need explanation..

[aj5105]

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

[LSB]

Ans C IMO

D & E are out because we're talking about one retailer:

"the seven-store retailer said it would start"

A is out because it indicates that the sales slump is over. However, the rest of the sentence mentions that the retailer is trying to address the problem via a liquidation sale. If the slump was over then no action would be neccessary.

B is out because it implies that an action by somebody extended the sales slump which is not the case. By using "recently extended" the option creates the impression that somebody did something recently in order to extend the sales slump.

Ans C: correctly uses "its". Correctly uses past perfect which indicates that something started in the past and is continuing into the present. As a result it needs to be addressed by the retailer in the future.

whats the OA?

[Ajeet Gupta]

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.

D& E are straightaway out.
recently extended slump modifies the extend not the slump.
B& C ruled out.

So A is the answer

[iamcste]

sales-noun
extended-adj

only adverbs can modify adj hence ans is C

"recently" -an adverb modifiying the adj "extended"


Other choices are blatantly not the answers

[niraj_a]

why not B? that's what I came down to.

[Rashmi1804]

IMO A

B is not the right answer because "recently" emphasises "extended"
meaning : recently extended (never before extended) sales slump.

but the author wants to say...recent sales slump which extended!

[delhiboy1979]

i still do not see how C is incorrect. Should nt we use 'has been' here.

[Rashmi1804]

@delhiboy

recently extended sales slump- sales slump extended recently....though it has been there for a while- so it is the extension that caused the problem.

recent extended sales slump- recently occurred extended sales slump-
so it is the extended sales slump that occured recently caused the problem.

let me know if this doesnt help!!

[gmatguy16]

AJ5105,OA please

[delhiboy1979]

@delhiboy

recently extended sales slump- sales slump extended recently....though it has been there for a while- so it is the extension that caused the problem.

recent extended sales slump- recently occurred extended sales slump-
so it is the extended sales slump that occured recently caused the problem.

let me know if this doesnt help!!

hmm..makes sense..thanks Rashmi.

[nervesofsteel]

C for me..

recently extended .. means the extension was not there in past,,,
thus use of "has been" is incorrect..

So i will go for "is"..

whts the OA

[mikeCoolBoy]

IMO A

the sentence says "the seven-store retailer said it would start a three-month liquidation sale in all of its stores"

so its is correct and therefore we can eliminate E,D

Between A, B and C

Notice that the sentence says "the seven-store retailer said ...." so because the verb is in the past the problem had had happen before. so A

[lilu]

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

I'll go with B
D,E use their incorrectly
A uses recent extended incorrectly
B--> uses the present perfect tense correctly (recent) and extended recently-correct form-->adverb

So,B

[ketkoag]

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

IMO C coz in b 'has been ' is not correct, as it is not an ongoing action. it is one of the problems. so i think C is correct. also recently will come as extended is an adjective and need an adverb to modify it.
please post the OA as well.

[sands_of_time]

What is the OA ?