12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition - Day 1: Near the end of the Cre

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Hello, everyone. I had a lot of fun putting this question together—dinosaurs were one of my earliest fixations—and I hope to touch on a few important meaning and verb tense issues by the time we get to the end.


I say this often, and I will reiterate: read the entire sentence before you decide what the intended meaning may be. Here, we have a few clues that was thought to be cannot be correct. The first such clue occurs with the opening phrase, which, when combined with the subsequent was, places the timeline strictly in the past, as in, people near the end of the Cretaceous period thought something about the Deccan Traps. That seems a little strange, right? But just in case you missed that one—this is not Jeopardy! after all, and maybe the Cretaceous period is unfamiliar—you have a second clue about a subsequent chain of events: eruptions that led to many extinctions, including the demise of the dinosaurs. Now there is no doubt that the timeline is skewed. It is common knowledge that people did not coexist with dinosaurs, so this sort of issue is testable. With our two clues in hand, we can safely eliminate (A).


Not only is the main issue concerning the verb tense not fixed, but now we have a second problem with a double-padded idea: thought to be and could have led share similar space, and the second could be chopped down to led on its own as part of a hypothesis. The GMAT™ prefers the clear and concise expression of vital meaning, and this answer choice misses the mark.


Close, but no cigar. The problem is that the subject of the main clause is range, not the object of the preposition, volcanoes. Neither can we agree the verb with the Deccan Traps. By and large, unless you are talking about counting nouns (such as a number versus the number of something), you should look back to the noun before the preposition to dictate subject-verb agreement. Such is the case here, so we can get rid of (C).


I know that the use of the present tense, is, is the Lone Ranger of this lot of answers, but that does not disqualify its usage. That is, I have observed such a correct answer in a 1/4 split on at least one official question, so you cannot necessarily rely on how many appearances a certain split makes to determine an answer. This sentence conveys that the same unseen agent, people, now in the present, believe that several large eruptions during the Cretaceous period from the site of the Deccan Traps ended up eventually wiping out the dinosaurs. Why the present perfect have been instead of the infinitive to be? That, again, touches on when the eruptions occurred. If we replace have been with to be, then the sentence has a foot in two timelines, and the opening phrase seems detached from the information that follows. In short, there is nothing to argue against here, so it should be a safe answer to hold on to.


This is a second-best answer in my view, one that requires a careful consideration of the meaning of the sentence to disprove. However, the past tense does not work here, plain and simple. The chain of events took place in the past, not the thinking about that chain of events. Unless you are willing to argue for the notion that people and dinosaurs were walking around Earth at the same time, you have to abandon was and look for a better alternative.

I hope that helps clarify the issues. If anyone has further questions, I would be happy to address them. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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(A) was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led "was thought" implies that near the end of the Cretaceous Period, the volcanoes were thought to cause the extinction
(B) was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions that could have led "was thought" implies that near the end of the Cretaceous Period, the volcanoes were thought to cause the extinction
(C) were thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led "a range of volcano" does not agree with "were"
(D) is thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led Since the volcanoes are thought to have caused the extinction in the present (not at the end of Cretaceous Period", "is thought" makes sense; "have been" also suggests that there are two instances happening in the past: (1) volcano eruption and (2) extinction/demise of dinosaurs
(E) was thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led "was thought" implies that near the end of the Cretaceous Period, the volcanoes were thought to cause the extinction

My answer is D, since the thinking an idea about a very old phenemenon is taking place with no reference to a specific time, verb should not be was/were. Secondly, those eruptions have not taken place at a time but through a long time, so using present perfect is a better choice I think as in answer D.

This was what I was trying to post:

Near the end of the Cretaceous period, a range of volcanoes in western India called the Deccan Traps was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led to many extinctions, including the demise of the dinosaurs.


Meaning: was thought to be, but now [...]
There is no other thing to compare to


Meaning: was thought to be, but now [...]
There is no other thing to compare to


a range is singular


Correct


Meaning: was thought to, but now [...]
There is no other thing to compare to
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Near the end of the Cretaceous period, a range of volcanoes in western India called the Deccan Traps was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led to many extinctions, including the demise of the dinosaurs.

Lets debrief the sentence and its meaning.
1.Subject of the sentence: A range of volcanoes, so the subject is singular. Thus we can eliminate C.
2.Next important point is "a range of volcanoes in western India called the Deccan Traps" is still thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions.
3.The sweet noun modifier "that led to many extinctions, including the demise of the dinosaurs" correctly modifies the eruptions.

(A) was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led Eliminated for reason 2.
(B) was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions that could have led Eliminated for reason 2.
(C) were thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led Eliminated for reason 1.
(D) is thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led Correct
(E) was thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led Eliminated for reason 2.

Near the end of the Cretaceous period,
a range of volcanoes in western India called the Deccan Traps
was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions
that led to many extinctions
, including the demise of the dinosaurs.

a range of volcanoes in western India called the Deccan Traps is singular, C is OUT

If we try to understand the meaning of the sentence
A range of volcanoes in western India called the Deccan Traps that existed near the end of the Cretaceous period
is thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led to many extinctions, including the demise of the dinosaurs.
conveys the correct meaning

was thought conveys the meaning that thinking was done near the end of the Cretaceous period which does not make sense.
Another meaning could be that this was a thought in the past but now have been proved wrong. Since there is no mention of another thought, let us assume that the theory still exists.

(A) was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led
(B) was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions that could have led
(C) were thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led
(D) is thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led
(E) was thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led

IMO D

Correct Answer: D

(A) was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led
the sentence asserts that the site is not anymore thought to be the site of eruptions that led to extinctions and was thought this way in the cretaceous period. This premise seems nonsensical.

(B) was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions that could have led
same issue as in A

(C) were thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led
were is incorrectly used with "a range of volcanoes"

(D) is thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led
Correct Answer

(E) was thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led
same issue as in A

Near the end of the Cretaceous period, a range of volcanoes in western India called the Deccan Traps was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led to many extinctions, including the demise of the dinosaurs.

(A) was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led
(B) was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions that could have led
(C) were thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led
(D) is thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led
(E) was thought to have been the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led

Intended Meaning: It IS thought in the present that (i.e, a FACT is stated) : "A RANGE of volcanoes in western India called the Deccan Traps WAS the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led to many extinctions, including the demise of the dinosaurs."

Splits: Was / Is / Were: "IS" is correct, as "A Range" is Singular, and Simple Present tense is desired to convey the intended meaning.

Only D conveys the correct meaning; Other options seem to convey that :Near the end of the Cretaceous period, SOMETHING was thought to be true, but now it is not thought to be true.

Answer D

My answer is D

Near the end of the Cretaceous period, a range of ...
(A) was thought to be ...
(B) was thought to be ...
(C) were thought to have been ...
(D) is thought to have been ...
(E) was thought to have been ...

First eliminate C because of basic grammar. The subject ('A RANGE') does not agree with the verb ('WERE THOUGHT')

There are no clear grammar problems in A, B, D, or E.
So, for the next elimination, we have to look at verb tenses and meaning.
Do we need IS THOUGHT or WAS THOUGHT? Which of the two is more logical?

At the end of the Cretaceous period, when the dinosaurs went extinct, there were no humans.

'WAS THOUGHT' suggests one or both of two things:
- The thinking was done at the end of the Cretaceous period (not possible!)
- People no longer think that the range is the site of eruptions that led to extinctions

We want to avoid the suggestion that this is what people thought at the end of the Cretaceous period.
So eliminate all the answer choices with 'WAS THOUGHT'

We are left only with D 'IS THOUGHT'.


Keep it simple.
Do not overthink.


Posted from my mobile device
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Okayyyy!! Let's try!!

Why isn't A the correct answer? D clearly says that the people of Crustacean period still exist and they still think that the site of climate-altering eruptions lead to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Seems strange!!

I do agree that the dinosaurs and people didn't exist together as stated in the official explanation, but how are the people still thinking about the site.

Please provide an explanation to my query.

Posted from my mobile device

Be careful, Biswadeep20, not to see only what you want to see when it comes to interpreting a sentence. The opening phrase near the end of the Cretaceous period modifies a range of volcanoes, and the verb to be cannot be conjugated in the simple past, or else the grammar would convey that dinosaurs and people did, in fact, coexist. Keeping in mind that a modifier should be placed as close to what it modifies for the sake of logical consistency, you cannot place the opening phrase at the end of the sentence to fit your projection of what the sentence may mean.

A.2) A range of volcanoes in western India called the Deccan Traps was thought to be the site of several climate-altering eruptions that led to many extinctions, including the demise of the dinosaurs, near the end of the Cretaceous period.

The above sentence would indeed convey that the range of volcanoes was at one point in time considered ground zero, so to speak, but even so, how could we justify to be instead of to have been, unless people and dinosaurs were co-inhabitants of the Earth? Sure, you may choose to read the above sentence in a certain manner, but you cannot disprove an alternative reading, namely that people of the Cretaceous period thought that the volcanic eruptions led to mass extinctions. This subtle grammatical and semantic issue is just what I had thought to test with the question. To be honest, I did not think the question would prove as difficult as it apparently was for so many people. In the end, though, the correct answer is the one that is hardest to argue against. Choice (A) has a clear flaw in expressed meaning. Meanwhile, choice (D) does not, indicating a timeline in which people of the present believe that a site that still exists today was, at one point in time, ground zero for mass extinctions, those that occurred long ago. I would refer you to the official explanation for a more thorough treatment of each answer choice.

I am sorry if you did not enjoy the question. My goal is only to provide an entertaining vehicle to help aspirants prepare for the GMAT™.

- Andrew
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