alimad wrote:
Neither First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt nor Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins sought recognition by the press, and both cautiously allowed others of the Roosevelt brain trust
to take credit for the genesis of historic programs in public employment, relief, and social security that were in large measure what they had been responsible for.A. to take credit for the genesis of historic programs in public employment, relief, and social security that were in large measure what they had been responsible for
B. to take credit for the genesis of historic programs in public employment, relief, and social security for which the two women were in large measure responsible
C. taking credit for the genesis of historic programs in public employment, relief, and social security for which the two women were in large measure responsible
D. taking credit for the genesis of historic programs in public employment, relief, and social security that were in large measure what they were responsible for
E. taking credit for the genesis of historic programs in public employment, relief, and social security which were largely their responsibility
Ok, my question is when to use the 'gerund' form, what rules to follow?
What the sentence says:
The two women allowed others to take credit for genesis of some programs. But they were responsible for genesis of these programs. It doesn't make sense to say that they were responsible for the programs because then someone else could certainly be responsible for the genesis. What we want to say is that they let others take credit for their own work. If they are letting others take credit for genesis, then genesis must be their own work.
Structure of the options:
(A) X and Y did not seek recognition and allowed others to take credit for the genesis of programs that were what they had been responsible for.
(B) X and Y did not seek recognition and allowed others to take credit for the genesis of programs for which the two were responsible.
'that were' is incorrect since genesis is singular. Also, (A) has this structure "that were what ..." - indirect and convoluted. It also ends with a preposition, something we are unlikely to see in GMAT.
(B) has a straight forward "for which..."
As for the tense issue, it is not an issue. If someone is responsible for the genesis of a certain program, they will remain responsible for the genesis. The state does not end. The way we say 'X is the creator of Y' or 'X was the creator of Y' (if X has passed) but we cannot say 'X had been the creator of Y before Z happened' because the state stays. X remained the creator of Y even after Z happened.