Bethlehem Steel

[schumi_gmat]

Why AS is used in the sentence and is correct.

The steel industry has changed radically over the last two decades, as large, integrated
companies such as Bethlehem Steel once conducted operations from mining at one end of
the process to shipping at the other have greatly downsized, or in some cases shut down
altogether.
A. as large, integrated companies such as Bethlehem Steel
B. as large, integrated companies, such as Bethlehem Steel, that
C. with large, integrated companies, such as Bethlehem Steel, that
D. while large, integrated companies, such as Bethlehem Steel, that
E. and large, integrated companies such as Bethlehem Steel

OA follows?

[chase4meg]

Confused between B and C...

[stop@800]

imo A

[stop@800]

imo A

That is needed here so will change my bet to B

[amitabhprasad]

My pick is "B" as well.
Though I was initially confused between "A" and "B".
stop@800,
Can you explain when to use that ?

[vivek.kapoor83]

is the use of " As" justified .Pls explain how

[nervesofsteel]

IMO B..

As large companies have changed..
sounds better than

with large companies have changed...

[kris610]

Clearly B. Without the relative pronoun 'that' the sentence would not be complete.

The sentence says that the steel industry has radically changed and goes on to give the reason -- companies have greatly downsized, or shut down altogether. Now, Bethlehem steel is an example *that* "once ...."

[schumi_gmat]

Can anybody explain the use of AS?

[eccentric]

The steel industry has changed radically over the last two decades, as

As discussed earlier the choices boils down to B; B wins over C & D here
'as' used as a conjunction here to states the account of change in the steel industry, usage of 'with' is unidiomatic

[Stacey Koprince]

I received a PM asking me to comment.

This one doesn't seem like the greatest question to me. I'm curious about the source.

I think the source of confusion here probably has a lot to do with the convolutedness of the sentence. So, let's strip this one down a bit:

The industry has changed, as companies have downsized.
This is similar to: I have changed, as I have grown older.

The "as" clause tells us how I have changed (or how the industry has changed).

If we want to concentrate first on the changes at the beginning of the underline, our options are:

The industry has changed, as companies have downsized. (original)
The industry has changed, with companies have downsized. ("with companies have downsized" doesn't make sense)
The industry has changed, while companies have downsized. (the second bit now sounds like a somewhat separate event rather than an illustration of how the industry has changed)
The industry has changed, and companies have downsized. (ditto)

So I'd eliminate C, D, and E at this point.

Now let's examine that nasty modifier area:

as companies <such as X> <conducted operations from Y to Z> have downsized

So, I can say "companies conducted operations" OR "companies have downsized" but I can't say "companies conducted operations have downsized."

I can't change the "have downsized" part (it's not part of the underline) so I guess I have to change the other one. And answer choice B gives me a way to change it:

as companies <such as X> <that conducted operations from Y to Z> have downsized

I just changed that "conducted operations" bit from the verb (or one of the verbs) in the sentence to a modifier. So I fixed that two-verbs-running-into-each-other thing I had in A.