In an interview last month, the rebels estimated that a few

From the sentence we gather that :

1. interview happened last month (past)
2. rebels estimated two things during that - x&y

Since the sentence talks about something was estimated in an interview in the past - use of 'had been' is required

As estimation is of two things, parallelism is to be maintained - estimated THAT x & THAT y

Only option D fulfills both these requirements. Hence D must be the answer.

Somehow confusing but got it right:

First, A,B,C and wrongly imply that those " few hundred of their fighters had been trained over the past two years" received money, guns and other goodies. A,B,and C are out.

Now, in E and D, the second part of the sentence looks nice: "...they estimated that smth, and that they received.....". However only D keeps both parts parallel in Past Perfect.

A B C are out for they create a confusion as who received the things when in fact logically the rebels received the things
D and E make it clear however E uses unnecessary change of tense when in fact we don't need any tense change as doing so would illogically put sequencing to events.the logic of the sentence does not demand any such sequencing
also note that its not because we want to maintain parallelism that we are keeping the clause in same tense for parallelism can be made even when the tense changes !!

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

In this problem, the most obvious decision points all revolve around verb tense. There is a clear timeline expressed in the sentence. Last month (in the past) the rebels estimated what had taken place in the time period before. This is a clear case of when the past perfect should be used (remember that it may not be REQUIRED if the timeline is clear with other words expressing time). In (A) the first part of the answer choice is perfect, but there are both structural and tense errors in the second part. The second verb “received” must be in the past perfect to match “had been trained” and it should not be separated as an independent clause: the rebels estimated two things - that fighters “had been trained” and that they “had received” two million dollars worth. (B) and (C) contain nearly identical errors but with slight changes in tense and structure. (E) has the proper parallel structure but has the improper present perfect “have received” at the end. Only (D) has both the proper structure and the correct parallel tense for the two events that took place before another event in the past. Correct answer is (D).

The confusion about this question is the use of the wrong word ‘estimated that’. When you make an estimate you always make estimate about a future event or number. If the event had happened earlier than the time of the estimation, you already have those figures in front of you. Why will you then still estimate? When you estimate about something that had happed in the past, the correct tense is to use would be perfect tense, such as would have been trained and would have received.
Had the question said that the rebels 'announced' rather than 'estimated', then it would have made perfect sense.
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In an interview last month, the rebels estimated that a few hundred of their fighters had been trained over the past two years, and they received close to two million dollars worth of ammunition, guns, and heavy artillery during the same time period.

A) had been trained over the past two years, and they
B) were trained over the past two years, and they had
C) were trained over the past two years and they have
D) had been trained over the past two years and that they had
E) had been trained over the past two years and that they have

I want to understand more on the 'THAT and THAT' construction. Is this construction only required for 'AND' or this is required for other FANBOYS also.
For example:

Most Americans surveyed think that international environmental treaties are useless now but that they will, or could, be useful in the future.

(A) that they will, or could,
(B) that they would, or could
(C) they will be or could,
(D) think that they will be or could
(E) think the treaties will be or could

Is the construction 'THAT...BUT THAT' is applicable here?

A good question. The THAT and THAT construction is needed for other FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) as well. It is an example of the parallel structure that is so loved by the test makers. Tenses are also important in the first question you put up. The rebels estimated (past tense) that something had occurred in the period before their estimation. An action before another in the past takes past perfect. Thus, D is correct.

well i think the answer to your question LIES in the DETAILS of PARALLELISM . the thing that we have to keep in mind is that TWO ideas can be made PARALLEL only when they are needed to be made parallel.
now with this thing in mind ,if you look at option A /B /C then you can easily knock out these choices -----why? because the ideas presented by option A/B/C are not parallel in the first place
look at option A for instance : A says: In an interview last month, the rebels estimated that a few hundred of their fighters had been trained over the past two years, and they [the rebel] received close to two million dollars worth of ammunition, guns, and heavy artillery during the same time period.----->the ideas in bold are made parallel by default; however they are not suppose to be parallel

AND this is where you NEED that EXTRA "THAT" after "AND" ,as is done in option D.

D says: In an interview last month, the rebels estimated that a few hundred of their fighters had been trained over the past two years and that they had received close to two million dollars worth of ammunition, guns, and heavy artillery during the same time period.
------> the parallelism is between TWO THINGS that they had ESTIMATED

Note the OA to the second question about treaties is E, and is without the THAT and THAT construction. That is because "they" is ambiguous in all the other options. I agree with you that it is not always as simple as saying that THAT and THAT is required. When a case of ambiguity arises with the use of a THAT and THAT construction, we have to eliminate that option as a possible answer. However, if no ambiguity arises, and there is no other problem in an option containing THAT and THAT, it is often the best choice.

It Can Not be 'D' for:

1. "had been trained" is not a past perfect tense, it's just "passive voice" happened in past.

2. "was/were trained" is always a better English than "has/had been trained" until or unless there is a use of "since".

3. and last but not the least you cannot estimate something which has already happened.

Hence, respecting the question the best option cannot be anything except "A".

In an interview last month, the rebels estimated that a few hundred of their fighters had been trained over the past two years, and they received close to two million dollars worth of ammunition, guns, and heavy artillery during the same time period.

A) had been trained over the past two years, and they
B) were trained over the past two years, and they had
C) were trained over the past two years and they have
D) had been trained over the past two years and that they had
E) had been trained over the past two years and that they have

Points to remember:
1. In this question we need a past perfect since the 2 things "training" and "receiving of 2 million dollars" had taken place before the interview.
2. The rebels are estimating 2 things "training" and "receiving of 2 million dollars"; therefore, we need "that" after and to maintain parallelism.

Straightforward answer -> "D"

Split 1: Parallelism
Notice that the sentence is reported speech. In an interview, rebels estimated that .... and .... Here, "and" is included in underlined part. So eliminate A,B,C. now between D and E, "they had" is the correct tense. We might not know whether they have same artillery now. We just read it as a message. So "they had" is correct. Correct Option D.

Split 2: were vs had
Again, this is reported speech. Rebels are being interviewed. They have estimated the number of fighters trained. But the action of training and the receiving of funds happened during the same period. So, clearly, it happened before estimation. Hence, we must use "had" for both the actions.

Hello mikemcgarry, GMATNinja, and other experts

I have a little confusion about the usage of past perfect here.

In an interview last month, the rebels estimated that a few hundred of their fighters had been trained over the past two years, and they received close to two million dollars worth of ammunition, guns, and heavy artillery during the same time period.

Why is this construction not correct here?
In an interview last month, the rebels estimated that a few hundred of their fighters were trained over the past two years and that they received close to two million dollars worth of ammunition, guns, and heavy artillery during the same time period.


The phrase 'over the past two years ' clearly show when the training and receiving happened.


It would be great if you could reply.

Thanks

Dear Shiv2016,

I'm happy to respond.

I am fan of most Veritas questions, but in this one, I think they were too gung-ho about the use of the past perfect. I agree with you: there are enough other time markers in the sentence that the past perfect is not strictly necessary.

Mike
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In an interview last month, the rebels estimated that a few hundred of their fighters had been trained over the past two years, and they received close to two million dollars worth of ammunition, guns, and heavy artillery during the same time period.

Below are Actions in the sentence that have occurred in the past
1. estimated - In an interview last month - simple past
2. fighters been trained- now some are already trained while training for others was in progress while estimation - So past perfect progressive
3. rebels received money - this action has already completed b4 another past action which is estimation - so past perfect

Only D fulfills these condition.
'had been trained over the past two years and that they had'

hence D

A. “…the rebels estimated that…had been trained over…, and they….” – lacks parallelism
a. The estimated two things (in the past – two months ago): (1) THAT the fighters HAD BEEN trained and (2) THAT they HAD RECEIVED... – A doesn’t do this
B. The “training” happened in the past (before the interview), so it should be represented in the past perfect, given both are in the past but the training happened first then the interview
a. However, past perfect is NOT required, if the timeline is clear with other words expressing time
C. The “training” happened in the past (before the interview), so it should be represented in the past perfect, given both are in the past but the training happened first then the interview
a. However, past perfect is NOT required, if the timeline is clear with other words expressing time
D. “…the rebels estimated that…had been trained over…and that had received close to….”
a. Good!
E. The estimated two things (in the past – two months ago): (1) THAT the fighters HAD BEEN trained and (2) THAT they HAVE RECEIVED...
a. Should be…”The estimated two things (in the past – two months ago): (1) THAT the fighters HAD BEEN trained and (2) THAT they HAD RECEIVED...”

In an interview last month, the rebels estimated that a few hundred of their fighters had been trained over the past two years, and they received close to two million dollars worth of ammunition, guns, and heavy artillery during the same time period.

A) had been trained over the past two years, and they

-- 'had' is required following 'they'

B) were trained over the past two years, and they had

-- 'were' is incorrect

C) were trained over the past two years and they have

-- 'were' is incorrect

D) had been trained over the past two years and that they had

-- Correct. "that a few hundred had been trained and that they had"

E) had been trained over the past two years and that they have
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I think the major issue in this question apart from past perfect is that 2 events are unrelated events and need to be in same verb tense.

Thus, the only correct choice left is D

In an interview last month, the rebels estimated that a few hundred of their fighters had been trained over the past two years, and they received close to two million dollars worth of ammunition, guns, and heavy artillery during the same time period.

A) had been trained over the past two years, and they
B) were trained over the past two years, and they had
C) were trained over the past two years and they have
D) had been trained over the past two years and that they had
E) had been trained over the past two years and that they have


Are there 2 things which happened in past? 1st event - HAD trained & HAD received (simultaneously) 2nd Event - In last interview they estimated ?

is this a right approach can some one please rectify me if i am wrong?