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Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
souvik101990 wrote:
A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump into the Great Lakes.
(A) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump
(B) reduced the phosphate amount that municipalities had been dumping
(C) reduces the phosphate amount municipalities have been allowed to dump
(D) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities are allowed to dump
(E) reduces the amount of phosphates allowed for dumping by municipalities
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of the sentence is that a 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities are allowed to dump into the Great Lakes.
Concepts tested here: Tenses + Meaning• The simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.
• The simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.
• The past perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".
• The past perfect continuous tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had/have been") is used when a sentence contains two actions in past and one action is in greater past as well as continuous in nature; the helping verb "had been" is used with the action that is in the greater past and continuous in nature.
• The present perfect continuous tense (marked by "has/have been") is the correct tense to refer to actions that started in past and continue into the present.
• For referring to the purpose or intent of an action, the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb"- "to + dump" in this sentence) is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "dumping" in this sentence) construction.
A: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the past perfect tense verb “had been allowed” to refer to an action taking place in the current time frame; please remember, the simple present tense is used to refer to actions taking place in the current time frame, and the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".
B: This answer choice incorrectly uses the past perfect continuous tense verb “had been dumping” to refer to an action taking place in the current time frame; please remember, the simple present tense is used to refer to actions taking place in the current time frame, and the past perfect continuous tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had/have been") is only used when a sentence contains two actions in past and one action is in greater past as well as continuous in nature. Further, Option B alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “municipalities had been dumping”; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the 1972 agreement reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had
practically been dumping into the Great Lakes; the intended meaning is that the 1972 agreement reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities are
permitted to dump into the Great Lakes.
C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb “reduces” to refer to an action that concluded in the past; please remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past, and the simple present tense is only used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the present perfect continuous tense verb “have been allowed to dump” to refer to an action taking place in the current time frame; please remember, the simple present tense is used to refer to actions taking place in the current time frame, and the present perfect continuous tense (marked by "has/have been") is the correct tense to refer to actions that started in past and continue into the present.
D: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the simple past tense verb “reduced” to refer to an action that concluded in the past. Further, Option E correctly uses the simple present tense verb “are allowed” to refer to an action taking place in the current time frame. Moreover, Option D uses the phrase “are allowed to dump”, conveying the intended meaning – that the 1972 agreement reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities are
permitted to dump into the Great Lakes. Additionally, Option E uses the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb"- "to + dump" in this sentence) to refer to the intent of the action “allowed”.
E: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb “reduces” to refer to an action that concluded in the past; please remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past, and the simple present tense is only used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature. Further, Option E uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "dumping" in this sentence) construction to refer to the intent of the action “allowed”; please remember, for referring to the purpose or intent of an action, the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "dumping" in this sentence) construction.
Hence, D is the best answer choice.Additional Note: Please note that the verb construction "had been allowed", used in Option A, is the passive version of the past perfect tense construction "had allowed", not a past perfect continuous tense verb.
To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the concept of "Past Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
To understand the concept of "Perfect Continuous Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team