Stores closure

[AnjaliOberoi]

Trans World Entertainment Corporation, which owns the Record Town and Saturday
Matinee retail chains, announced that since sales of up to one-fourth of its stores are
poor, they will be closed.

A. that since sales of up to one-fourth of its stores are poor, they will be closed
B. it is closing up to one-fourth of its stores, which accounted for its poor sales
C. it was closing up to one fourth of its stores because of poor sales
D. to be closing, on account of poor sales, up to one-fourth of its stores
E. having poor sales, such that up to one-fourth of its stores will be closed

OA C

According to GMAT, after announced, "that" should be present

Why A is wrong

[KevinRocci]

According to GMAT, after announced, "that" should be present

I am not sure where you learned this, but it seems to be the reason you struggled with this question. "Announced" does not need to be followed by "that" always. Other prepositions can follow "announced" like "by" or "at."

You can find some examples of how to use "announced" here: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/announce

Ultimately we can eliminate answer choice (a) because the error in tenses. We have "announced" in past tense, "poor" in present tense, and "will be closed" in future tense. Another reason to eliminate answer choice (a) is that it is excessively wordy.

I hope this helps.

[ceilidh.erickson]

Anjali - what is the source of this question?

You're right, the GMAT almost always uses a "that" (or other relative pronoun) when setting up a subordinate clause. In spoken English, it has become acceptable to drop the relative pronoun, as in:
I know you are smart.

The GMAT will almost always include the relative pronoun:
I know that you are smart.

There are 1 or 2 examples of times when the GMAT violated this rule (one in RC and one on an SC that I can think of, though it was not part of the underlined portion in the SC problem). So you're right - C should read "announced THAT it was closing."

A is awkwardly structured, leading to some ambiguities in meaning. If we say "since sales are _____, they will be ____", then THEY should refer to SALES, not to STORES.

[manihar.sidharth]

Anjali - what is the source of this question?

You're right, the GMAT almost always uses a "that" (or other relative pronoun) when setting up a subordinate clause. In spoken English, it has become acceptable to drop the relative pronoun, as in:
I know you are smart.

The GMAT will almost always include the relative pronoun:
I know that you are smart.

There are 1 or 2 examples of times when the GMAT violated this rule (one in RC and one on an SC that I can think of, though it was not part of the underlined portion in the SC problem). So you're right - C should read "announced THAT it was closing."

A is awkwardly structured, leading to some ambiguities in meaning. If we say "since sales are _____, they will be ____", then THEY should refer to SALES, not to STORES.

Hi Ceilidh
Don't you think option C is changing the meaning of the sentence.
"it was closing up to one fourth of its stores because of poor sales "--This means that the company will just close 1/4th of it's stores due to poor sales.
But the original sentence is trying to convey that only those 1/4th stores will be closed that had poor sales.

[asingh203]

I think the only exception(accepted by GMAT) to drop the "that" in subordinate clause is "say"

According to GMAT, after announced, "that" should be present

I am not sure where you learned this, but it seems to be the reason you struggled with this question. "Announced" does not need to be followed by "that" always. Other prepositions can follow "announced" like "by" or "at."

You can find some examples of how to use "announced" here: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/announce

Ultimately we can eliminate answer choice (a) because the error in tenses. We have "announced" in past tense, "poor" in present tense, and "will be closed" in future tense. Another reason to eliminate answer choice (a) is that it is excessively wordy.

I hope this helps.