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Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other s

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blueseas
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Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other s [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 26 Aug 2013, 12:50
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Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other sheep, had been thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained some infectious strength, causing a massive epidemic of scrapie in Britain.

A)had been thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained

B)is thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained

C)has been thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained

D)was thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it had retained

E)had thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained
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A

Originally posted by blueseas on 08 Jul 2013, 08:43.
Last edited by blueseas on 26 Aug 2013, 12:50, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other s [#permalink] New post   08 Jul 2013, 09:10
My choice is E because it has 2 events one which happened earlier should be be past perfect....
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Re: Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other s [#permalink] New post   08 Jul 2013, 09:12
Nice question about past perfect!

In the sequence of events we use the past perfect for the action that happened first, and the past simple for the second action (from a chronological point of view).

So what happened first? First it was sterilized "then" it retained.

Only two options maintain this:

A)had been thoroughly sterilized in formalin (I), it retained (II) <== we need a passive form since "the vaccine" did not sterilize. IMO A
E)had thoroughly sterilized in formalin (I), it retained (II)
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Re: Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other s [#permalink] New post   08 Jul 2013, 09:26
IMO it is A.

There are two actions ie. sterilization and retention.

Sterilization preceded retention and hence "had been....sterilized"(past perfect) and "it retained"(simple past).

In (E), the first clause starting with "Although... sterilized in formalin"...does not have a verb and is a fragment. Hence wrong.



Regards

Argha
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Re: Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other s [#permalink] New post   08 Jul 2013, 11:13
Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other sheep, had been thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained some infectious strength, causing a massive epidemic of scrapie in Britain.

IMO A

The meaning implies contrast that although the vaccine had been sterilized, it retained some strength. Sterilisation is an event done before vaccination.
So, to properly show that sterilization occurred before vaccination, the earlier event should be in past perfect and the later event in simple past.

E : passive construction should be used here to convey the right meaning.
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Re: Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other s [#permalink] New post   09 Jul 2013, 03:57
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Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other sheep, had been thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained some infectious strength, causing a massive epidemic of scrapie in Britain.

A)had been thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained
HOLD IT Correct because sterilization was done before the medicine retained the infectious strength
B)is thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained
Is thoroughly sterilized is incorrect here
C)has been thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained
has been is incorrect here
D)was thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it had retained
HOLD IT Wrong, because sterilization was done before the medicine retained the infectious strength
E)had thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained
had only cannot be used, hence incorrect

between A and D, A is better,
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Re: Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other s [#permalink] New post   26 Aug 2013, 10:51
OA? i am inclined to go with d since retaining is a proces that starts before sterilization
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Re: Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other s [#permalink] New post   26 Aug 2013, 12:14
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Transcendentalist wrote:
OA? i am inclined to go with d since retaining is a proces that starts before sterilization


IMO A

The meaning implies contrast that although the vaccine had been sterilized, it retained some strength. Sterilisation is an event done before vaccination. So, to properly show that sterilization occurred before vaccination, the earlier event should be in past perfect and the later event in simple past.

Let's do a time travel to our childhood days, the nurse used to sterile the injection first with an antiseptic before injecting the vaccinated injection.

Well, I'm pretty sure OA is A otherwise the original poster would have voiced his concern by now.
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Re: Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other s [#permalink] New post   26 Aug 2013, 12:46
IMO A. Was struggling between A & E but ended with A
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Re: Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other s [#permalink] New post   14 Nov 2013, 05:22
argha wrote:
IMO it is A.

There are two actions ie. sterilization and retention.

Sterilization preceded retention and hence "had been....sterilized"(past perfect) and "it retained"(simple past).

In (E), the first clause starting with "Although... sterilized in formalin"...does not have a verb and is a fragment. Hence wrong.



Regards

Argha


Hello,

Isn't "Had sterilized" the verb it E ?

what is the difference between HAD and HAD BEEN?

can anyone help on this please ?
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Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other s [#permalink] New post   30 Jun 2020, 00:00
ankurgupta03 wrote:
Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other sheep, had been thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained some infectious strength, causing a massive epidemic of scrapie in Britain.

A)had been thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained
HOLD IT Correct because sterilization was done before the medicine retained the infectious strength
B)is thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained
Is thoroughly sterilized is incorrect here
C)has been thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained
has been is incorrect here
D)was thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it had retained
HOLD IT Wrong, because sterilization was done before the medicine retained the infectious strength
E)had thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained
had only cannot be used, hence incorrect

between A and D, A is better,


Hi could you or anyone viewing the post help me understand what would be the meaning of the sentence:

"Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other sheep, is thoroughly sterilized in formalin, it retained some infectious strength, causing a massive...
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Although the vaccine, made partly from the brains of other s [#permalink]
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