Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
ashishd wrote:
Framed by traitorous colleagues, Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned for twelve years before there was exoneration and his freedom.
(A) there was exoneration and his freedom
(B) he was to be exonerated with freedom
(C) being exonerated and freed
(D) exoneration and his freedom
(E) being freed, having been exonerated
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:The intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned for twelve years before he was exonerated and freed.
Concepts tested here: Parallelism + Meaning + Awkwardness/Redundancy• Usage of “being” is justified, when it acts as a passive continuous verb (the case in Choice C here) or as part of a noun phrase; note, the use of the passive continuous tense must be justified in the context (as it is in choice C).
• Any elements linked by a conjunction (“and” in this sentence) must be parallel.
• The present perfect continuous tense (marked by “has/have been”) is used to refer to actions that started in the past and continue into the present.
• The simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past.
A: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “there was exoneration and his freedom”; the construction of this phrase illogically implies that Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned for twelve years before the nouns “exoneration” and “freedom” existed in the abstract; the intended meaning is that Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned for twelve years before he was exonerated and freed.
B: Trap. This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “exonerated with freedom”; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the noun Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned for twelve years before he was exonerated alongside freedom; the intended meaning is that Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned for twelve years before he was exonerated and freed.
C: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the phrase “before being exonerated and freed” to modify the action “was imprisoned for twelve years”, conveying the intended meaning - that Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned for twelve years before he was exonerated and freed. Further, Option C maintains parallelism between “exonerated” and “freed".
D: Trap. This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “exoneration" and "his freedom"; please remember that any elements linked by a conjunction (“and” in this sentence) must be parallel.
E: This answer choice incorrectly uses the present perfect continuous tense verb “having been exonerated” for an action that concluded in the past; please remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past, and the present perfect continuous tense (marked by “has/have been”) is only used to refer to actions that started in the past and continue into the present.
Hence, C is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Continuous Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team