The Atlantic Ocean, the second youngest of Earth's five oceans

A -- Correct
B -- Sentence fragment
C&D -- No need of past perfect
E -- Awkward

OFFICIAL SOLUTION

Split #1: verb parallelism. All five answers begin the underlined phrase with some form of verb, then have the word "and" (after "Africa"), and we need another bonafide verb. Choices (A) & (C) & (E) have an actual verb, but choices (B) & (D) have only the participle "expanding" --- a full verb cannot be parallel to just a participle, so these two are wrong.

Split #2: verb tenses. First of all, verbs of different tenses can be parallel. That is not a violation of parallelism, if two verbs correctly are placed in different tenses. Choice (A) has "originated" in the simple past, and "has been expanding", the present perfect, which is correct in this context. Choice (C) begins with the past perfect "had originated", which would be used if we wanted to show that this happened before some other past event --- but the only other past event ("the Americas separated from Africa") was simultaneous, so the past perfect is incorrect. Choice (E) has "originated" in the simple past, and "was expanding" in the past progressive, which sounds a little funny --- if that has been happening "ever since", why isn't it still going on? The words "ever since" suggests that it would continue to this day (which is what the present perfect suggests), but the past progressive implies that it is no longer happening. Choice (A) looks good, Choice (C) is clearly wrong, and we are suspicious of Choice (E).

Split #3: subordinate clause vs. prepositional phrase. Look at the part of the sentence that talks about "the Americas" separating "from Africa." Choices (A) & (C) & (D) have some subordinate conjunction (when/as/because) followed by a bonafide [noun] + [verb] structure: that's correct. Choices (B) & (E) have the structure [preposition] + [noun] + [participial phrase]. The GMAT does not like that. The GMAT doesn't like when you try to cram [noun] + [verb]-style action into a prepositional phrase. If you want to express action, use a subordinate clause, not a prepositional phrase. For these reasons, (B) & (E) are wrong.

For all these reasons, (A) is the best possible answer.

The Atlantic Ocean, the second youngest of Earth's five oceans, originated 130 million years ago when the Americas separated from Africa and, as Earth's plates continue to move, has been expanding ever since.

A) originated 130 million years ago when the Americas separated from Africa and, as Earth's plates continue to move, has been expanding
B) originated 130 million years ago with the Americas separating from Africa and, as Earth's plates continue to move, expanding
C) had originated 130 million years ago as the Americas separated from Africa and, with Earth's plates continuing their motion, is expanding
D) had originated 130 million years ago because the Americas separated from Africa and, while Earth's plates continue to move, expanding
E) originated 130 million years ago with the Americas separating from Africa and, as Earth's plates continue their motion, was expanding

Answer is A
B and E are wrong
because originated 130 million years ago with is not correct for time frame when should be used
C and D is is out because of had originated
no need of past perfect tense

An easy way to look at this.
A) The Atlantic Ocean has been expanding ever since - makes sense
B) The Atlantic Ocean expanding ever since - doesn't make any sense
C) The Atlantic Ocean is expanding ever since - doesn't make any sense
D) The Atlantic Ocean expanding ever since - doesn't make any sense
E) The Atlantic Ocean was expanding ever since - doesn't make any sense

Answer is A.

MAGOOSH Official Explanation:

Split #1: verb parallelism. All five answers begin the underlined phrase with some form of verb, then have the word "and" (after "Africa"), and we need another bonafide verb. Choices (A) & (C) & (E) have an actual verb, but choices (B) & (D) have only the participle "expanding" --- a full verb cannot be parallel to just a participle, so these two are wrong.

Split #2: verb tenses. First of all, verbs of different tenses can be parallel. That is not a violation of parallelism, if two verbs correctly are placed in different tenses. Choice (A) has "originated" in the simple past, and "has been expanding", the present perfect, which is correct in this context. Choice (C) begins with the past perfect "had originated", which would be used if we wanted to show that this happened before some other past event --- but the only other past event ("the Americas separated from Africa") was simultaneous, so the past perfect is incorrect. Choice (E) has "originated" in the simple past, and "was expanding" in the past progressive, which sounds a little funny --- if that has been happening "ever since", why isn't it still going on? The words "ever since" suggests that it would continue to this day (which is what the present perfect suggests), but the past progressive implies that it is no longer happening. Choice (A) looks good, Choice (C) is clearly wrong, and we are suspicious of Choice (E).

Split #3: subordinate clause vs. prepositional phrase. Look at the part of the sentence that talks about "the Americas" separating "from Africa." Choices (A) & (C) & (D) have some subordinate conjunction (when/as/because) followed by a bonafide [noun] + [verb] structure: that's correct. Choices (B) & (E) have the structure [preposition] + [noun] + [participial phrase]. The GMAT does not like that. The GMAT doesn't like when you try to cram [noun] + [verb]-style action into a prepositional phrase. If you want to express action, use a subordinate clause, not a prepositional phrase. For these reasons, (B) & (E) are wrong.

For all these reasons, (A) is the best possible answer.

The Atlantic Ocean, the second youngest of Earth's five oceans, originated 130 million years ago when the Americas separated from Africa and, as Earth's plates continue to move, has been expanding ever since.

A) originated 130 million years ago when the Americas separated from Africa and, as Earth's plates continue to move, has been expanding
B) originated 130 million years ago with the Americas separating from Africa and, as Earth's plates continue to move, expanding
C) had originated 130 million years ago as the Americas separated from Africa and, with Earth's plates continuing their motion, is expanding
D) had originated 130 million years ago because the Americas separated from Africa and, while Earth's plates continue to move, expanding
E) originated 130 million years ago with the Americas separating from Africa and, as Earth's plates continue their motion, was expanding


there is only one query, which made me answer this one wrong, is Earth's plates SINGULAR ??? if not why the verb in second phrase after "and" is has why not have

Hi Vipul, Earth's plates is plural but that's not the subject here; The Atlantic Ocean is the subject.

The structure of the sentence is:

The Atlantic Ocean originated 130 million years ago... and .... has been expanding ever since.

A is the correct answer. But don't you need a subject for "has been expanding" , as it is an independent clause?

Hi Archana, The Atlantic Ocean is the subject.

Let's take a similar example:

Archana started her GMAT preparation and joined GMATClub.

The subject of the first clause Archana continues to be the subject of the portion joined GMATClub, since no explicit subject is mentioned for that portion.

If it helps, you can interpret it as:

Archana started her GMAT preparation and (Archana) joined GMATClub.

Easy way or lazy way.. this explanation - doesn't make any sense

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.