In February 1983, brush fires had swept the drought-parched southeaste

Question

In February 1983, brush fires  had swept the drought-parched southeastern coast of Australia, at least 69 people being killed, and thousands of homes and acres of farmland were left smoldering.

A) had swept the drought-parched southeastern coast of Australia, at least 69 people being killed, and thousands of homes and acres of farmland were left smoldering

B) swept the drought-parched southeastern coast of Australia, having killed at least 69 people, and thousands of homes and acres of farmland were left smoldering

C) swept the drought-parched southeastern coast of Australia, killing at least 69 people and had left thousands of homes and acres of farmland smoldering

D) swept the drought-parched southeastern coast of Australia, killing at least 69 people and leaving thousands of homes and acres of farmland smoldering

E) swept the drought-parched southeastern coast of Australia, killing at least 69 people and left thousands of homes and acres of farmland smoldering

Abhishek009 · Answer

Correct Answer must be (D) for the highlighted errors in other options...

surendrasaini1 · Answer

In February 1983, brush fires  had swept the drought-parched southeastern coast of Australia, at least 69 people being killed, and thousands of homes and acres of farmland were left smoldering.

A) had swept the drought-parched southeastern coast of Australia, at least 69 people being killed, and thousands of homes and acres of farmland were left smoldering(use of past perfect tense is incorrect)

B) swept the drought-parched southeastern coast of Australia, having killed at least 69 people, and thousands of homes and acres of farmland were left smoldering(having is incorrect)

C) swept the drought-parched southeastern coast of Australia, killing at least 69 people and had left thousands of homes and acres of farmland smoldering(use of past perfect is incorrect)

D) swept the drought-parched southeastern coast of Australia, killing at least 69 people and leaving thousands of homes and acres of farmland smoldering(correct, killing and leaving are parallel )

E) swept the drought-parched southeastern coast of Australia, killing at least 69 people and left thousands of homes and acres of farmland smoldering( use of past tense is incorrect)

Will go with choice D

Thanks

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

(A) uses the past perfect had swept for no reason, given that there's no sequence of events; they all took place at essentially the same time. (B) illogically implies that the fires killed people before sweeping through the area. Choices (A), (B), (C), and (E) all fail to describe the effects of the fires—the deaths of people and the destruction of property-in parallel form. (D) is correct: "brush fires swept the drought-parched southeastern coast of Australia, killing at least 69 people, and leaving thousands of homes and acres of farmland smoldering."

gmat1393 · Answer

Step 1: "Had swept" suggests an action that had been previously completed. This is out of sync with "In February 1983", which indicates that the action happened during a specific time period. "Swept" is the more appropriate tense. Eliminate choice (A).

Step 2: This error does not occur in any of the other choices.

Step 3: (B) does not maintain parallel structure, listing "thousands…were left" after "having killed". Eliminate. Likewise, (C) lists "killing" along with "had left". Eliminate. (D) maintains parallel structure, so let's keep this one. (E), like (B) and (C), fails to maintain structure.

Choice (D) is correct.

VerbalBot · Answer

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In February 1983, brush fires had swept the drought-parched southeaste

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In February 1983, brush fires had swept the drought-parched southeaste

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