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by paes » Thu Aug 19, 2010 9:22 am
According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come in for a "soft landing," followed by a gradual increase in business activity.

(A) that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come
(B) in the economy to avoid the recession, what many feared earlier in the year, rather to come
(C) in the economy's ability to avoid the recession, something earlier in the year many had feared, and instead to come
(D) in the economy to avoid the recession many were fearing earlier in the year, and rather to come
(E) that the economy will avoid the recession that was feared earlier this year by many, with it instead coming

[spoiler]OA later.
Please explain your reasoning to select one and avoid others.[/spoiler]
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by pradeepkaushal9518 » Thu Aug 19, 2010 9:32 am
imo c
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by madhukumar_v » Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:11 am
1. Had Feared/Feared/Was Feared/Were Fearing

The only tense that works in this case is Past Perfect Tense, since past perfect tense relates to two events happening in the past and one precedes other. Then the earlier event gets a past perfect (HAD + PAST participle) and the later one gets a simple past.

In this q these are the events:

1. "Many economists feared earlier something will happen"
2. It didn't happen and it "come in for a soft landing"

3. Now "come" and feared are past tense.
4. Now 1 came before 2 (Economists predicted something but something else happened - prediction occured first)
5. so 1- Past perfect tense = Had Feared
6. 2 gets- simple past = Come

Only A,C satisfies. Since we need a future tense to mention that the economy will avoid recession in future so we need will, hence A.

Also A has this traditional GMAT pattern (that...that) that <the economy willl avoid...> that... (Its called something like subordinate clause )

Does any one know the difference between Confidence In vs Confidence that?
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by tomada » Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:14 am
IMO A
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by paes » Thu Aug 19, 2010 10:22 pm
OA is A.

But I am not filly convinced with 'past perfect' usage here.
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Aug 20, 2010 3:42 am
paes wrote:According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come in for a "soft landing," followed by a gradual increase in business activity.

(A) that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come
(B) in the economy to avoid the recession, what many feared earlier in the year, rather to come
(C) in the economy's ability to avoid the recession, something earlier in the year many had feared, and instead to come
(D) in the economy to avoid the recession many were fearing earlier in the year, and rather to come
(E) that the economy will avoid the recession that was feared earlier this year by many, with it instead coming

[spoiler]OA later.
Please explain your reasoning to select one and avoid others.[/spoiler]
In B and D, confidence in the economy to avoid the recession is not idiomatic. Eliminate B and D.

The correct idioms are:

confidence that X will Y (X=noun, Y=verb)
confidence in X (X=noun)

In C, it's unclear whether something refers to ability or to recession. Eliminate C.

In E, the pronoun it is ambiguous. The closest previous noun is recession, but the intended meaning of the sentence is that the economy will come in for a soft landing. Eliminate E.

The correct answer is A.

In A, the use of the past perfect indicates that many had feared a recession (in the past), but at some point (also in the past), they stopped fearing it.

Another example:

Many expected the economy to grow. (In the past, many expected the economy to grow.)
Many had expected the economy to grow. (In the past, many had expected the economy to grow, but at some point in the past, they stopped expecting the economy to grow.)

Hope this helps!
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by paes » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:17 am
Thanks Guru.
It is good to eliminate B, C, D and E.

But in your example :

Many had expected the economy to grow. :-> where is the other event (simple past) ? I have always seen/learn that ON GMAT, past perfect will always come with some other past event.

e.g. By 2004, I had finished my study.
He had left the theatre before the movie finished.
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:30 am
paes wrote:Thanks Guru.
It is good to eliminate B, C, D and E.

But in your example :

Many had expected the economy to grow. :-> where is the other event (simple past) ? I have always seen/learn that ON GMAT, past perfect will always come with some other past event.

e.g. By 2004, I had finished my study.
He had left the theatre before the movie finished.
The other past event is not stated explicitly but is implied by the use of the past perfect.

Many had expected the economy to grow.

1st past event: many (had) expected the economy to grow
2nd implied past event: they stopped expecting the economy to grow

In the sentence above, the use of the past perfect indicates a past action (1st event) that stopped happening (2nd event) at some point in the past.

So in A, many had feared indicates 2 past actions:

1st: many had feared
2nd: many stopped fearing

Does this help?
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by paes » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:38 am
Guru,

Can we say that 'earlier in the year' is the key here for past perfect usage.
i.e.

According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come in for a "soft landing," followed by a gradual increase in business activity. [ correct ]

According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many feared and instead come in for a "soft landing," followed by a gradual increase in business activity. [ Correct ]

According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared and instead come in for a "soft landing," followed by a gradual increase in business activity. [ wrong ]
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Aug 20, 2010 7:36 am
paes wrote:Guru,

Can we say that 'earlier in the year' is the key here for past perfect usage.
i.e.

According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared earlier in the year and instead come in for a "soft landing," followed by a gradual increase in business activity. [ correct ]

According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many feared and instead come in for a "soft landing," followed by a gradual increase in business activity. [ Correct ]

According to some analysts, the gains in the stock market reflect growing confidence that the economy will avoid the recession that many had feared and instead come in for a "soft landing," followed by a gradual increase in business activity. [ wrong ]
The key is that we have two past events:

1) fear that there would be recession
2) growing confidence in the economy (The modifier growing implies that confidence in the economy started to grow at some point in the past.)

The meaning of the sentence is that many had feared a recession, but they stopped fearing a recession once confidence started to grow. The past perfect makes the timeline clear.
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by paes » Fri Aug 20, 2010 11:07 pm
Thanks Guru.
It makes sense.
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