Source: MGMAT CAT

Noting that the price of oil and other fuel components, a major factor in the cost structure of an airline, have risen and will continue to rise, the company management was pessimistic about their outlook for the upcoming quarter.

A) have risen and will continue to rise, the company management was pessimistic about their
B) have risen and will continue to rise, the company management was pessimistic about the
C) will continue to rise, the company management was pessimistic about the
D) has risen and will continue to rise, the company management was pessimistic about their
E) will continue to rise, the company management was pessimistic about their

OA: C

I got the answer but I have Q about modifier.

If C put into original sentence.

Noting that the price of oil and other fuel components, a major factor in the cost structure of an airline, will continue to rise, the company management was pessimistic about the outlook for the upcoming quarter.

Noting that the price of oil and other fuel components, X, will continue to rise, Y.

X = a major factor in the cost structure of an airline
Y = the company management was pessimistic about the outlook for the upcoming quarter

I believe that X is a noun modifier; what kind of modifier Y is.

that is actually not a modifier at all; that is the main clause of the sentence.
note that the initial part of the sentence -- starting with the word "noting" -- is an initial participial modifier, not an independent clause.

Thanks Ron
I got it.

Y is main clause.
X is a sub-modifier.

glad to hear it..

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Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor

In the explanation, it states:

"The original sentence supplies the plural verb construction “have risen” for the singular subject “price.” "

However, I thought the subject is "the price of oil and other fuel components" in the format of "A and B", thus a plural subject. How can I tell this is a singular subject?

It seems I should read this as "the price of A and B, where B is modifying price. However, I didn't catch that the first time. Perhaps I should use the words "a major factor" to denote this is a singular subject?

I had the same thought process too - price is singular.

I think that thought process is correct. But, the fact that have risen is redundant eliminates the 'have vs has' conflict. Secondly, their vs the is a collective noun (company management - singular) question.
So, I think the key goal in selecting the answer choices was to realize that have risen/has risen is redundant usage.

Excellent thoughts!

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Jamie Nelson
ManhattanGMAT Instructor

Shouldn't we use "would" instead of "will"? The main action is obviously something that happened in the past. Why would we use "Will" then?

Actually, much of the action described here is future oriented. This is complicated because some of this describes the past and some describes the future. The management in the past talked about what is going to happen in the future:

Noting that the price *will* continue to rise, the management was pessimistic about the *outlook* for the *upcoming* quarter.

Notice that "outlook" and "upcoming" indicate that we are talking about the profitability for the upcoming quarter. Since we are talking about what is actually going to happen in the future (oil price rising), the simple future tense "will" accurately describes this situation.

For example:
"Although I will enjoy college, I cried when I thought about leaving home." This has a blend of past and future tense similar to what we have here.

I hope that this helps! :-)

_________________
Jamie Nelson
ManhattanGMAT Instructor