A 3 min read

In this article, we’ll look at the solution to this GMAT sentence correction question. We have analyzed the 5 answer choices and arrived at the correct choice through 3 steps:

1. Meaning analysis
2. Error analysis
3. Answer choice analysis

You can also watch this video solution to this question.

General information on this question

• Difficulty level – Medium
• 68% of people got this question correct
• The average time taken to answer this question correctly – 1:26 correctly

Let’s look at the question-and-answer choices.

Between 1990 and 2000 the global economy grew more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture to 1950.

(A) Between 1990 and 2000 the global economy grew more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture

(B) Between 1990 and 2000 the growth of the global economy was more than that during 10,000 years, from when agriculture began

(C) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeds that which had been for 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture

(D) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeds what it has been for 10,000 years, from when agriculture began

(E) The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeded what it did for the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture

Solution

Meaning Analysis

Let start by breaking down the sentence that needs to be corrected and looking into its meaning.

• Between 1990 and 2000  

The sentence presents a comparison.

• the global economy grew

The sentence says that the economy of the world grew in 10 years between 1990 to 2000. 

• more than it did during the 10,000 years  

This growth was more than the growth of the world economy that took place in 10,000 years.

• from the beginning of agriculture to 1950. 

These 10,000 years span between the time when agriculture began and 1950.  

Error Analysis

There are no grammatical or logical errors in the sentence. All the entities used in the sentence are correct and present the intended meaning clearly. Therefore, Choice A is the correct answer. 

Answer choice analysis

Choice A: Between 1990 and 2000 the global economy grew more than it did during the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture

Choice B: Between 1990 and 2000 the growth of the global economy was more than that during 10,000 years, from when agriculture began

• Parallelism Error: This choice uses the idiom “from X to Y” in which X and Y entities must be grammatically and logically parallel. However, X = when agriculture began is a clause while Y = 1950  is a word. Grammatically, these two entities are not parallel.  

Choice C: The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeds that which had been for 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture

•  Modifier Error leading to Meaning Error: In this choice, we see a change in the placement of the prepositional phrase modifier “Between 1990 and 2000”. This phrase now appears next to the subject “The growth of the global economy” and hence, modifies the subject. Because of this placement, this choice no more conveys that the growth took place between the said period.  

• Verb Tense Error: The usage of the past perfect tense verb “had been” is incorrect because the past perfect tense verb is used for the earlier of the two related past events. This sentence does not mention any other past event. 

Choice D:  The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeds what it has been for 10,000 years, from when agriculture began

•  Modifier Error leading to Meaning Error: This choice repeats the modifier error leading to the meaning error as seen in Choice C regarding the placement of “between 1990 and 2000”.  

• Parallelism Error: This choice repeats the parallelism error of Choice B. 

• Wordy: The usage of “what it has been…” is imprecise and unclear.   

Choice E: The growth of the global economy between 1990 and 2000 exceeded what it did for the 10,000 years from the beginning of agriculture

•  Modifier Error leading to Meaning Error: This choice repeats the modifier error leading to the meaning error as seen in Choice C regarding the placement of “between 1990 and 2000”.  

•  Wordy: The choice repeats the wordiness issue of Choice D. 

Modifier and Parallelism errors are some of the most commonly tested error types on the GMAT SC. To know more about all the error types on the GMAT SC, read our article What is tested on the GMAT SC?

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