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







In this problem, I chose D, but the OA is E. WHY E??? What's wrong with "differed" in D?

Any input?

Ultimately, I liked D too. This one is really tricky.

i've noticed by working with many other examples that the participle placed before the preposition "from" is usually in present participle. Has anyone noticed that too? I found another sentence that uses the same construction:


The increased popularity and availability of televisions has led to the decline of regional dialects, language variations originating from diverse ethnic and cultural heritages and perpetuated by geographic isolation.


can we expect this to repeat all the time?

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

my reasoning~~
The first three choices can be eliminated because all of them start with 'which'. As a comma is used it makes sense to have añ independant clause. If which is used then the sentence doesn't need the comma.

As far D and E are concerned the catch lies in the plural verb local times.

local times.....DIFFERED FROM CITY TO CITY --> DIFFERED appears to compare only two cities
local times.....DIFFERING FROM CITY TO CITY --> DIFFERING appears to compare more than two cities and given the context it seems approriate. Hence the answer is E

A,b and c do not correct. Comparing between D&E, I also like D).

It is E.

Vinayn, I like to disagree with your opinion. I think there is no such relationship between differe and differing as you discribe. I believe determined is used because local time was determined in the past and differing is used because time differs in the present as well.


local times.....DIFFERED FROM CITY TO CITY --> DIFFERED appears to compare only two cities
local times.....DIFFERING FROM CITY TO CITY --> DIFFERING appears to compare more than two cities and given the context it seems approriate. Hence the answer is E
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

my reasoning~~
The first three choices can be eliminated because all of them start with 'which'. As a comma is used it makes sense to have añ independant clause. If which is used then the sentence doesn't need the comma.

As far D and E are concerned the catch lies in the plural verb local times.

local times.....DIFFERED FROM CITY TO CITY --> DIFFERED appears to compare only two cities
local times.....DIFFERING FROM CITY TO CITY --> DIFFERING appears to compare more than two cities and given the context it seems approriate. Hence the answer is E

I think the OA is wrong. (D) has parallel construction -> times determined by...and differed from...

Hi guys ...its E

look at the link http://www.urch.com/forums/faqs/700-gma ... ition.html