Project SC Butler: Day 78 Sentence Correction (SC2)
For SC butler Questions Click HereA PhD student at the University of Portsmouth has identified an ancient ancestor of the modern grasshopper, a species of the family Proscopiidae
existing concurrently with those that did in the Cretaceous period, approximately 115 million years ago.
A) existing concurrently with those that did
B) existing concurrently with those that were
C) that existed concurrently with those that had
D) that existed concurrently with other grasshoppers
E) that had existed concurrently with other grasshoppers
OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONMy annotations to and edits of the original OE are in blue typeface.• Because the family Proscopiidae lived in the Cretaceous period, the word
existing, which is a present participle, is the wrong tense.
Eliminate A and B
• Now, compare the remaining answer choices.
• Choice C uses a pronoun while D more clearly restates the word
grasshoppers, which is both more specific and avoids confusion.
Eliminate C and keep D.
•
Option E uses the past perfect. There is no reason to suspect that something happened
before the Cretaceous period,
an event that would require the use of the past perfect.
Eliminate E for using the construction
had existed.
• The correct answer is D
COMMENTSThat OE is good, except for the analysis of option C.
The author of this OE does not use splits, but rather, takes the answers in order.
If splits are not clear, that method is smart.
Now,
analysis of Option C versus Option D:Yes, the pronoun
those in C is "not as clear" as the word
grasshoppers in D.
But as
Skywalker18 points out, the OE does not articulate the rule clearly.
The antecedent logically should be "grasshopper," which requires a singular pronoun.
"Not as clear" is one reason that pronouns must agree with antecedents.
The ancient ancestor of the modern grasshopper is modified by the appositive "a species of the family XYZ." Multiple choice gives us the chance to avoid deciding the pronoun issue.
With nouns that can be both singular and plural, and when pronouns are at issue, if possible I find another reason to eliminate answers:
-- either another answer is more clear
-- or the option that contains the pronoun question is plagued by another error.
(D) says "grasshoppers."
The other options all include a reference to something plural ("those").
The switch to plural is fine in (D) because the relationship between the initial subject and the plural grasshoppers in a family is clear:
One species of ancient grasshopper existed at the same time as other kinds of grasshoppers.
If a question tests a noun such as
species that can be singular or plural (series, data, deer), the GMAT will always provide a clue about whether the noun is singular or plural.
Species is singular, from the article
a.
See, for example,
this official question, here about tiny, blind catfish.
Some people might be inclined to say that
species as singular and
those as plural is an obvious error.
I don't think so. When analyzing slowly? Sure. Under the gun of the test timer? Not so much.
(D) is better. I leave pronouns, unless glaringly obvious, until the very end.
The easier-to-spot problem with option C, however, is its ending:
those that had [existed]
-- we have to imagine the implied
existed. More work.
-- we have to think about whether past perfect is necessary
In option D, "grasshoppers IN" is perfectly correct, short, and does not involve an extra and somewhat odd verb.
-- In (C) and (E), there is no reason to use the past perfect.
D versus E?Takeaway: Although we will rarely be in the situation,
(1) if we are faced with one choice that uses only simple past and another choice that uses past perfect;
(2) if past perfect is unnecessary; and
(3) if no other error exists to eliminate one option,
choose simple past.Almost always, if a sentence is grammatically correct when rendered in simple past only
and in
past perfect plus simple past (or time reference), there will be another error in one of the two constructions.
In this case, no other error can help us decide between D and E.
This GMAC preference just needs to be memorized: do not use past perfect if simple past will work.
The emphasis is on
preference. What I'm discussing is not a hard-and-fast rule.
Again, if we find ourselves down to two options that pit past perfect against simple past,
look for another error.
If none exists, pick simple past.
KanishkM gets a smiley face for second-best answer and
GKomoku gets kudos for best answer.
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