BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Analysts blamed May’s sluggish retail

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 76
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:24 am
Thanked: 3 times

Analysts blamed May’s sluggish retail

by Amadalia » Tue Mar 25, 2014 10:34 am
Analysts blamed May's sluggish retail sales on
unexciting merchandise as well as the weather, colder
and wetter than was usual in some regions, which
slowed sales of barbecue grills and lawn furniture.
(A) colder and wetter than was usual in some
regions, which slowed
(B) which was colder and wetter than usual in some
regions, slowing
(C) since it was colder and wetter than usually in
some regions, which slowed
(D) being colder and wetter than usually in some
regions, slowing
(E) having been colder and wetter than was usual in
some regions and slowed

OA is B that's ok but I still have some many questions:
C: the use of "Since" is wrong, since is used here as "because" and this meaning isn't supported by the idiom list, please correct me if I'm wrong.

the main problem I encoutred in this question is the comparaison issue:

A colder and wetter than was usual in some regions; I felt it or wether are necessary after than, Why ? I made a kind of interpolation, I remembered that when using "and" between two clauses we need to insert a subject after a comma example
He eat and cleaned.
He eat, and he cleaned.
I have the same (more or less) question for the other options: When the subject after than is necessary and how to check that the comparaison is OK???
Many thanks in advance!!!
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2013 11:54 pm
Location: Bangalore
Thanked: 3 times

by itskals » Tue Mar 25, 2014 8:52 pm
The way I solve this question:

A) Wrong, because of Wrong Usage of Which : slowed sales... is incorrectly modifying Some Regions.
B) Correct. was colder and wetter is correctly modifies Weather
C) Same reason as in A
D) Wrong Modifier - slowing sales... is correctly modifying regions . Also 'being' is almost always wrong on GMAT
E) Wrong : Having been( Present Perfect Continuous) is almost always wrong on GMAT ; also wrong usage of conjunction between "....some regions" and "slowed..."

Hope this helps.

Kalyan
Kalyan C
GMAT Coach & MBA Admissions Consultant| Bangalore | India
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 15539
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: New York, NY
Thanked: 13060 times
Followed by:1906 members
GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Wed Mar 26, 2014 12:45 pm
Amadalia wrote:
OA is B that's ok but I still have some many questions:
C: the use of "Since" is wrong, since is used here as "because" and this meaning isn't supported by the idiom list, please correct me if I'm wrongj.
The GMAT used to employ since solely as a time reference, but the test writers seem to be softening on this issue.
I can think of at least one OA in which since serves not as a time reference but as a synonym for because.
Thus, I suggest that you look for other reasons to keep or eliminate answer choices.
the main problem I encoutred in this question is the comparaison issue


Think of this not as a comparison issue but as an IDIOM issue.
COMPARISON WORD + than usual is an idiom.
Examples:
better than usual
longer than usual
more than usual.
Consider this idiom correct; don't worry about the grammar behind it.
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
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.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3
Top
User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 76
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:24 am
Thanked: 3 times

by Amadalia » Thu Mar 27, 2014 9:19 am
Thanks a million Guru, you made my day!!!!
Top
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue May 22, 2018 4:27 pm

by emily566 » Mon Jun 04, 2018 4:58 pm
Hi, Mitch
Could you please explain what does the "slowing" modify?

Analysts blamed May's sluggish retail sales on unexciting merchandise as well as the weather, which was colder and wetter than usual in some regions, slowing sales of barbecue grills and lawn furniture.

comma, ing means that it happens with the main Verb at the same time, and the Subject can have that action.
In this case, the subject is Analysts. That's why I am confused. The whole sentence says that analysts slow sth.

Thanks
GMATGuruNY wrote:
Amadalia wrote:
OA is B that's ok but I still have some many questions:
C: the use of "Since" is wrong, since is used here as "because" and this meaning isn't supported by the idiom list, please correct me if I'm wrongj.
The GMAT used to employ since solely as a time reference, but the test writers seem to be softening on this issue.
I can think of at least one OA in which since serves not as a time reference but as a synonym for because.
Thus, I suggest that you look for other reasons to keep or eliminate answer choices.
the main problem I encoutred in this question is the comparaison issue


Think of this not as a comparison issue but as an IDIOM issue.
COMPARISON WORD + than usual is an idiom.
Examples:
better than usual
longer than usual
more than usual.
Consider this idiom correct; don't worry about the grammar behind it.
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 15539
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: New York, NY
Thanked: 13060 times
Followed by:1906 members
GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Tue Jun 05, 2018 1:57 pm
emily566 wrote:Hi, Mitch
Could you please explain what does the "slowing" modify?

Analysts blamed May's sluggish retail sales on unexciting merchandise as well as the weather, which was colder and wetter than usual in some regions, slowing sales of barbecue grills.
Generally, COMMA + VERBing serves to modify the nearest preceding action and the agent of that action.
Analysts blamed May's sluggish retail sales on unexciting merchandise as well as the weather, which was colder and wetter than usual in some regions, slowing sales of barbecue grills.
Here, the COMMA + VERBing modifier in red serves to modify the preceding clause in blue, since was is the nearest preceding verb, and which is the agent of this verb.
which = the weather.
Conveyed meaning:
THE WEATHER -- which was colder and wetter than usual -- was consequently responsible for the action in red (SLOWING the SALES of barbecue grills).
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
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.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1