What has often been forgotten about Paine was that, after he discovere

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



THE PROMPT



• Issues?
→ Verb tense
GMAT follows the modern convention that if something is still true, even if the fact was discovered or came to light in the past, we use the present tense to describe the truth or the fact.
One well-known example is, "Albert Einstein discovered in 1905 that light is both a particle and a wave."

→ Noun clauses
A noun clause (nominal clause, substantive clause) is typically a clause that begins with a wh- word or how; contains a noun and verb; is nonetheless notits own sentence; and does everything a "regular" noun does.
Noun clause: What has often been forgotten about Paine

Mike McGarry wrote a good post on noun clauses that you can read here.

The details of the "forgotten" part in this sentence are hazy, but that haziness does not affect our grammar analysis.

Paine's very first vocation was as a maker of corsets.
I think that the sentence refers to Paine's later having discovered journalism as a vocation, after which time he became a professional revolutionary.
The word "discovered" leads me to believe that the author wanted to stress the connection between Paine's effective and influential journalism and its effect on his eventually becoming a professional revolutionary.
In those days, a person did not typically "discover" a vocation such as corset making, but rather, came from a family of corset makers or was promised to a corset maker.


THE OPTIONS

What has often been forgotten about Paine was that, after he discovered his vocation, he became a professional revolutionary

• We need is, not was
→ whatever has been forgotten about Paine has not changed.
→ we are talking about a general truth
Because that general truth is still true, we need is, not was
ELIMINATE A


• correctly uses "is" to describe the fact that is still true
• time stamp ("after") + past perfect (he had discovered)?
→ warrior1991 , in response to your question: this usage is okay
→ GMAC has been inconsistent about whether using sequence words AND past perfect tense is redundant.

I would now say:
→ do not immediately or automatically strike a sentence that uses past perfect and that contains a sequence word such as after.
There are OEs in which such usage was considered redundant (because past perfect's HAD + verbED "announces" an event that preceded another prior event).
There are also a couple of correct answers to official questions in which both sequence words and past perfect are used.
Find a different decision point.
KEEP


→ mid-sentence passive/active voice switches are rarely correct
→ passive voice is not preferred in sentences in which active voice is already in play
In other words, if a sentence is in passive voice, keep it that way
If a sentence is in active voice, keep it that way
→ active voice is already in play: he became a professional revolutionary
→ the passive voice in the clause "once his vocation WAS discovered" makes it sound as though someone else discovered Paine's vocation
Option B is better than (C) because the former uses the active voice and thus matches with the nonunderlined portion of the sentence.
ELIMINATE C

• as a general rule, do not place anything between a verb (is) and its direct object (that ... )
• the placement of the phrase is incorrect: the phrase is part of the that-clause and should be placed after the that-clause
ELIMINATE D

• we need is that, not was that (see option A)
• passive voice is inconsistent with the nonunderlined portion of the sentence
→ the passive voice in the clause "once his vocation WAS discovered" makes it sound as though someone else discovered Paine's vocation
ELIMINATE E

The best answer is B.

COMMENTS

Sayantan1604 and Deepakjhamb (a second time), welcome to SC Butler.

These answers range from good to outstanding.
Nicely done.

As I mentioned in today's other OE, in the West, December 8 is now V-Day in the UK: vaccine day (at least for health care workers and the elderly, one of whom is named "William Shakespeare." And he's from Coventry. No relation. A great little story.

Stay safe.