Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
brothers wrote:
Bob Wilber became Sidney Bechet’s student and protégé when he was nineteen and, for a few years in the 1940’s, came as close to being a carbon copy of the jazz virtuoso in performance as anyone has ever come.
(A) as anyone has ever come
(B) as anyone ever had been
(C) as anyone ever had done
(D) that anyone ever did
(E) that anyone ever came
Concepts tested here: Tenses + Idioms • The present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
• The past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".
• The simple past tense is only used to refer to events that concluded in the past.
• “as A as B” is a correct, idiomatic usage.
A: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the present perfect tense verb "has...come" to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present. Further, Option A correctly uses the idiomatic construction "as A ("close to...in performance") as B ("anyone has ever come").
B: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the past perfect tense verb "had been" to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".
C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the past perfect tense verb "had done" to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the past perfect tense (marked by the use of helping verb "had") is used when a sentence contains two actions in the past; the helping verb "had" is used with the action in the "greater past".
D: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb "did" to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the simple past tense is only used to refer to events that concluded in the past. Further, Option D incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "as A ("close to...in performance") that B ("anyone ever did"); please remember, “as A as B” is a correct, idiomatic usage.
E: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb "came" to refer to an action that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the simple past tense is only used to refer to events that concluded in the past. Further, Option E incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "as A ("close to...in performance") that B ("anyone ever came"); please remember, “as A as B” is a correct, idiomatic usage.
Hence, A is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
To understand the concept of "Past Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team