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1998 saw several new ventures promoting online distance learning both at the college and graduate level, but also faculty members in large numbers began questioning whether the computer screen was an adequate replacement for the classroom.

(A) 1998 saw several new ventures promoting online distance learning both at the college and graduate level, but also faculty members in large numbers began
(B) In 1998 several new ventures were promoting online distance learning for both college-and for graduate-level courses, but it was also a year for a large number of faculty members who began
(C) With several new ventures promoting online distance learning both for college and graduate courses in 1998, it was also a year when a large number of faculty members had begun
(D) Although 1998 saw several new ventures promoting online distance learning for both college- and graduate-level courses, it was also a year when a large number of faculty members began
(E) Several new ventures were promoting online distance learning in 1998, at both the college level as well as the graduate, but it was also a year for faculty members to begin in large numbers

OA must be D !!!

A : Parallelism error
B, C & E : Verb tense error
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Hi Experts / chetan2u / daagh ,

I was able to select the correct answer by focusing on idiom both X and Y.
But, at first I eliminated option A and D because it says 1998 saw--> Seems weird How could an year (1998) see...??

Can you please explain...?
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PrakharGMAT
Hi Experts / chetan2u / daagh ,

I was able to select the correct answer by focusing on idiom both X and Y.
But, at first I eliminated option A and D because it says 1998 saw--> Seems weird How could an year (1998) see...??

Can you please explain...?

Though I am no expert I would like to share my views ( I expect experts would not mind and share their views as well )

The sentence presents a contrasting scenario highlighted below -

Quote:
1998 saw several new ventures promoting online distance learning both at the college and graduate level, but also faculty members in large numbers began questioning whether the computer screen was an adequate replacement for the classroom.

New ventures promoting online distance learning both at the college and graduate level and large number of faculties are questioning the procedure

Both these facts do not go side by side , it represents a contrast, hence although fits in well !! :-D :-D
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micky577
1998 saw several new ventures promoting online distance learning both at the college and graduate level, but also faculty members in large numbers began questioning whether the computer screen was an adequate replacement for the classroom.

(A) 1998 saw several new ventures promoting online distance learning both at the college and graduate level, but also faculty members in large numbers began
1. Usage of BOTH is wrong. BOTH should be followed by Noun or BOTH OF NOUN is correct.
2. Also it conveys meaning as 1998 saw something which is wrong.

(B) In 1998 several new ventures were promoting online distance learning for both college-and for graduate-level courses, but it was also a year for a large number of faculty members who began
1. Usage of BOTH is wrong again.
(C) With several new ventures promoting online distance learning both for college and graduate courses in 1998, it was also a year when a large number of faculty members had begun
1. Usage of BOTH is wrong again.
2. Changes the intended meaning

(D) Although 1998 saw several new ventures promoting online distance learning for both college- and graduate-level courses, it was also a year when a large number of faculty members began
Usage of both is correct. Apart from although 1998 saw -- Unable to understand this part. Better choice among all
(E) Several new ventures were promoting online distance learning in 1998, at both the college level as well as the graduate, but it was also a year for faculty members to begin in large numbers
Usage of both wrong. BOTH A and B

Question 1
Regarding Option D - "Although 1998 saw" what is this usage. Awkward. Can some one please explain.?

1998 Saw what?

Question2
Option B, usage of Past continuous looks fine to me. Since it states as "When the new ventures were promoting, faculty people started questioning" The thing first started is the promotion and the action goes on in the past. At that moment faculty members started to question. Is my understanding correct?
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1998 saw several new ventures promoting online distance learning both at the college and graduate level, but also faculty members in large numbers began questioning whether the computer screen was an adequate replacement for the classroom.

Before we delve deeper, just check the correlative conjunction parallelism alone
Correct Parallelism is both---and


(A) Both at the college and graduate level, --- both at and graduate level is wrong; the ‘at’ is missing in the second arm.
(B both college and for graduate-level courses, -- both college and for graduate is wrong—for is unnecessary
(C) both for college and graduate courses in 1998, --- both for and graduate is wrong – for is unnecessary
(D) both college and graduate-level courses --- correct
(E) both the college level as well as the graduate, --- both the college level as well as the graduate level is wrong It should be simply both… and.
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micky577
1998 saw several new ventures promoting online distance learning both at the college and graduate level, but also faculty members in large numbers began questioning whether the computer screen was an adequate replacement for the classroom.

(A) 1998 saw several new ventures promoting online distance learning both at the college and graduate level, but also faculty members in large numbers began
(B) In 1998 several new ventures were promoting online distance learning for both college-and for graduate-level courses, but it was also a year for a large number of faculty members who began
(C) With several new ventures promoting online distance learning both for college and graduate courses in 1998, it was also a year when a large number of faculty members had begun
(D) Although 1998 saw several new ventures promoting online distance learning for both college- and graduate-level courses, it was also a year when a large number of faculty members began
(E) Several new ventures were promoting online distance learning in 1998, at both the college level as well as the graduate, but it was also a year for faculty members to begin in large numbers

If we try to understand the meaning of the sentence, we can sense a contrast here. So the the correct sentence should convey this.
Of the given options, only Option D conveys the contrast. This will help you to arrive at the answer pretty quickly and is a testimonial of why understanding the meaning is important.

Correct Option: D

Also, you can eliminate the options based on the parallelism of the idiom "both X and Y"
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here, in (C), is the uses of ''with'' wrong? and what about the past perfect tense?
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Are subordinate clause dependent clause
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Are subordinate clause dependent clause
That is correct.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses Clauses, their application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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micky577
1998 saw several new ventures promoting online distance learning both at the college and graduate level, but also faculty members in large numbers began questioning whether the computer screen was an adequate replacement for the classroom.


(A) 1998 saw several new ventures promoting online distance learning both at the college and graduate level, but also faculty members in large numbers began

(B) In 1998 several new ventures were promoting online distance learning for both college-and for graduate-level courses, but it was also a year for a large number of faculty members who began

(C) With several new ventures promoting online distance learning both for college and graduate courses in 1998, it was also a year when a large number of faculty members had begun

(D) Although 1998 saw several new ventures promoting online distance learning for both college- and graduate-level courses, it was also a year when a large number of faculty members began

(E) Several new ventures were promoting online distance learning in 1998, at both the college level as well as the graduate, but it was also a year for faculty members to begin in large numbers

This question is based on Modifiers and Construction.

The appropriate pair of correlative conjunctions is ‘not only-but also’. However, the first of the pair has been left out in this option. In order to maintain parallelism, the verb ‘began’ should have been in the participle form ‘beginning. The sentence should have been thus - 1998 saw not only several new ventures promoting online distance learning both at the college and graduate level, but also faculty members in large numbers beginning.
Since parallelism is not maintained, Option A can be eliminated.


Option B also doesn’t maintain parallelism – the preposition ‘for’ is unnecessarily repeated - online distance learning for both college-and for graduate-level courses. Since it has been put before the correlative conjunction ‘both’, it does not have to be repeated after the conjunction ‘and’. Also, the meaning of the phrase “a year for a large number of faculty members” is not clear. So. Option B can be eliminated.

The past perfect tense “had begun” is not appropriate with the mention of the year 1998. This option also lacks parallelism – the preposition ‘for’ is not repeated after the conjunction ‘and’. So, Option C can be eliminated.

Option E is wordy and contains the same ambiguous phrasing as Option B. This option also lacks parallelism – the correlative conjunction ‘both’ should be followed by the conjunction ‘and’, not ‘as well as’. So, Option E can be eliminated.

Option D maintains parallelism and also contains the appropriate tense form – the simple past tense “began”. Therefore, D is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.
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1. Confusing In Chapter 4 of this book, it describes the early flights of the Wright brothers.
Clear Chapter 4 of this book describes the early flights of the Wright brothers.

2.
2-1(definition)
a year when/that several new ventures were promoting online distance learning for both college- and graduate-level courses was 1998.
1998 was a year when/that several new ventures were promoting online distance learning for both college- and graduate-level courses.
= It(1998) was a year when/that several new ventures were promoting online distance learning for both college- and graduate-level courses.

2-2
It was a 1998 when/ that several new ventures were promoting online distance learning for both college- and graduate-level courses.
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