AndersonBound wrote:
The first study of magpie attacks in Australia indicates that by the time they had reached adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women born in the country have been attacked by the birds.
A - Default
B - by the time they reach adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women, who were born in the country, had been attacked by the birds.
C - by the time they reached adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women born in the country had been attacked by the birds.
D - 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women that were born in the country were attacked by the birds by the time they reached adulthood.
E - 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women who were born in the country, by the time they reached adulthood had been attacked by the birds.
Got it down to two choices--can't figure out how to eliminate the last one...
Here goes my explanation:
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A.) Default ---> Tense mismatch (...
they had... & ...
have been...)
B.) by the time they reach adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women, who were born in the country, had been attacked by the birds. ---> Tense mismatch (...
they reach... & ...
had been attacked...)
C.) by the time they reached adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women born in the country had been attacked by the birds. ---> This sentence correctly uses the past perfect tense 'had'. Also, there is no tense mismatch (...
reached adulthood... & ...
had been attacked...).
D.) 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women that were born in the country were attacked by the birds by the time they reached adulthood. ---> 'that' is a wrong usage for 'men & women'
E.) 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women who were born in the country, by the time they reached adulthood had been attacked by the birds. ---> This sentence corrects the error in option D, but this is an awkward construction (...
they reached adulthood had been...).
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This is a good question.
Generally antecedent precedes the pronoun but sometimes it comes after as in this case.
Ex.
My
father read
his email first.
He just couldn't wait.
Although
he is a famous action hero,
Sam likes watching comedy movies.
In this question, it is clear that the antecedent refers to men & women.
My choice is option
C.
Also, +1 for this question AndersonBound.