anita_083 wrote:
70. The growth of the railroads led to the abolition of local times, which was determined by when the sun reached the observer's meridian and differing from city to city, and to the establishment of regional times.
(A)which was determined by when the sun reached the observer's meridian and differing
(B)which was determined by when the sun reached the observer's meridian and which differed
(C)which were determined by when the sun reached the observer's meridian and differing
(D)determined by when the sun reached the observer's meridian and differed
(E)determined by when the sun reached the observer's meridian and differing
Thanks!
I thought Paul would have solved this question for us.
However, I will explain this to the best of my ability.
When we have a
noun + of + object construction, WHICH refers to the NOUN, not the object. Reading the original question, you can see that the middle clause refers to "local times." As such, you cannot use which to subordinate the sentence.
Now we are left with D & E. As Erin on TestMagic said, there is a clear difference between differed and differing.
Differed = PASSIVE voice / action is being done on the subject
Differing = ACTIVE / subject performs the action
"determined by when..." is a participial phrase modifying the object of the preposition. Therefore, we see that the "subject" is TIMES. TIMES is being acted upon by the sun. Therefore DIFFERED.
TIME is differing from city to city. It is "performing the action." Therefore, we use ACTIVE voice.
Therefore, the answer is E.