Machines replacing human labor, there was wide anticipation that the workweek would continue to become shorter.

A. Machines replacing human labor, there was wide anticipation that

B. When machines replaced human labor, there was wide anticipation

C. As machines replaced human labor, it was widely anticipated that

D. Insofar as machines replaced human labor, it was widely anticipated

E. Human labor being replaced by machines, there was wide anticipation that[/u]

i'm unable to dechipher if this is a past tense or a present tense, when to use When or when to use as. All the moderating instructors this is for you. Thanks you

Ali, this question assess clarity of meaning and connecting punctuation rather than verb tense, as all five answer choices use the past tense was. Thus, we don't have any option but to keep the past tense. In this problem, you should quickly be able to eliminate three answer choices: A, D, and E. Let's take a look at each answer choice individually:

A. Machines replacing human labor, there was wide anticipation that
-This is a sentence fragmant as the initial phrase lacks any form of connecting punctuation. Additionally, the verb replacing is parallel to the verb was.
D. Insofar as machines replaced human labor, it was widely anticipated
-The connecting punctuation insofar as is nonsensical.
E. Human labor being replaced by machines, there was wide anticipation that
-This is a sentence fragmant as the initial phrase lacks any form of connecting punctuation. Additionally, "being" is bad!!!

Now, at least you are choosing between two answer choices rather than among five. Upon first glance you might be drawn to B due to the seemingly ambiguous pronoun it in answer choice C. However, let's examine the remaining answers more closely.

B. When machines replaced human labor, there was wide anticipation
-This choice indicates that there was one specific point in time that machines replaced human labor, an idea the contradicts the ongoing nature of the nonunderlined portion of the sentence. Moreover, anticipation requires a that in this case.
C. As machines replaced human labor, it was widely anticipated that
-CORRECT. As correctly corresponds to the ongoing nature of the nonunderlined portion of the sentence. Furthermore, the pronoun it is correctly used as a "deferred subject" (ie. placeholder) for the actual subject the workweek. This is an uncommon construction on the GMAT, but it can periodically rear its ugly head.

-dan