<p>(Despite) it's cultural importance, the Daily Gazette (lost) 70 percent of its subscribers since 1920 and, by 1955, (was losing) (as much as) $200,000 a year. (answer is B)
I know the tenses are messed up (I think lost should be changed to had lost), but can anyone give me, like, an actual explanation as to why B is wrong.</p>
<p>“since 1920” calls to mind the time period from 1920 to the present. This means you need to use the present perfect: “the Daily Gazette has lost 70 percent of its subscribers since 1920.” The simple past (“the Daily Gazette lost 70 percent of its subscribers since 1920”) is incorrect here because it normally deals with a single point in time, as in “I came home at 6 o’clock.”</p>
<p>You use the simple past to talk about an event that occurred at a single point in time in the past. You use the present perfect in this context to talk about some activity spread across a long period of time (reaching the present, as in “As of the present, this has happened”). “since” is a common signal word telling you that the present perfect is needed.</p>
<p>ah, thank you for your explanation!</p>