Practice GMAT Sentence Correction Question

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A month ago, a well respected sell-side analyst released a report predicting that prices in equity markets will reach record highs in the next 12 months. Immediately after the release of the report, some institutional investors who feared a continuing loss of shareholder value publicly expressed optimism in a strong near-term future for equities.

A)	who feared a continuing loss of
B)	who had feared the continuation of losses of
C)	who had feared continuing losses in
D)	who feared continuing losses in
E)	who had feared a continuing loss of investors'

Correct Answer: C

The simple past tense feared is incorrect since two events occurred in the past at different times (i.e., the fear preceded the release of the report) and as a result, one must use the past perfect tense. feared should be replaced by had feared to show that the fear occurred before the release of the report.

the simple past tense is incorrectly used and should be replaced by the past perfect tense
the phrase the continuation of losses of shareholder value is too wordy and not concise
the past perfect tense is correctly used; the sentence is concise
the simple past tense is incorrectly used and should be replaced by the past perfect tense
the phrase a continuing loss of investors' is not concise and is redundant as the phrase investors' shareholder value repeats the same idea

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