Quasars, at billions of light-years from Earth the most distant observ

Question

Quasars, at billions of light-years from Earth the most distant observable objects in the universe,  believed to be  the cores of galaxies in an early stage of development.

(A) believed to be
(B) are believed to be
(C) some believe them to be
(D) some believe they are
(E) it is believed that they are

mikemcgarry · Accepted Answer

Dear rrsnathan , I'm happy to help with this. :-)

First of all, a hugely helpful technique on GMAT SC is what is sometime called "eliminating fluff". Here, we have a subject, " quasars ", and then a big honking modifier. Mentally, cross out that modifier, everything between the commas --- then we have Quasars ... (A) believed to be (B) are believed to be (C) some believe them to be (D) some believe they are (E) it is believed that they are Well, we have a subject, and we need a full bonafide verb. " Believed ", by itself, is just a participle, a noun-modifier, not a full verb. (The full verb is " are believed "). See this blog on participles: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/participle ... -the-gmat/ Choice (A) has a participle, not a full verb, so it creates a sentence that has no verb --- the famous "missing verb" mistake. See: https://gmat.magoosh.com/lessons/914-the ... rb-mistake Choice (B) correctly has a full verb, and it gets the idiom correct as well. For the idiom, see: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-idiom ... d-knowing/ https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-idiom-ebook/ Choice (C) , (D) & (E) all have a double subject ..... (C) Quasars, some believe them to be ... (D) Quasars, some believe they are ... (E) Quasars, it is believed that they are ... These may sound colloquially acceptable, but they are absolutely unacceptable in the formal academic standards of the GMAT SC. See: https://gmat.magoosh.com/lessons/915-the ... ct-mistake Therefore, the only possible answer is (B) . Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

briks123 · Answer

B is answer.

All of the others make incomplete sentences. Just take out the middle phrase, at billions of light-years from Earth the most distant observable objects in the universe, and read the sentence.

ywilfred · Answer

B is correct.

A -> in missing a verb 'are', sentence becomes broken and awkward
C,D -> 'some' tries to suggest people but isn't clear
E -> 'it' has no referent

ms · Answer

Hi Tommy, 
I did not not undersatand your explanation. Do you mind elaborate - A vs D

we see them as they were during  vs  they appear to us as they did in

we see them as they were during -   we see the Quasars as Quasars were during     Does'nt this mean that we "currently" see Quasars as Quasars were in the past(during the formation of the universe)

they appear to us as they did in   Quasars appear to us as Quasars did in   Quasars looks the same as they were in the past

i think - both mean the same.

Thanks in advance for your explanation.

Regards

ms

jeeteshsingh · Answer

No.. there is slight misunderstanding in your second statement...
they appear to us as they did in - actually gives an impression that you saw them before (during formation) and hence you comment that they look like they did in the past.... once you see them again...currently..

But the first statement.... gives an impression that u see them as you have known about them during formation... it does NOT give an impression that you travelled back in time and saw them forming... and hence it is correct..

Hope this helps... else Tommy would respond back to you on this...!

TommyWallach · Answer

JT is absolutely right. Thanks for clarifying that one for me.

In the correct answer, we have "as they were", the "they" being the quasars, the "were" being merely the action of being.

In D, we have "as they did", the "they" being the quasars, the "did" standing in for "appear to us". They could not have appeared to us in the distant past, because we weren't around.

Hopefully that helps. Thanks again, JT!

-tommy

alicegmat · Answer

Quasars, at billions of light-years from Earth the most distant observable objects in the universe,  believed to be  the cores of galaxies in an early stage of development. 
(A) believed to be 
(B) are believed to be 
(C) some believe them to be 
(D) some believe they are 
(E) it is believed that they are

A - the sentence is a fragment in that it does not have a working verb. the correct verb would be  are believed to be 
B - correct
C - what does the pronoun some refer to? it makes the sentence wordy. the subject 'some' is not required. the sentence can work in passive voice better.
D - same issue about 'some'
E - it is believed that they are makes the sentence unnecessarily wordy and awkward

rrsnathan · Answer

Quasars, at billions of light-years from Earth the most distant observable objects in the universe,  believed to be  the cores of galaxies in an early stage of
development.

(A) believed to be
(B) are believed to be
(C) some believe them to be
(D) some believe they are
(E) it is believed that they are

Please explain strategically

PiyuMu · Answer

Hi,
Quasars, at billions of light-years from Earth the most distant observable objects in the universe,  believed to be  the cores of galaxies in an early stage of development.
(A) believed to be
(B) are believed to be
(C) some believe them to be
(D) some believe they are
(E) it is believed that they are

Meaning- the phrase "in an early stage of development" - does it indicate the Past tense?
means - Quasars were believed to be the cores of galaxies (in an early stage)?
I am confused in meaning.
 Answer is B: means- it is fact, that Quasars are believed to be cores of galaxies. I am confused in this. please help me for the same.

Thanks,
Mugdha.

bluemints · Answer

Hi Mugdha,
You need the sentence to have a main verb to make it error free. Only option B supplies that

Quasars  ,  at billions of light-years from Earth the most distant observable objects in the universe   ,  ARE   believed to be the cores of galaxies in an early stage of development.

If you remove the fluff you get : Quasars ARE believed to be the cores of galaxies in an early stage of development.

Hope tht clears it up.

egmat · Answer

https://gmatclub.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/gmat2-banner11-e1373945998281.jpg Hi Mugdha, Thanks for posting your doubt here. :-)

Quasars, at billions of light-years from Earth the most distant observable objects in the universe, believed to be the cores of galaxies in an early stage of development.
(A) believed to be
(B) are believed to be
(C) some believe them to be
(D) some believe they are
(E) it is believed that they are

A - the sentence is a fragment in that it does not have a working verb. the correct verb would be are believed to be
B - correct
C - what does the pronoun some refer to? it makes the sentence wordy. the subject 'some' is not required. the sentence can work in passive voice better.
D - same issue about 'some'
E - it is believed that they are makes the sentence unnecessarily wordy and awkward

Thanks. Shraddha

sivasanjeev · Answer

Bumping up this post for certain clarifications.

Quasars are so distant that their light has taken billions of years to reach the Earth; consequently,  we see
them as they were during  the formation of the universe.
(A) we see them as they were during
(D) they appear to us as they did in
 
In the first look, I chose 'D' but understood that 'D' is wrong after a 2-3 minute analysis --> in the exam, I willnot have that comfort. So, some quick doubts.

Doubt 1. 
When two independent clauses are separated by a semicolon or a co-ordinating conjunction, shouldn't the construction be of the type 
subject + phrase ; subject/subject pronoun + phrase?

So construction  Quasars are so distant .... ; they appear ....  should be correct, correct?

Please let me know  not  from the PoV of the above question

Doubt 2. Suppose I rephrase the option D as
 they appear to us as they were during 
Would 'D' be a more preferred choice than 'A' ?

pqhai · Answer

Hello sivasanjeev
My opinion for your doubt.

First, a semicolon is used to separate two clauses, the first clause is main, the second clause is dependent (it can't stand alone). There is no definition as in your structure ( S + V; repeated S + V ). All we need to pay attention is meaning. The second clause must be matched with the first one in meaning. Thus, Option A is correct.

I would say your own sentence is wrong. "Appear" is main verb that expresses what Quasars  did (particular action) . However "were" is NOT a main verb, but auxiliary verb that expresses how the Quasars  were (characteristics) . --> Technically, characteristics and action can't be used interchangeably. Thus, the sentence is wrong in both grammar and meaning.
 Let see another example: 
He  played  a soccer game very well as he  was  ..... <== Does it make sense? Nope! "played" expresses what he did. "was" expresses how he was/ his characteristic.

Hope it makes sense.

vietmoi999 · Answer

the hard point in ellipsis is that all the clause is ommited. C ilustrate this hard point. whenever we see conjuction+preposition used as adverbial, it is possible that all the clause is omitted.

C means

we see them as if we see them dering the formation of the uviverse.

we we can make full the ellipsis, we realize the meaning problem in C.

aeglorre · Answer

You need a subject-verb agreement.

A) lacks a correct verb that follows "quasars", believed in itself is not sufficient because it creates ambiguity. Besides, a past participle (verb-ed) cannot stand on its own without a preceding modifier. A is wrong (but the best wrong answer)

B) The only difference between A and B is that we now - correctly - have the "are" in front of the past participle believed. This is correct

C) "Quasars... some believe them to be" makes absolutely no sense, is grammatically incorrect and does not preserve the intended meaning of the author. C is gone

D) We eliminate this for the same reason as C

E) "it is believed that they are" seems like a perfect trap for foreigners but for those experienced with american english, this sounds awfully awkward. E is gone

nechets · Answer

Hi guys,

I was studying this "believed to be" structure and I got puzzled with the experts' explanations about the subject in this phrase. I think that the subject in this phrase is indeed "the cores of galaxies". I'm basing this analysis in a similiar GMATPrep problem that brings the same structure and requires a more-precise suject-verb agreement. Check this out:

"Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles is believed to be the rate at which trees grow,[...]"

As you could see, the singular verb "IS" was necessary to agree with the subject following "believed to be" structure.

Please, let me know what are your thoughts.

Cheers,

luckyme17187 · Answer

Answer-B

a. doesn't have verb for Quasars. Believed to be is a modifier here. (verb-ed)
b. correct.
c. no verb for quasars.
D same as C.
E. same as C.

Believed to be - correct idiom.

navaljoshi · Answer

(A) believed to be : singular
(B) are believed to be :correct
(C) some believe them to be : only some believe
(D) some believe they are : only some believe
(E) it is believed that they are : it no referant

Ergenekon · Answer

C D E have two subjects witch is not acceptable. That is why B is the right answer.

Quasars, at billions of light-years from Earth the most distant observ

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Quasars, at billions of light-years from Earth the most distant observ

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