RanonBanerjee wrote:
Can anyone please explain why not E? Is it because has tended>has a tendency?
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Hello,
RanonBanerjee. How about we look at a corrected version of (D) alongside (E) to compare differences?
Bunuel wrote:
According to some psychologists, the attention that has been paid in recent years to misplaced guilt and guilt taken to neurotic extremes has tended to overshadow its importance as a positive socializing force.
(D) guilt that is misplaced or taken to neurotic extremes has a tended to overshadow
(E) guilt, that is misplaced or taken to neurotic extremes has a tendency of overshadowing
The first split is vital—whether the comma should or should not appear before the embedded clause. The answer is no, it should not.
That is rarely preceded by a comma, since it is typically used to denote essential information, as opposed to a non-essential
which clause. By placing a comma in such a manner in this sentence, the main clause never resolves:
the attention that... is as far as it gets, since the part after the comma in question is all subordinating information. By removing that comma, though, we get a complete sentence:
the attention that... has tended to overshadow its importance. To be honest, we would already have enough reason to eliminate (E), but to further the discussion, I will continue.
In the second split, yes, the verb form
has tended is preferable to the noun form
has a tendency. I might not use this one feature as the decisive factor to get behind one answer or the other, but it would certainly help that (E) now has two flaws compared to none in (D).
Finally,
tended to overshadow is idiomatic, while
tendency of overshadowing is not. Even in its noun form,
a tendency should be followed by an infinitive,
to something.
For all these reasons, we can safely see off (E).
I hope that helps. If you have further questions, feel free to ask. Good luck with your studies.
- Andrew
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