Sentence Correction

Hello BTG

Would appreciate a little help on the following SC question.
Thanks in advance

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

The past perfect (had + VERBed) serves to express an action COMPLETED before another past event.
had + VERBed cannot serve to express an ONGOING action.
A: by 1997 they had spent nearly six hours a week
Here, had spent (past perfect) incorrectly serves to express an ONGOING action that is performed SIX HOURS A WEEK.
Eliminate A.

whereas must serve to contrast subjects that can logically be compared.
In C, it is illogical to compare children (the subject of the first clause) to six hours (the subject of the second clause).
Eliminate C.

A COMMA + VERBed modifier must serve to modify the nearest preceding noun.
In D, compared seems to refer to chores -- the nearest preceding noun -- implying that CHORES are compared with a figure.
This comparison is illogical.
Eliminate D.

A VERBing modifier must serve to express a CONTEMPORANEOUS action: an action happening at the SAME TIME as the main verb.
In E, the usage of growing implies that that figure was GROWING IN 1997 at the same time as children SPENT LESS THAN TWO AND A HALF HOURS IN 1981 -- an illogical sequence.
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is B.

GMATGuruNY 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

The past perfect (had + VERBed) serves to express an action COMPLETED before another past event.
had + VERBed cannot serve to express an ONGOING action.
A: by 1997 they had spent nearly six hours a week
Here, had spent (past perfect) incorrectly serves to express an ONGOING action that is performed SIX HOURS A WEEK.
Eliminate A.

whereas must serve to contrast subjects that can logically be compared.
In C, it is illogical to compare children (the subject of the first clause) to six hours (the subject of the second clause).
Eliminate C.

A COMMA + VERBed modifier must serve to modify the nearest preceding noun.
In D, compared seems to refer to chores -- the nearest preceding noun -- implying that CHORES are compared with a figure.
This comparison is illogical.
Eliminate D.

A VERBing modifier must serve to express a CONTEMPORANEOUS action: an action happening at the SAME TIME as the main verb.
In E, the usage of growing implies that that figure was GROWING IN 1997 at the same time as children SPENT LESS THAN TWO AND A HALF HOURS IN 1981 -- an illogical sequence.
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is B.

Thank you so much for a great explanation!

btg experts@gmat verbal,
is this an official sc ? can you please confirm!

and please shed light why B is preferred to A ?

hey gmat experts,
any update on the above ?

looking forward to know your feedback. thank you!

ngk4mba3236 wrote:btg experts@gmat verbal,
is this an official sc ? can you please confirm!

and please shed light why B is preferred to A ?

This is an official SC.
In my post above I discuss a reason to eliminate A.

GMATGuruNY wrote: This is an official SC.
In my post above I discuss a reason to eliminate A.

gmatguru,
couple of doubts to clarify (in fact, these arise from your above reply):

1. A & B both use past perfect. but why it's incorrect in A, but not in B ? why the same reason to eliminate A doesn't apply to B ?

2. can you please elaborate that why you're referring it as "ONGOING action" ?

ngk4mba3236 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote: This is an official SC.
In my post above I discuss a reason to eliminate A.

gmatguru,
couple of doubts to clarify (in fact, these arise from your above reply):

1. A & B both use past perfect. but why it's incorrect in A, but not in B ? why the same reason to eliminate A doesn't apply to B ?

2. can you please elaborate that why you're referring it as "ONGOING action" ?

A: by 1997 they had spent nearly six hours a week
Here, the portion in red seems to refer to a verb -- had spent -- expressing that EVERY WEEK children HAD SPENT nearly six hours doing household chores.
The result seems to be an ONGOING action happening for six hours each week.
As noted in my post above, had spent (past perfect) cannot serve to express an ongoing action.
Eliminate A.

B: by 1997 that figure had grown to nearly six hours a week
Here, the portion in blue does not refer to a VERB (had grown) but serves as the object of the preposition to.
As a result, it's crystal clear that the action is not happening every week.
The conveyed meaning is that the figure = NEARLY SIX HOURS PER WEEK.
This meaning is logical.

GMATGuruNY wrote:A: by 1997 they had spent nearly six hours a week
Here, the portion in red seems to refer to a verb -- had spent -- expressing that EVERY WEEK children HAD SPENT nearly six hours doing household chores.
The result seems to be an ONGOING action happening for six hours each week.
As noted in my post above, had spent (past perfect) cannot serve to express an ongoing action.
Eliminate A.

B: by 1997 that figure had grown to nearly six hours a week
Here, the portion in blue does not refer to a VERB (had grown) but serves as the object of the preposition to.
As a result, it's crystal clear that the action is not happening every week.
The conveyed meaning is that the figure = NEARLY SIX HOURS PER WEEK.
This meaning is logical.

gmatguru,
thank you for your reply.

let me see whether i understood you completely -

the intended meaning here is: average hours children SPENT doing household chores at two different time-periods are being compared. right ?

now, as you've mentioned that option A seems to imply that by 1997 EVERY WEEK children HAD SPENT nearly six hours doing household chores. this is certainly not what is being compared; it's NOT work-hours in EVERY WEEK what is compared, rather the average of work-hours. thus A is wrong!

but in option B, the phrase "that figure" seems to refer to the average of work-hours children SPENT doing household chores and B states that this average had grown by 1997. thus the comparison in B is correct and the intended meaning is clearly conveyed.

is my above understanding correct ?

gmatguru,
could you please let me know your feedback on my above post ?

thank you!

ngk4mba3236 wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:A: by 1997 they had spent nearly six hours a week
Here, the portion in red seems to refer to a verb -- had spent -- expressing that EVERY WEEK children HAD SPENT nearly six hours doing household chores.
The result seems to be an ONGOING action happening for six hours each week.
As noted in my post above, had spent (past perfect) cannot serve to express an ongoing action.
Eliminate A.

B: by 1997 that figure had grown to nearly six hours a week
Here, the portion in blue does not refer to a VERB (had grown) but serves as the object of the preposition to.
As a result, it's crystal clear that the action is not happening every week.
The conveyed meaning is that the figure = NEARLY SIX HOURS PER WEEK.
This meaning is logical.

gmatguru,
thank you for your reply.

let me see whether i understood you completely -

the intended meaning here is: average hours children SPENT doing household chores at two different time-periods are being compared. right ?

now, as you've mentioned that option A seems to imply that by 1997 EVERY WEEK children HAD SPENT nearly six hours doing household chores. this is certainly not what is being compared; it's NOT work-hours in EVERY WEEK what is compared, rather the average of work-hours. thus A is wrong!

but in option B, the phrase "that figure" seems to refer to the average of work-hours children SPENT doing household chores and B states that this average had grown by 1997. thus the comparison in B is correct and the intended meaning is clearly conveyed.

is my above understanding correct ?

By 1997, X had happened.
This wording implies that the portion in blue represents an action COMPLETED BY 1997.

A: By 1997, they had spent nearly six hours a week.
Here, nearly six hours a week is an adverb modifying had spent.
The intention is to convey an action that was happening EVERY WEEK:
EVERY WEEK, children were spending -- on average -- nearly six hours doing household chores.
Since this action was happening every week, it was NOT completed by 1997.
Thus, the usage of the past perfect (had spent) is illogical.
Eliminate A.

B: By 1997, that figure had grown to nearly six hours a week.
Here, to nearly six hours a week is an adverb modifying had grown.
HOW had the figure grown?
It had grown TO NEARLY SIX HOURS A WEEK.
The usage of the past perfect (had grown) implies that the process of GROWING was completed by 1997.
This meaning is logical.

gmatguru,
i hear you here. however, just curious to know that whether my analysis -- https://www.beatthegmat.com/sc-t291271.html#785147 -- is correct or not ?

can you please quickly confirm this ?

ngk4mba3236 wrote:gmatguru,
i hear you here. however, just curious to know that whether my analysis -- https://www.beatthegmat.com/sc-t291271.html#785147 -- is correct or not ?

can you please quickly confirm this ?

Your reasoning seems sound.