Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they

Question

Never before had taxpayers confronted  so many changes at once as they had in  the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

(A) so many changes at once as they had in

(B) at once as many changes as

(C) at once as many changes that there were with

(D) as many changes at once as they confronted in

(E) so many changes at once that confronted them in

daagh · Accepted Answer

The first thing to realize is that, we can not use past perfect tense, (whether one or many) without the accompaniment of a simple past. The later one has to be in simple past

Choice A fouls that norm, by having  had confronted  and  they had . Clearly the latter event is the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and the correct answer choice has to use the simple past equivalent of the verb  confronted  to describe the Act.

Choice B is wrong because, we can not have a dangling past perfect.

C is unidiomatic in that it is not completing the idiom starting with  as  with another  as  but switches over to that.

D fits in well and is the right answer, by using the simple past  confronted . You can use  did  here, instead of confronted.

E changes the meaning that changes confronted the taxpayers rather than the reverse of it.

egmat · Answer

Hi Tom,

Let’s first understand how can we use the idiom “so…that…”. Let’s take an example here:

He ate so much that he could not move from his place.

This sentence has two clauses:
i. Tom ate so much (Independent Clause)
ii. that he could not move from his place. (Dependent Clause)

Notice that the IC with “so” is presenting the cause and the DC with “that” is presenting the effect. Why could Tom not move from his place? Tom could not move because he ate a lot of food. So there is a cause-effect relationship between the two clauses. This cause and effect relationship has been established by the idiom “so… that…”. Hence, usage of this idiom establishes the cause-effect relationship.

Now let’s see whether this usage stands true for this idiom in the OG sentence with choice E:

Never before had taxpayers confronted  so many changes at once that confronted them  the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

If we analyze this sentence, there is no cause and effect relationship between the two clauses. Notice that in sentence “that” is functioning as a relative pronoun that is modifying a slightly far away noun “changes”. However, in the example sentence, “that” is functioning as a conjunction that connects the cause clause with the effect clause. Hence, the usage of “so… that…” is not correct in choice E.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they had in the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

(A)  so many  changes at once  as  they had in
The non-underlined part uses the past perfect tense “had confronted”. The second event must hence be in the simple past tense- ‘confronted” and not “had (confronted) in the Tax Reform Act of 1986.. 
As many as is the correct idiom and not “so many as”.  Eliminate

(B) at once as many  changes as 
“Changes” is compared to the Tax Reform Act.  Eliminate .

(C)  at once as many changes that there were with 
“ As many as” is the correct idiom and not “as many that”

(D)  as many changes at once as they confronted in 
 Correct .

(E)  so many changes at once that confronted them in 
Changes the meaning of the sentence. “So many that” is incorrect.  Eliminate .

VP
GMAT SME

singh181 · Answer

correct idiom is 
As many as

So, C is out.

So X as Y is used to express quality rather than quantity. So, A is out.
B breaks //lism. Compares "many changes with Tax Reform".

I prefer D over E as E says "many changes" confronted the taxpayers.
So, IMO D

VeritasPrepBrian · Answer

Great work on this one, daagh - D it is! I like the way you broke that down:

1) Verb Tense

We clearly have a sequence of events: They had never before confronted comes before "they confronted" in 1986, so we can (and should) use past-perfect for the first portion but cannot use it for the second.

2) Comparisons

"As many as" is the correct structure

3) Let me also add "logical meaning".

Choice A actually could use the word "had" to mean "possessed" in the past-tense (and not "had confronted" in the past-perfect), but is that a logical meaning? Did the taxpayers "possess" or "own" those changes? No - they encountered, or "confronted" them, but they didn't "have" them. So A is, again, eliminated.

TomB · Answer

Never before had taxpayers confronted  so many changes at once as they had in  the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

A. so many changes at once as they had in

B. at once as many changes as

C. at once as many changes that there were with

D. as many changes at once as they confronted in

E. so many changes at once that confronted them

This SC is already posted in this forum,but i have very specific doubt. In option E we have idiom "so...that". How to know that usage is wrong in this context.
Please explain

Thanks

daagh · Answer

Let us look at it from a different angle; In re: to the comparison: We are trying to compare some changes that occurred earlier with the changes that occurred in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. A comparison that is started with either ‘ so’ or ‘as ’ should be completed with another  ‘as’ , per the tenets of comparison; the idiom is as X as Y or so X as Y. It may be seen E is missing the second comparator  ‘as’.

manhasnoname · Answer

WRT (A) vs (D), I'm sure that the problem is not related to "so ... as" vs "as ... as" idioms.

what is wrong in (A)? Is "had" not right in this case? Could someone please elaborate?

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  manhasnoname ,  idiomatic usage  is  definitely  an issue with A.

In addition, A incorrectly uses  past perfect  ( had confronted ) when it should be using  simple past  ( confronted ).

In general when there are  two events  that happened in the past, the event that happened  later  (in this case taxpayers confronting many changes in the Tax Reform Act of 1986) should be expressed in  simple past .

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  Past perfect tense , its application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

CEdward · Answer

Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they had in the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

(A)  so  many changes at once  as  they  had in  X

The correct idiom here is 'as...as' not 'so...as'. The other issue is 'had in' is problematic...The taxpayers never before had confront so many changes at once as they had IN THE TAX (in essence you are saying they never confronted so many changes at once as they had in a preposition)

(B) at once as  many changes as  X

The Tax Reform Act is not a bunch of changes

(C) at once as many changes that  there were with  X

This one fudges the idiom altogether

(D) as many changes at once as they confronted in  CORRECT

(E) so many changes at once that  confronted  them in X

-redundancy problem

PriyamRathor · Answer

Hi  AjiteshArun  ,

Can Choices B and C be rejected for wrong placement of at once ?

In B and C - " confronted at once " is not what author wants to convey. Rather , confronted  changes at once  is the intention !!

Also,  Is there any error other than so that error in Choice E  ? How can we reject Choice E if one was confused about the usage of so that.
Thanks

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  PriyamRathor ,

I agree that  at once  isn't where we'd really want it to be in those options, but remember that the main ("main"  ~  "more reliable") reason to take option B out is the meaning call:

" As  many  changes   as   the Tax Reform Act of 1986 " seems to say that  the Tax Reform Act of 1986  itself was a  change , whereas the intended meaning is that there are changes  in   the Tax Reform Act of 1986 .

omsoni134 · Answer

Can anyone pls explain why B is wrong ?  egmat

egmat · Answer

Hey  omsoni134

Thank you for the interesting question. Happy to help!

First, let's take a closer look at choice A, the original sentence:

A: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they had in the Tax Reform Act of 1986.
 
 Meaning Analysis: 
 1. Taxpayers confronted a lot of changes at once in the Tax Reform Act of 1986.
2. Prior to the Tax Reform Act of 1986, Taxpayers had never confronted those many changes at once.

Answer Choice Analysis: 
 1. The sentence clearly presents us with a comparison of Taxpayers in two different time periods in the past. This is indicated by the word "before".
2. Now, the first clause uses the past perfect tense "had confronted". This indicates that the second clause (comparative clause) must be in the simple past tense. 
3. Choice A uses the Past Perfect for the second clause as well - ...as they had (confronted) in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. 
4. This means both clauses are in the past perfect with no clause in the simple past to fulfil the role of the frame of reference. 
5. Hence, A is  incorrect . And, we're looking for a choice that has the simple past in the second clause.

Now, let's take a closer look at B.

B: Never before had taxpayers confronted at once as many changes as in the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

Analysis : 
 1. This choice uses Ellipsis. If we bring back the omitted parts we get:

Never before had taxpayers confronted at once as many changes as   taxpayers had confronted (changes)   in the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

According to the rule of Ellipsis, only identical words/phrases are omitted. This is why the omitted verb in the second clause is also in the past perfect tense, just like the first clause. This is why choice B is  incorrect .

Now, let's look at choice D, the  correct  answer:

D: Never before  had  taxpayers  confronted  as many changes at once as they  confronted  in the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

Notice how choice D uses the simple past tense in the second clause. This simple past action serves as reference to the past perfect action in the first clause.

I hope this improves your understanding of the Past Perfect Tense and Ellipsis.

Happy Learning!

Abhishek

VerbalBot · Answer

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Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they

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