The two main decisions we need to make here are between the beginning-of-options splits (its vs. their) and the end-of-options splits (recent vs. recently).

The pronoun needs to refer correctly to "retailer" ("seven-store" is essentially an adjective here), and retailer is singular, so we need "its." That narrows our choices down to A, B, and C.

Now we deal with the question of "recent" vs. "recently." If I go with recent, I'm modifying "sales slump"; if I go with recently, I'm modifying "extended." Only the former makes sense, because to say the sales slump was recently extended would mean that someone had decided to extend the sales slump--which obviously no one would do... you might decide to extend a *sale*, but certainly not a sales slump.

So that leaves me with only [spoiler](A)[/spoiler].

Ashley@VeritasPrep wrote:The two main decisions we need to make here are between the beginning-of-options splits (its vs. their) and the end-of-options splits (recent vs. recently).

The pronoun needs to refer correctly to "retailer" ("seven-store" is essentially an adjective here), and retailer is singular, so we need "its." That narrows our choices down to A, B, and C.

Now we deal with the question of "recent" vs. "recently." If I go with recent, I'm modifying "sales slump"; if I go with recently, I'm modifying "extended." Only the former makes sense, because to say the sales slump was recently extended would mean that someone had decided to extend the sales slump--which obviously no one would do... you might decide to extend a *sale*, but certainly not a sales slump.

So that leaves me with only [spoiler](A)[/spoiler].

hi ashley , i didnt understand your logic .Couldnt the slump have been extended because of recession

mundasingh123:

It is usually hard to use the split based on "possible context" that results from the subtle meaning difference between adjective and adverb. This is more true for non-native English speakers,including me.

If I were you, I would use the verb split that is actually easy in this instance. The sentence is stated in the past tense (said) and future prediction is in the past tense (would) as well. Therefore, you can quickly choose the option (A), as it has matching verb tense (had).

rveeraga wrote:mundasingh123:

It is usually hard to use the split based on "possible context" that results from the subtle meaning difference between adjective and adverb. This is more true for non-native English speakers,including me.

If I were you, I would use the verb split that is actually easy in this instance. The sentence is stated in the past tense (said) and future prediction is in the past tense (would) as well. Therefore, you can quickly choose the option (A), as it has matching verb tense (had).

I misread E as E)its many problems had been the recen

Correct me if I'm wrong but the two common combinations of 'reporting' patterns are:

1. past perfect + conditional (in this case 'had' + would)

2. present + future

thanks

mundasingh123 wrote:

Ashley@VeritasPrep wrote: Now we deal with the question of "recent" vs. "recently." If I go with recent, I'm modifying "sales slump"; if I go with recently, I'm modifying "extended." Only the former makes sense, because to say the sales slump was recently extended would mean that someone had decided to extend the sales slump--which obviously no one would do... you might decide to extend a *sale*, but certainly not a sales slump.

So that leaves me with only [spoiler](A)[/spoiler].

hi ashley , i didnt understand your logic .Couldnt the slump have been extended because of recession

It's a good point made above that the adjective vs. adverb meaning difference is subtle and it may be easier to look at other splits. But let me answer this question anyway . A slump could be extended, yes (because of a recession, as you suggest, perhaps), but the key here is that the recentness can only apply to the slump. The slump is extended ("extended" here just meaning "long" and functioning as an adjective -- just as I could say "I went on an extended journey") AND recent. It would not make sense to have "recently" coming in and modifying "extended," because for something to have been "recently" done means that it was done at some not-long-ago moment in the past. You could have a "recently extended deadline," or a "recently extended trail," for instance, if someone had recently pushed the deadline back till later, or if someone had recently laid more asphalt to make a bike trail longer. But since slumps just happen with agents coming and implementing, there's no plausible meaning to someone having recently extended a slump.