By the end of the nineteenth century, five of the Western European sta

Question

By the end of the nineteenth century, five of the Western European states had developed a railroad system, but  only one in the East .

(A) only one in the East

(B) only one eastern state

(C) in the East there was only one state

(D) in the East only one state did

(E) only one in the East had

MagooshExpert · Accepted Answer

Hi sumit411 , Happy to help

You are correct that there are some cases where we do not have to repeat the verb. However, we can only do that if the meaning is absolutely clear. Looking at choice A: Here, the meaning is not clear -- there are two interpretations, just as in your first example. We don't know what "one" refers to -- is it referring to a state or a railroad system? Without the verb "had", we don't know. So there is a fundamental ambiguity here, which is incorrect on the GMAT -- it's not just a question of style. Once we add "had", then we can see that "one had" is in parallel with "states had developed", clarifying that "one Eastern European state had developed a railroad system". I hope that helps

-Carolyn

baru · Answer

By the end of the nineteenth century, five of the Western European states had developed a railroad system, but only one in the East.

(A) only one in the East - this is vague

(B) only one eastern state

(C) in the East there was only one state

(D) in the East only one state did

(E) only one in the East had   -- Addition of had gives a clear picture that "  only one is East had developed a railroad system  " removes the vague structure in Option A .

souvonik2k · Answer

By the end of the nineteenth century, five of the Western European states had developed a railroad system, but  only one in the East .

(A) only one in the East - no verb.

(B) only one eastern state - no verb.

(C) in the East there was only one state - no verb

(D) in the East only one state did - Did is not parallel to had.

(E) only one in the East  had - Correct. Parallel to had.

Posted from my mobile device

sumit411 · Answer

Hey Souvonik,

Regarding option A
Why we can't apply ellipse

A) only one in the East (had developed railroad system)

TIA

Thank you = Kudos

sudarshan22 · Answer

+1 for   E  .

(A) only one in the East -->  No verb

(B) only one eastern state -->  No verb

(C) in the East there was only one state -->  Wordy and not concise

(D) in the East only one state  did  -->  Paralell error "  A had, B did  "

(E) only one in the East  had  -->   Correct , rectifies Paralell error "  A had, B had  "

Hence,   E  .

souvonik2k · Answer

Hi  sumit411 
We can apply ellipses if there is no ambiguity.
Here, if we omit ''had developed railroad system'' its not clear what the ''only one in the East'' does.
So we need a verb after that.

sumit411 · Answer

Sorry for asking you again but I think I am still not very clear with this.

As far as I know, we repeat a verb if their is any ambiguity. If their is only one possible interpration possible, we don't need to repeat the verb.

Eg: I like pizza more than my wife
( 2 possible interpretation--> I like pizza more than my wife likes pizza OR I like pizza more than I like my wife - - - - > both makes sense)

In this case, repeating a verb will make sense to clear up the ambiguity.

Eg2) John cooks better pizza than his wife
( only one interpretation possible that makes sense - - - > John cooks better pizza than his wife cooks---> other interpretation does not make sense - - - > John cooks better pizza than he cooks his wife (Holy ****))

In example 2, we can repeat the verb. That won't be wrong but the sentence is fine without a verb. So ultimately option A and E comes upto style

Is style tested in GMAT?

Thank you = Kudos

souvonik2k · Answer

I got this wrong. 'had' can replace a verb and maintains parallelism here.
Answer E.

Helium · Answer

Concept tested : Parallel Structure

Ans : E

sumit411 · Answer

Hi Carolyn,

This certainly helps. Spot on as always.

Regards, 
Sumit

Thank you = Kudos

Bunuel · Answer

MANHATTAN REVIEW OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

This question has to do with parallel structure. You have to have a continuity of verb tenses and structures. Because you say ‘five x had’, then you have to follow it by saying, ‘but only one y had’. The only two choices that even have a verb in them are D and E. Choice D uses a different verb tense, the simple past. Choice E is the correct answer.

vasuca10 · Answer

Perfect Parallelism - Five of Western European States  had .......Only one in the East  had

Youraisemeup · Answer

MGMAT in its guide said that you can pair working verb in different tenses.. Why should we reject option D because of difference tense.?
 mike   chetan2u  please guide

GMAT0010 · Answer

Hi,
I'm confused. Aren't we supposed to use "had" in order to show the sequence of events in the past? If so, then one of the events must be in simple past. 
When searching for the right answer is parallelism > tense structure?
Please help!

emcheeks · Answer

Hi Carolyn, thank you for your reply. However, I still have a problem with your explanation. You said A creates an ambiguity. However, since the western states only created ONE railroad, I thought the " only  one in the East" in choice A couldn't refer to railroad but "European states". Therefore, A seems correct and concise to me. I am really confused. Please help!

jcerdae · Answer

I have the same question!
Since the phrase starts with "had", then as far as I know, the next sentence must us simple present

Please help!

arya251294 · Answer

I also found E to be the best answer but thought we can't have more than one "had" in a sentence and didn't choose "E".
Can anyone please help me here as in are we are not aligning with the time frame if we use 2 "had"?

We have 2 "had" and we don't know which action took place before.

romil666 · Answer

Hi arya251294 , There is NO rule that 'we can't have more than one "had" in a sentence'. We can think of a vague timeline when we use past perfect and past tense in the same sentence. 'Past tense' action happens after the 'past perfect' action. Consider option D: in the East only one state did . 'did' (past tense) shows that the railroad system in the east was constructed after the construction of the railroad system in the west (had - past perfect). But from the sentence we DON'T know which events happened when?

Thus, the usage of two 'had' rectifies this error. It makes much more sense to use the past perfect for other action too. Watch this video by GMATNinja for wonderful explanations on tenses: Simplifying GMAT Verb Tenses Hope this helps

Romil.

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  arya251294 , both the following actions could have happened  simultaneously  (or near simultaneously) as well:

i) five of the Western European states developing a railroad system
ii) one (state) in the East developing a railroad system

In other words, there is  no  specific timeline given (or intended), for development of railroad system in the  Western European states  vs  Eastern European states .

The timelines for development of railroad systems in both these geographies (West & East Europe) is just being benchmarked with the  end of the nineteenth century .

You can watch our  video  on  Past Perfect .

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  Past perfect tense , its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

By the end of the nineteenth century, five of the Western European sta

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By the end of the nineteenth century, five of the Western European sta

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