ishitadas1994@gmail.com wrote:
Even after reading the entire thread, i fail to understand why A is incorrect , and e is correct. e doesn't refer to the dean as former and that in my opinion alters the meaning of the original sentence.
Hi Ishita
Consider option (A) - it saying that as
former dean for 25 years, Smith shook hands of 25000 students. The meaning that is conveyed is that he shook the hands of 25000 students in his role as a former dean.
There are a couple of logical problems with this meaning:
a) A role of "former dean" does not exist - it is simply that he stopped being dean.
b) How would one being a "former dean" facilitate hand shakes with over 25000 students? It is more logical to think that the 25000 hand shakes happened when he was the dean.
Hence, while you are right that there is a meaning shift, the shift is from an illogical meaning to a more logical one. GMAT definitely allows some real world knowledge to be applied to its questions, provided it is in the nature of commonsense and not very specific assumptions (it is not wrong, for example, to assume that dropped objects will fall to the ground, or a rise in prices typically leads to a drop in demand).
Moreover, if we say, "As the dean...", we do not mean to say that he is still the dean; we only mean to say that he shook hands with 25000 students when he was the dean. The use of the past tense "shook" makes it clear that he is no longer the dean, and him being the dean is only relevant to him shaking hands with 25000 students. Therefore, the use of the past tense for the verb ensures that we also convey that he is no longer the dean - there is no need to use "former" along with "dean" to communicate that.
Hope this clarifies.
_________________
Crackverbal Prep Team
www.crackverbal.com