Quasars are so distant that their light has taken billions of years to

The most logical understanding of "did" is "appeared to us," because the present action referenced is not just "appear" but "appear to us."

After all, if "to us" were not integral to the present action, then it wouldn't have to be mentioned at all. The sentence could say simply, "they appear as they did."

So, the explanation you mentioned, "the way Quasers appear to us now is the same as they appeared to us when the Universe was formed. But, when the Universe was formed, we did not exist," makes sense.

That said, that issue is somewhat subtle, so in a question with no better choice, that issue might not be enough to knock the (D) version out of contention. So, the misuse of "in" really helps to make choice (D) rather clearly wrong and knock it out of contention.

It looks like Marty just beat me to this one, but I will reproduce my answer in full below.

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I suppose I will kill two birds with one stone, even if I am quite late (for some reason) to get to the earlier query. I will work backwards, chronologically, so, KittyDoodles, you are up first. I agree that in is a problem in answer choice (D). If you can find a relatively easy way to doubt an answer choice, then you should look to do so. Pertaining to the implied to us after the substitute verb did, it is a reasonable interpretation because to us appears just after the verb appear and just prior to the comparative as, and we should not have to pick and choose what we want the verb to substitute for:

1) Quasars appear to us as [quasars] [appeared to us] X

But you could write,

2) Quasars appear as they did √

You have to be careful about just what these substitute verbs juggle, and you also want to keep comparisons as tight as possible on the GMAT™. Play it safe, so when in doubt about a comparison, seek a safer alternative.

Concerning answer choice (C), as if during the formation of the universe makes the comparison seem purely hypothetical and diminishes its effectiveness. That is, we cannot be sure the sentence is conveying that quasars actually existed at the time of the formation of the universe.

Perhaps answer choices (C) and (D) make more sense now. Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew

A —> pronouns and verb tense look good
B —> b uses the wrong tense, as past perfect is used only for compound past actions. Here, only one action in the past
C —> we did not see any quasar during the formation of the universe, as their light did not reach the earth yet. Wrong in meaning
D —> Quasars did not appear to us in the formation of the universe at all; thus, the wrong meaning
E —> same meaning mistake here

EMPOWERgmatVerbal - can you please help with POE for this question?