Question: Due to the highly sensitive nature of their work, all State Department staff members were instructed to store their files on secure servers.

(A) Due to the highly sensitive nature of their work, all State Department staff members were instructed to store their files on secure servers.
(B) Because diplomatic work was highly sensitive, the State Department’s staff had been instructed to store all files on secure servers.
(C) Whereas diplomatic work was highly sensitive, the State Department’s staff was instructed to store their files on secure servers.
(D) Because of the highly sensitive nature of their work, all State Department staff members were instructed to store their files on secure servers.
(E) The State Department’s staff had been instructed to store their files on secure servers, since their work was highly sensitive.

“Due to the highly sensitive nature of their work, all State Department staff members were instructed to store their files on secure servers” - is a GMAT sentence correction question. These types of questions contain grammatical errors in the underlined sentence and we have to choose the correct statement from the options. GMAT sentence correction is a part of GMAT verbal.

Answer: B
Explanation:

The given sentence correction question is tested by the given-below rules:

• Parallelism
• Comparison of two elements
• Modifiers

Given passage is: Due to the highly sensitive nature of their work, all State Department staff members were instructed to store their files on secure servers.

Option A: Incorrect

Option A is incorrect. All State Department employees were given instructions because of the "very sensitive nature of their work." However, when we apply "due to," it turns out that "all State Department staff personnel" are explained by the "very sensitive nature of their work." This defies logic.

Option B: Incorrect

The past tense does not include the verb "had been." The past perfect is only used when one action happened before another in the past. In this case, "be instructed" is the only action that occurs before it. The "very sensitive diplomatic work" must take place either before or concurrently with the major operation.

Option C: Incorrect

The intended connotation conveys a causal connection (Because of A, B happened). However, as "whereas" indicates, B contrasts A in this alternative. Changed from intended meaning!

Option D: Correct

All State Department employees were instructed to save their files on secure servers due to the extremely sensitive nature of their work.

Option E: Incorrect

The past tense does not include the verb "had been." The past perfect is only used when one action happened before another in the past. In this case, "be instructed" is the only action that occurs before it. The "very sensitive diplomatic work" must take place either before or concurrently with the major operation.

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