the verb be IS? WHAT IS THE SUBJECT HERE? Problems or One?

ONE

Eg: ONE of the boys IS missing
ONE of the boys THAT were playing IS missing

I know quite a lot of questions but i am unable to make sense of the OG V explanation here.
I hope it helps

Thanks
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by divineacclivity » Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:41 am
One of its problems was the slump and it will start the sales -> Doesn't it say the problem was there but now it is not there. So, why would it need to start sales?

Shouldn't it be like this:
One of the problems is the slump and hence it'll start the sales. -> Isn't "is" a better choice?

Please explain. Thanks.
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by tisrar02 » Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:35 pm
divineacclivity wrote:One of its problems was the slump and it will start the sales -> Doesn't it say the problem was there but now it is not there. So, why would it need to start sales?

Shouldn't it be like this:
One of the problems is the slump and hence it'll start the sales. -> Isn't "is" a better choice?

Please explain. Thanks.
"is" has the adj "recently". This doesn't make sense because now it seems like the sale slump is still going on. We need a time period to indicate that it was in the past. "had been" and "recent" in answer choice A do just that for us and give a clear concise time frame.
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by GMATGuruNY » Wed Feb 06, 2013 1:25 am
gmatjeet 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

OA :A

Very specific doubts.

- How to choose Recent vs Recently and decide correct?
I did not understand the difference between these? In any other question if i face similar situation how to decide?
RECENTLY EXTENDED sales slump.
Here, recently serves as an ADVERB modifying extended.
HOW was the slump extended?
It was extended RECENTLY.
The implication is that someone or something RECENTLY -- and perhaps even ON PURPOSE -- extended the sales slump.
Not the intended meaning.

RECENT extended sales SLUMP.
Here, recent, extended and sales all serve as ADJECTIVES modifying slump.
What KIND of slump?
A SALES slump.
What KIND of sales slump?
An EXTENDED sales slump.
What KIND of extended sales slump?
The RECENT extended sales slump.
- Please explain why HAD BEEN is better than HAS BEEN?

Reporting that one of its many problems has been the recently 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.

I view the events as below: The retailer said - past about starting a sale. Problem was there from before past and because there is mention that the problem is also related with a word RECENTLY so HAS BEEN seems to be correct.
A VERBing modifier expresses CONTEMPORANEOUS action: an action happening AT THE SAME TIME as the main verb.
Here, the retailer was REPORTING when it SAID.
Both actions (reporting and said) took place IN THE PAST.
Since the sales slump happened BEFORE the reporting, the past perfect is needed to make the sequence of events clear:
Reporting that one of its problems HAD BEEN the slump, the retailer said it would start a sale.
- One of its many problems -> Should the verb be IS? WHAT IS THE SUBJECT HERE? Problems or One?


Here, of its problems serves as an ADJECTIVE modifying one.
Thus, in the OA, the subject of one is had been:
ONE of its problems HAD BEEN the slump.
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by RBBmba@2014 » Thu Feb 04, 2016 11:26 pm
GMATGuruNY wrote: RECENTLY EXTENDED sales slump.
Here, recently serves as an ADVERB modifying extended.
HOW was the slump extended?
It was extended RECENTLY.
The implication is that someone or something RECENTLY -- and perhaps even ON PURPOSE -- extended the sales slump.
Not the intended meaning.

RECENT extended sales SLUMP.
Here, recent, extended and sales all serve as ADJECTIVES modifying slump.
What KIND of slump?
A SALES slump.
What KIND of sales slump?
An EXTENDED sales slump.
What KIND of extended sales slump?
The RECENT extended sales slump.
I guess, following is another reason to eliminate option B -

RECENTLY is as an ADVERB. So, an ADVERB can't modify any NOUN Phrase - extended sales slump.

Is this interpretation correct ?
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Feb 05, 2016 5:33 am
RBBmba@2014 wrote:
GMATGuruNY wrote: RECENTLY EXTENDED sales slump.
Here, recently serves as an ADVERB modifying extended.
HOW was the slump extended?
It was extended RECENTLY.
The implication is that someone or something RECENTLY -- and perhaps even ON PURPOSE -- extended the sales slump.
Not the intended meaning.

RECENT extended sales SLUMP.
Here, recent, extended and sales all serve as ADJECTIVES modifying slump.
What KIND of slump?
A SALES slump.
What KIND of sales slump?
An EXTENDED sales slump.
What KIND of extended sales slump?
The RECENT extended sales slump.
I guess, following is another reason to eliminate option B -

RECENTLY is as an ADVERB. So, an ADVERB can't modify any NOUN Phrase - extended sales slump.

Is this interpretation correct ?
The line of reasoning is invalid.
Please reread the statement in blue above.
In B, recently (adverb) serves to modify extended (adjective).
This sort of usage is grammatically sound.

The following sentence is correct:
The recently married movie star is the subject of a new documentary.
Here, recently (adverb) serves to modify married (adjective).
Together, the two modifiers describe the movie star.
What KIND of movie star?
The RECENTLY MARRIED movie star.

B can be eliminated because the usage of recently distorts the intended meaning.
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I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

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