Nightmare007
Birthplace of Count Basie's band, The Barons of Rhythm, Kanas City earned the nation's first "City of Music" title,
primarily because of its history of jazz, especially bebop and swing, and the influence those styles had on musicians at home and abroad.
(A) primarily because of its history of jazz, especially bebop and swing, and the influence those styles had
(B) primarily because of its history of jazz, especially bebop and swing, and the influence those styles have had
(C) primarily because of their history of jazz, especially bebop and swing, and the influence those styles had
(D) which was based on its history of jazz, especially bebop and swing, and the influence those styles have had
(E) which was based on their history of jazz, especially bebop and swing, the influence those styles had
VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:
Three clear decision points present themselves in the answers: 1) the choice between “because” and “which” to start, 2) the choice between “its” and “their” for a pronoun, and 3) the choice between “have had” and “had” at the end. Since pronoun decision points tend to be among the easiest to assess, start there: the pronoun is referring back to the singular “Kansas City” so you can eliminate (C) and (E) because of the plural “their”.
Next look at the choice of verb tense: (A) contains the simple past tense “had” and (B) and (D) contain the present perfect “have had”. Now think about the logical timeline created by the different tenses. For (A) “Kansas City earned the title because of its jazz history and the influence those styles HAD AT THAT TIME on musicians at home and abroad.” For (B) “Kansas City earned the title because of its jazz history and the influence those styles HAVE HAD SINCE THEN on musicians at home and abroad.” They did not earn the title because of what has happened since that date! The timeline created with the present perfect is illogical, so the correct answer must be (A).
Note, also, that with the "which" vs. "primarily because of" decision point, "which" begins a relative modifier which must modify the adjacent noun "title." This is illogical, as the nation's "City of Music" title wouldn't be based on Kansas City's history of jazz - it's Kansas City's earning of that title that came because of its history of jazz. (D) and (E) share this error.