sahilmshah92 wrote:
The first oversight board’s philosophy and its actions, including rulings on complaints and the release of procedural guidelines, has been as influential in the industry now as it was revolutionary during the board’s tenure.
(A) has been as influential in the industry now as it was
(B) have been as influential in the industry now as they were
(C) is as influential in the industry now as it was
(D) are as influential on the industry now as they were
(E) are as influential in the industry now as they had been
As [adjective] X as [adjective] Y
This sentence means: During a period in the past, the first board of oversight in industry Q embraced a philosophy and took actions that were revolutionary. That philosophy and those actions are as influential now as they were revolutionary then.
X and Y are identical in degree (of strength or intensity) but different in kind
THEN: Y = (intensely) revolutionary
NOW: X = (intensely) Influential
Strip the sentence.
The first oversight board’s philosophy and its actions _____
as influential in/on the industry now as _______ revolutionary during the board’s tenure.
Split #1: S/V agreement
The subject is plural: actions and philosophy
The verb should be plural
Eliminate A and C, which use the singular "has" and "is" (and the singular pronoun "it")
Split #2: Verb tense:
HAVE BEEN does not belong with
NOWThe board's X and Y
HAVE BEEN as influential
NOW in the industry as they were during the board's tenure. Ouch.
Grammar: present perfect
-- Action that has happened and continues into the present
NO. In the past the philosophy and acts were "revolutionary," which connotes both newness and big change. The philosophy and acts are no longer new. They are accepted practice. If the revolutionary aspect is gone, the simple past is correct.
-- A completed action whose effect continues
The board's philosophy and actions were
revolutionary. The effect of being revolutionary did not and logically could not continue. An approach that is revolutionary is new. If the revolutionary aspect is gone, the simple past is correct.
-- action in the past with no discernible time frame - not applicable
"Have been influential" also implies an unintended meaning. During the first board's tenure its approach was revolutionary. Whether the board's revolutionary approach would endure and be influential was not known. The sentence intends to emphasize that what WAS revolutionary endured and IS now influential.
In any event, that construction is just all kinds of
wrong.Eliminate B
Split #3: Parallel verb tenses ARE/HAD BEEN is INCORRECTare indicates simple present, for which we need only the simple past
were in this context.
Past perfect (the "past of the past") phrase "had been" suggests TWO earlier past moments, A and B. Almost always we need that construction to be coupled with a past perfect verb, B, (none here) or a time marker that happened before now but after A.
In option (E) the use of "had been" is inappropriate.
The board's actions
are influential now. They
were revolutionary "back then," i.e., in the past, during the board's tenure.
"Had been revolutionary" suggests that they WERE revolutionary prior to some event in the past; the event happened; and the actions stopped being revolutionary.
That meaning is incorrect.
Eliminate E
ANSWER D
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