Although the researchers agreed unanimously on their

The OA for this one is B, but I went for option D. I was confused between B and D. And I think E is also as tough competitor as are options B and D.

can anyone write more about the subtle differences between 'when' and 'as' both that are used here?

this question has couple of splits -
1. as VS when
2. they VS their

Let us start with - as vs when

the meaning of the sentence requires a time condition. i.e the "when" something happened i.e "the actual data started coming in". The sentence requires a word that would should signify time. X will happen when Y happened.

hence i choose - "when"

Now coming to second split - they vs their

couple of reasons why i picked "they"
1. I believe - Although X, Y - where X and Y should be parallel.
2. "Their" is ambagious, as it can refer to "experiment" or "researcher"
3. "evidently" is used as adverb telling something about how was the researcher surprised.

Hence all in all, i would pick B as my answer.

Not sure the my explanation makes any sense.

Could someone explain why A is considered passive???

Actually, your explanation makes complete sense. Thank you! I picked D.

Picked A. Can someone throw additional light

IMO, - when - denotes a more specific time condition than what -as - does. The use of -when - might imply that the conditions that prevailed at that specific time moment, may in fact cease the next moment. On the contrary, the conjunction – as - denotes an ongoing affair.

In the given case, the use of – when - may imply that the surprise that was evident when the data started coming in, soon dissipated after. But by using -as -, the passage means that the surprise continued beyond the start. I feel that- as - is a better diction than -when - in this case.

Going by this logic D would be a better candidate than E and E may miss the bus by dropping the evidential part of the passage, which is integral to its initial meaning. D is the choice, IMO

OE explains that A is wrong because it is passive.

D is wrong because surprised when is the correct idiom.

Source is v01 gmatclub test.

I still don't know why A would be considered passive.

A says "...their surprise was evident..."

Just ask the question: to whom was it evident? We don't know,so the sentence is passive. It's similar in construction to your passive sentence above:

I still don't know why A would be considered passive.
Considered by whom?

Although the researchers agreed unanimously on their expectations for the outcome of the experiment, their surprise was evident when the actual data started coming in.

A) their surprise was evident when
B) they were evidently surprised when
C) their surprise was in evidence when
D) they were evidently surprised as
E) they were surprised as

Cool. Got it right. B. Will post explanation later - on iPhone now

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Gijoedude,

First of all, GMAT hates their and prefer they. We need to use their if there is no other correct answer.
a). Passive voice, Keep it aside and if you can find any active voice in other answer then remove it.
c) Meaning changed and awkward
E) It removed adverb all thogher.

Now with remaining B and D.
B.they were evidently surprised when the actual data started coming in.
They were surprised when they saw data strarting coming in. It is referring a point of time.

D.they were evidently surprised as the actual data started coming in.
This refer that Scientist were surprised for the long time till data was coming in. Or in other words they are continuously in surprised status. OR another use of as suggest that scientist were evidently surprised in same manner as "the actual data started coming in". so its ambugious and wrong choice.
I hope my explanation helps.

Hi rphardu,

I was down to B and D. I initially chose D as I thought the researchers got surprised as the data started pouring in.

I thought B implies a time when the data will start to come in. But weren't researchers already expecting the data to come in? B makes it sound that researchers were not expecting the data to come in. The arrival of data was surprising, not data themselves.

Still....confused.

i vote for B.

A and C incoreccet because of "Their"
D and E incorrect because of "as"

you get surprised by something.....................
hence B

Researchers unanimously agreed on their expectations at some point in the past but the results were surprising when it occurred at a certain time in the future. 'When' helps establish the change in time.

Option A: Following the subordinate clause, ' their surprise' acts as the subject which doesn't make sense. In option B, 'they' gives a better meaning.

Although the researchers agreed unanimously on their expectations for the outcome of the experiment, they were evidently surprised when the actual data started coming in.

Errors highlighted in red above , only option (B) is correct.

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