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Bunuel
Amidst the constant turbulence of daily life, the artist contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.

A. contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
B. has been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
C. had contemplated his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
D. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he has been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
E. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on for the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.


 


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Key phrase: Amidst the constant turbulence of daily life = in the middle of daily life (indicates sequence)

A - (1) contemplated - past tense is correctly used with "amidst" which gives a context & sequence. We do not need present perfect continuous or past perfect continuous tense because the time period indicator "amidst" is already present, (2) which - correctly modifies masterpiece, (3) had been working on since - past perfect continuous tense is correct because the action was happening when the artist contemplated, (4) hoping to perfect - the present participle phrase at the end correctly modifies the whole preceding clause and the tense is correct because the action "working" was not completed when he contemplated about his work. ✅

B - The series of actions are not coherent and alter the intended meaning. This sentence conveys that a) he was still working on his masterpiece and b) he was contemplating his masterpiece (at the same time). The preposition is missing. Incorrect.

C - The series of actions are not coherent and alter the intended meaning. This sentence conveys that a) he was still working on his masterpiece when b) he had contemplated his masterpiece (as if it was done). The preposition is missing. Incorrect.

D - The series of actions are not coherent and alter the intended meaning. This sentence conveys that a) he was contemplating his masterpiece and b) he is working on his masterpiece. The preposition is missing. Incorrect.

E - The series of actions are not coherent and alter the intended meaning. This sentence conveys that a) he was contemplating his masterpiece and b) he was working on his masterpiece. The preposition is missing. Incorrect.

Therefore, option A is the correct answer.
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There are two clues for tenses in this sentence:- "Amidst the constant turbulence of daily life" and "since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition". These two sentences tells us that the artist has been working on something since earlier and is still working on it to perfect it. So the work is not complete and hence any use of "had been" is incorrect.

(A) "contemplated" conveys a meaning that the artist did the action in the past and now it is over. But the sentence "Amidst the constant turbulence of daily life" suggests that this activity was ongoing. Hence this is wrong option.

(B) "had been" is incorrectly used because the action of work is not yet complete, the artist is still working on it to perfect it.

(C) Similar error as in sentence (B). The artist is still working on it to perfect it, and so use of "had been" is wrong.

(D) This is the correct answer. The artist began his wok 6 months back and is still working on it. Hence use of "has been" is correct.

(E) Similar error as in sentence (B). The artist is still working on it to perfect it, and so use of "had been" is wrong.
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The correct answer choice is

E. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on for the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.

This sentence uses the past perfect continuous tense ("had been contemplating" and "had been working") to indicate that the artist's contemplation and work on the masterpiece started in the past and continued up until a specific point in the past (the time of contemplation). The phrase "for the last six months" emphasizes the duration of the artist's work on the masterpiece.

None of the remaining answer choices gives correct format, eliminate them.

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Bunuel
Amidst the constant turbulence of daily life, the artist contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.

A. contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
B. has been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
C. had contemplated his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
D. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he has been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
E. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on for the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.


 


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I am not sure but I think the question doesn't seem to be using right tenses throughout the options.
However, I will still pick A .
In B, "working on" is the first event and second event ? :? Wrong.
In C, contemplate and working are occurring at the same time. Wrong.
In D, Second event is missing. Wrong.
In E, Both events are occurring at the same time. Wrong.
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-Meaning: The artist hasn't not finished his masterpiece=>The action"contempolate" still continue to present=>We must use the present perfect continous tense.
A) Incorrect. The simple past tense implicated that this action finished. But since the artist is still working on it, he must be contempolating it at the same time.
B) Correct. Everything is perfect.
C), D), E)Incorrect for the same reason in A)
The answer is B
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"contemplated about his latest masterpiece". This part of the sentence implies that past perfect tense shall be used.
"which he had been working on since the last six months".This part of the sentence implies that present perfect tense shall be used.

The only option satisfying this condition is (D).

Hence the suspected correct answer is (D).
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Bunuel
Amidst the constant turbulence of daily life, the artist contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.

A. contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
B. has been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
C. had contemplated his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
D. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he has been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
E. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on for the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.


 


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A. contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition. - Incorrect - tense error , we need to use past perfect continuous tense with contemplating to indicate temporary ongoing action of contemplating in the past.
B. has been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition. - Incorrect - tense structure is incorrect, if the work is already done why would he contemplate to finish it before exhibition.
C. had contemplated his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition. - Incorrect - Usage of had is incorrect, we need to use past perfect continuous tense here.
D. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he has been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition. - Incorrect- tense structure is not consistent we need to used past perfect continuous tense in the relative clause
E. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on for the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition. - Correct
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Bunuel
Amidst the constant turbulence of daily life, the artist contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.

A. contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
B. has been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
C. had contemplated his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
D. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he has been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
E. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on for the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.


 


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A. contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
Incorrect. "had been" should come before contemplated. Plus "had been" after "which" is wrong. It should be "has been". Eliminate this option.
B. has been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
"had been" after which is wrong. It should be "has been". Eliminate this option.
C. had contemplated his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
"had been" after which is wrong. It should be "has been". Eliminate this option.
D. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he has been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
Rectifies all mistakes discussed in the previous option. Meaning of the sentence is clear. Lets keep this.
E. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on for the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
"had been" after which is wrong. It should be "has been". Eliminate this option.

Answer is option D.
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Amidst the constant turbulence of daily life, the artist contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.

A. contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition. ~ Incorrect parallelism.

B. has been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition. ~ Correct parallelism with correct tense.

C. had contemplated his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition. ~ Incorrect parallelism contemplated, working, hoping.

D. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he has been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition. ~ Incorrect, use of has been working.

E. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on for the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition. ~ Incorrect, both the time period mentioned should not be had been.

IMO B.
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Each choice bar (E) uses, "which he has been working on since the last six months". The use of the preposition "since" is incorrect in this instance, as one would use "since" with regards to time to provide a starting point, whereas "for" is used to with regards to length of time.

Also, the sentence requires the past perfect continuous tense and the only one which uses it is (E)

ANSWER E
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A. contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.---- contemplated is the correct tense and working happened before contemplating
B. has been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.---there's no reason to think he has been contemplating now
C. had contemplated his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.---Use of had contemplated is wrong when this action took place amidst another event
D. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he has been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.---Use of had contemplated is wrong when this action took place amidst another event
E. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on for the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.---Use of had contemplated is wrong when this action took place amidst another event

Ans A
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Bunuel
Bunuel
Amidst the constant turbulence of daily life, the artist contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.

A. contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
B. has been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
C. had contemplated his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
D. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he has been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
E. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on for the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.

Unacademy Official Explanation:

Option E is the correct answer because it uses the past perfect continuous tense "had been contemplating" and "had been working" to show that the artist was thinking and working on his masterpiece for a period of time in the past, which is the correct tense to use in this context.

Option A contains an error because the word "about" is unnecessary in the phrase "contemplated about his latest masterpiece". The correct phrase is "contemplated his latest masterpiece".

Option B is incorrect because it uses the present perfect tense "has been contemplating" instead of the past perfect continuous tense "had been contemplating". Since the artist was thinking about his masterpiece in the past, the past tense is required.

Option C is incorrect because it uses the past tense "had contemplated" instead of the past perfect continuous tense "had been contemplating". The artist had been thinking about his masterpiece for a period of time, so continuous tense is necessary.

Option D is incorrect because it uses the present perfect tense "has been working" instead of the past perfect continuous tense "had been working". The artist had completed his work in the past, so the past tense is required.

So, option (E) is correct.


This OE is only giving details of what tenses are used in each option choice.

Kindly detail out as per timeline of events why other options can be eliminated and why E is right with double "had been".

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Bunuel
Bunuel
Amidst the constant turbulence of daily life, the artist contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.

A. contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
B. has been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
C. had contemplated his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
D. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he has been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
E. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on for the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.

Unacademy Official Explanation:

Option E is the correct answer because it uses the past perfect continuous tense "had been contemplating" and "had been working" to show that the artist was thinking and working on his masterpiece for a period of time in the past, which is the correct tense to use in this context.

Option A contains an error because the word "about" is unnecessary in the phrase "contemplated about his latest masterpiece". The correct phrase is "contemplated his latest masterpiece".

Option B is incorrect because it uses the present perfect tense "has been contemplating" instead of the past perfect continuous tense "had been contemplating". Since the artist was thinking about his masterpiece in the past, the past tense is required.
Option C is incorrect because it uses the past tense "had contemplated" instead of the past perfect continuous tense "had been contemplating". The artist had been thinking about his masterpiece for a period of time, so continuous tense is necessary.

Option D is incorrect because it uses the present perfect tense "has been working" instead of the past perfect continuous tense "had been working". The artist had completed his work in the past, so the past tense is required.

So, option (E) is correct.

Here is another problem I disagree with: I had the correct answer E, because the expression "since the last six months" is incorrect; it should be "for the last six months", and only E has that expression. However, I believe that the tenses are wrong in answers B,C,D,E. Answer A uses past simple, and it makes sense (past perfect would not make sense because the contemplation did not happen before anything else); nevertheless, Answer A incorrectly uses the preposition "about". The other answers use different tenses for the verb "contemplate", changing the intended meaning. Past perfect is correct in the relative clause because the artist worked on it before he contemplated it.
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Bunuel
Bunuel
Amidst the constant turbulence of daily life, the artist contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.

A. contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
B. has been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
C. had contemplated his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
D. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he has been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
E. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on for the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.

Unacademy Official Explanation:

Option E is the correct answer because it uses the past perfect continuous tense "had been contemplating" and "had been working" to show that the artist was thinking and working on his masterpiece for a period of time in the past, which is the correct tense to use in this context.

Option A contains an error because the word "about" is unnecessary in the phrase "contemplated about his latest masterpiece". The correct phrase is "contemplated his latest masterpiece".

Option B is incorrect because it uses the present perfect tense "has been contemplating" instead of the past perfect continuous tense "had been contemplating". Since the artist was thinking about his masterpiece in the past, the past tense is required.
Option C is incorrect because it uses the past tense "had contemplated" instead of the past perfect continuous tense "had been contemplating". The artist had been thinking about his masterpiece for a period of time, so continuous tense is necessary.

Option D is incorrect because it uses the present perfect tense "has been working" instead of the past perfect continuous tense "had been working". The artist had completed his work in the past, so the past tense is required.

So, option (E) is correct.

Here is another problem I disagree with: I had the correct answer E, because the expression "since the last six months" is incorrect; it should be "for the last six months", and only E has that expression. However, I believe that the tenses are wrong in answers B,C,D,E. Answer A uses past simple, and it makes sense (past perfect would not make sense because the contemplation did not happen before anything else); nevertheless, Answer A incorrectly uses the preposition "about". The other answers use different tenses for the verb "contemplate", changing the intended meaning. Past perfect is correct in the relative clause because the artist worked on it before he contemplated it.

I believe that the tense is past perfect continous due to the usage of "had Been". I am unaware if the usage of "had been" requires the presence of an action in simple past as the usage of "had" (past perfect) would require. Maybe some expert can help with this. But I think this question has more issues. The artist is hoping to complete the masterpiece, so how can we use past perfect continuous, for an action that is yet continuing? Past perfect continuous is used for an action that started in the past and is completed in the past. KarishmaB IanStewart GMATNinja Kindly help.
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cledgard why is ' about' wrong and why is 'since' wrong??

cledgard
Bunuel
Bunuel
Amidst the constant turbulence of daily life, the artist contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.

A. contemplated about his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
B. has been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
C. had contemplated his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
D. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he has been working on since the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.
E. had been contemplating his latest masterpiece, which he had been working on for the last six months, hoping to perfect it before the art exhibition.

Unacademy Official Explanation:

Option E is the correct answer because it uses the past perfect continuous tense "had been contemplating" and "had been working" to show that the artist was thinking and working on his masterpiece for a period of time in the past, which is the correct tense to use in this context.

Option A contains an error because the word "about" is unnecessary in the phrase "contemplated about his latest masterpiece". The correct phrase is "contemplated his latest masterpiece".

Option B is incorrect because it uses the present perfect tense "has been contemplating" instead of the past perfect continuous tense "had been contemplating". Since the artist was thinking about his masterpiece in the past, the past tense is required.
Option C is incorrect because it uses the past tense "had contemplated" instead of the past perfect continuous tense "had been contemplating". The artist had been thinking about his masterpiece for a period of time, so continuous tense is necessary.

Option D is incorrect because it uses the present perfect tense "has been working" instead of the past perfect continuous tense "had been working". The artist had completed his work in the past, so the past tense is required.

So, option (E) is correct.

Here is another problem I disagree with: I had the correct answer E, because the expression "since the last six months" is incorrect; it should be "for the last six months", and only E has that expression. However, I believe that the tenses are wrong in answers B,C,D,E. Answer A uses past simple, and it makes sense (past perfect would not make sense because the contemplation did not happen before anything else); nevertheless, Answer A incorrectly uses the preposition "about". The other answers use different tenses for the verb "contemplate", changing the intended meaning. Past perfect is correct in the relative clause because the artist worked on it before he contemplated it.
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Elite097
Contemplate = observe. What did the author contemplate? His latest masterpiece. There is no need for the preposition about.
"Since" refers to a specific point in time. It is used to specify the starting point of an action or a state., from a definite past time until now.
"for" is used to express the duration of that event of or state-
I have coached students since 2012. (starting point)
I have I have coached students for 10 years. (duration)
We don’t use since with periods of time
Check the Cambridge Dictionary explanation here. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/gramma ... r-or-since
The expression should be either "for the last six months" (duration) or "since six months ago" (starting point).
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Elite097
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cledgard so this is an idiom we have to remember?
Also i dont et the sequencing among the evnts that is denoted by the usage of had before every verb. Pls elaborate in detail

cledgard
Elite097
Contemplate = observe. What did the author contemplate? His latest masterpiece. There is no need for the preposition about.
"Since" refers to a specific point in time. It is used to specify the starting point of an action or a state., from a definite past time until now.
"for" is used to express the duration of that event of or state-
I have coached students since 2012. (starting point)
I have I have coached students for 10 years. (duration)
We don’t use since with periods of time
Check the Cambridge Dictionary explanation here. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/gramma ... r-or-since
The expression should be either "for the last six months" (duration) or "since six months ago" (starting point).
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