The soap manufacturer conceded that its product may

[rustom.hakimiyan]

The soap manufacturer conceded that its product may have contributed to the recent outbreak of skin irritation experienced by its consumers and having pulled the product, led to a sharp drop in the company’s share price.



a)having pulled the product, led to

b)pulled the product, leading to

c)pulling the product, leading to

d)pulled the product, led to

e)pulled the product, having led to

OA is B

Hi,

I narrowed this down to B and E via parallelism but couldn't break down the reasons for choosing E vs. B.

What is the difference between "leading to" vs. "having led to"?

I picked E because I thought(incorrectly) that "having led..." showed a proper cause>result relationship. The manufacturer pulled the product >> led to the drop in the share price. Don't we need the word "having" ?

The CAT explanation states that this attributes the drop in share price to the soap manufacturer itself as opposed to the manufacturer’s actions. I don't see that -- can someone help explain this?

Thanks!

[Everything OR Nothing]

If we see in chronological order ,we get below:

1.manufacturer conceded that its product may have contributed to the recent outbreak of skin irritation experienced by its consumers

2.and so it pulled the product.
3. The Manufacturer action of pulling the product leaded to the drop in share price.


Now if we need to use a modifier meant to modify the entire action of the previous clause or meant to describe certain consequence as a result of previous clause's subject's action then we use ,+verb ING ,which is the case used in B

Had Option E been rephrased like below it would have sounded meaningful.

" Having conceded that its product may have contributed to the recent outbreak of skin irritation experienced by its consumers,the soap manufacturer pulled the product,an action that led to a sharp drop in the company’s share price."


BTW, I am a guy who has given disastrous performance in verbal section in real GMAT .So, I would wait for Manhattan expert's comments.Respect and love my GURUs and idols from Manhattanprep always.

[RonPurewal]

correct on all counts.