Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
AbdurRakib wrote:
Foraging at all times of the day and night, but interspersing their feeding with periods of rest that last between one and eight hours, a sperm whale could eat so much as a ton of squid a day.
(A) between one and eight hours, a sperm whale could eat so
(B) between one and eight hours, sperm whales can eat as
(C) between one to eight hours, sperm whales could eat as
(D) from one to eight hours, sperm whales could eat so
(E) from one to eight hours, a sperm whale can eat so
Concepts tested here: Pronouns + Tenses + Idioms• "as much as" is the correct, idiomatic construction.
• “between A and B” is the correct idiomatic construction; A and B must be comparable and parallel.
• Statements of universal fact are best conveyed through the simple present tense.
• The simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past.
A: The sentence formed by this answer choice incorrectly uses the plural pronoun "their" to refer to the singular noun "a sperm whale". Further, Option A incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "so much as"; please remember, "as much as" is the correct, idiomatic construction.
B: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the simple present tense verb "can eat" to refer to a statement of universal fact. Further, the sentence formed by Option B correctly uses the plural pronoun "their" to refer to the plural noun "sperm whales". Additionally, Option B correctly uses the idiomatic constructions "between A and B" and "as much as".
C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb "could eat" to refer to a statement of universal fact; please remember, statements of universal fact are best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "between A to B"; please remember, “between A and B” is the correct idiomatic construction; A and B must be comparable and parallel.
D: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb "could eat" to refer to a statement of universal fact; please remember, statements of universal fact are best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past.
E: The sentence formed by this answer choice incorrectly uses the plural pronoun "their" to refer to the singular noun "a sperm whale". Further, Option A incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "so much as"; please remember, "as much as" is the correct, idiomatic construction.
Hence, B is the best answer choice.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