Animals which were originally feral, such as dogs, horses,

Wow, this one is very difficult.!
IMO, it is A.

These are my reasons:

OA is E.

OE: This answer choice correctly uses the Past Simple (were domesticated) to describe an action that occurred at a specific point in the past (as early as the Stone Age).

Animals that were originally feral, such as dogs, horses, and sheep, have been domesticated for the purpose of producing foods and goods, providing faster transportation, and serving as pets for amusement as early as the Stone Age.

A) Animals that were originally feral, such as dogs, horses, and sheep, have been domesticated >>> such as introducing examples for feral not for animals
B) Animals that used to be feral , such as dogs, horses, and sheep, have undergone domestication >>> active voice is wrong, were domesticated by human, again such as int. exp. for feral
C) Dogs, horses, and sheep are examples of animals that were originally feral and have since been domesticated >>> gives the meaning that domestication still continues, however it is done
D) Dogs, horses, and sheep are examples of animals that were originally feral and had undergone domestication >>> gives the meaning that domestication occurred prior to being feral
E) Dogs, horses, and sheep are examples of animals that were originally feral and were domesticated >>> meaning intact and grammatically past tense is accurate to apply.

Hi all,sayantanc2k
I couldn't figure out how could "E" be the correct answer. Isn't the given list of animals still be domesticated till now? The usage of past simple makes me think that the domestication is no more.

Also,choice E is a bit wordier. "are examples of animal.." vs "such as"
In my 2 cents,I think A is a better choice.

Could you please elaborate my reasoning?
Thanks

Your first point:
Here individual dogs, horses, or sheep are not considered - dogs, horses, and sheep refer to the respective species as a whole. The species were previously wild, but at some point in the past, they were domesticated. Now these animals are considered domestic animals. Hence simple past is alright.
(In case you consider individual animals: As soon as a individual dog is born, it is considered a domestic animal. )

Your second point:
"Animals such as dogs, horses, and sheep were originally feral" ... this is stylistically better than "Dogs, horses, and sheep are examples of animals that were..."

Animals which were originally feral, such as dogs, horses, and sheep, have been domesticated for the purpose of producing foods and goods, providing faster transportation, and serving as pets for amusement as early as the Stone Age.


(1) Animals which were originally feral, such as dogs, horses, and sheep, have been domesticated
(2) Animals which used to be feral , such as dogs, horses, and sheep, have been domesticated
(3) Dogs, horses, and sheep are examples of animals which were originally feral and have since been domesticated
(4) Dogs, horses, and sheep are examples of animals which were originally feral and had been domesticated
(5) Dogs, horses, and sheep are examples of animals which were originally feral and were domesticated

Read the non-underlined portion and mark the word"as early as" the stone age
that means when stone age started and it does not mean "since"

now the phenomena is regarding two past events
so HAD BEEN is wrong because first feral then domesticated.
have been also wrong due to earlier mentioned statement also see for the purpose of something.that means it indicates a time frame in the past in which something started for a purpose.so present continous is wrong.
E IS OA

Reasoning in the most beautiful way.

Right answer should be E.

Firstly, there is a split between A,B and C,D,E. The "providing.... , and serving as pets" has to be parallel with the animals themselves, so A and B are out.

Then it becomes a question of tense. Domestication is NOT still in the process of happening, this is an event in the past. Hence, C and D can be eliminated, leaving E as the right answer.

- Matoo

In option E, . I have two doubts:

1) The first half is in active voice and other half is in passive. Such sentences are parallel on GMAT?

2) The sentence is a bit ambiguous in terms of parallelism.
Which one of the below mentioned is parallel:

Case 1: Dogs, horses, and sheep
--are examples of animals which were originally feral
and
--were domesticated

0r

Case 2: Dogs, horses, and sheep are examples of animals which
--were originally feral
and
--were domesticated

Please share your insight

jim441

It's fine to switch from active to passive if it correctly conveys the meaning. Here, the animals simply WERE feral. They existed in that state. Then they were domesticated. Someone did that to them. It's like saying "I escaped, but then I was captured." First active, then passive.

As for the parallelism, we need meaning as a guide here, too. Your Case 1 doesn't hang together as a sentence. Why would the author separately say that these animals are EXAMPLES of animals that were feral, and then that these same animals were domesticated? This doesn't show the connection between the two ideas. Once they were feral, but now they have been domesticated. All three animals are examples of that process.

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Tenses

• The simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past.
• The present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
• If a sentence contains multiple past actions, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “had”) is used to refer to all but the most recent action; the simple past tense is used to refer to the most recent action.

A: Trap.
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the present perfect tense verb "have been domesticated" to refer to an action that concluded in the past; remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past, and the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.

B: Trap.
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the present perfect tense verb "have been domesticated" to refer to an action that concluded in the past; remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past, and the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.

C: Trap.
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the present perfect tense verb "have been domesticated" to refer to an action that concluded in the past; remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past, and the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.

D:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the past perfect tense verb "had been domesticated" to refer to the later of two actions that concluded in the past - certain animals originally being feral and those animals being domesticated; remember, if a sentence contains multiple past actions, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “had”) is used to refer to all but the most recent action; the simple past tense is used to refer to the most recent action.

E: Correct.
1/ This answer choice correctly uses the simple past tense verb "were domesticated" to refer to the later of two actions that concluded in the past - certain animals originally being feral and those animals being domesticated.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of "Past Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team