Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Russian testing laboratory

How to choose between D and E?


D is saying the FSB had assisted him, why is that incorrect? Please help

Looks like a legit 700-level question. Please help explain this tense in detail, with a bit of theory.
Thanks in advance.

Sreyoshi007 Muthusivakathir

The sequence of events here on a timeline is
(1) Grigory first helped dope dozens of athletes while FSB assisted this guy, then
(2) Grigory turned whistle blower and revealed

So here, we'll need past perfect for the event happened in the past i.e., the first event

A) Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Russian testing laboratory, turned whistleblower and revealed he helped dope dozens of athletes in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and the FSB, the KGB successor agency, had assisted.
--> We need a past perfect here 'he had helped' to show that the 1st event took place before the 2nd and not parallel to it. Also 'that' is missing 'revealed that'

B) Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Russian testing laboratory, had turned whistleblower and revealed that he helped dope dozens of athletes in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and that the FSB, the KGB successor agency, had assisted.
--> Past perfect is used for the incorrect event (The latter event). Hence, this can be eliminated

C) Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Russian testing laboratory, had turned whistleblower and revealed that he was helping to dope dozens of athletes in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and that the FSB, the KGB successor agency, assisted.
--> 'He was helping' is wrong tense. This completely changes the sequence of events intended.

D) Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Russian testing laboratory, turned whistleblower and revealed that he helped dope dozens of athletes in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and that the FSB, the KGB successor agency, had assisted
--> Same as A

E) Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Russian testing laboratory, turned whistleblower and revealed that he had helped dope dozens of athletes in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and that the FSB, the KGB successor agency, assisted.
--> Option E correctly uses the past perfect for the earlier event, thus correcting the error in D.

mikemcgarry Shouldn't the option E contain had assisted in the end.

Moderators- please help, should not it be "had assisted"? My understanding is that only with the assistance he could "help dope citizens" of athletes.

Muskan01 I agree that "had assisted" makes more sense, considering that it should be in the same time frame as "had helped dope." Unfortunately, there's no viable answer that gives us past perfect for both. Despite its flaw, I'd say that E is better than the rest, but this is one more advertisement for studying from official SC questions!

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