Researchers are finding out that plastics are taking more time to dete

A) They originally seemed
Comparison to what?

B) they seemed originally
Originally modifies seemed, so "originally" should precede "seemed"

C) it seemed that they would originally
Originally modifies seemed, so "originally" should precede "seemed"

D) it originally seemed
Comparison to what?

E) it originally seemed they would
Correct. "It" is an expletive and does not need to refer to a noun. "It" is not preferred, but grammatically correct (similar to choosing a somewhat wordy but grammatically correct answer when the other answer choices have errors).

"They" is correct - "they" refers to plastics.

"Would" is used as an uncertainty - what originally was thought would occur in the present as a hypothetical. What follows after "would" refers to the time of deterioration in the hypothetical present at the exact same time as what is actually happening now. So, "would" is necessary, otherwise you'd be comparing two events that are actually happening now, instead of one actual and one hypothetical event. Nothing follows "would" because it's sort of like the structure of "Mike is taller than Brent is (tall)." It's not incorrect to add the parallel after "would" (e.g. take) but it's less concise and unnecessary to do so.

correct answer can be deduced as option E as they refers to to plastics hence option A and B are out.from other choices option C has wrong usage of that.option D has wrong comparison. So correct answer option E

Hi daagh

Could u pls explain in A, how can we assume that "to take" is present for ellipsis. You said it should be present verbatim.

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mikemcgarry , GMATNinja , GMATNinjatwo , abhimahna

OA for this question is E. However I feel A is the correct choice. E seems wrong because of two reasons

1. "they would" is wrong because the plastics take more time to deteriorate not the reasearchers
2. "it seemed" also looks wrong because here the word "seemed" is used in the context of "anticipate". It's the researchers who had anticipated not the plastic

Kindly confirm whether my reasoning is correct

Hey prateek176 ,

I am happy to help.

Looks like you didn't understand the construction properly here.

Researchers are finding out that plastics are taking more time to deteriorate than they originally seemed.

Now, after that we should have an independent clause. So, "plastics are taking more time to deteriorate than they originally seemed." should be an independent clause.

Now, considering that "they" should refer to Plastics. This is incorrect, Hence, option A gone.

Now, Let's talk about option E.

1. "they would" is wrong because the plastics take more time to deteriorate not the reasearchers. --> This is incorrect. I hope above explanation clarifies this point.
2. "it seemed" also looks wrong because here the word "seemed" is used in the context of "anticipate". It's the researchers who had anticipated not the plastic. --> It is used as a placeholder here. I am saying "It seemed plastics would deteriorate.". The way I have used "It" in my sentence, it is used in a similar way in option E.

Does that make sense?

abhimahna
In that case what's wrong with option D. It is a bit more concise??

here is what I am thinking and would love a feedback

A, B and C: all of these options are wrong because they use the pronoun they and we do not have a clear antecedent of they. They could refer to researchers and plastics, correct?

I thought D would be a correct answer because of its conciseness, However its wrong. Anyways I agree with abhimahna that It is used as a placeholder in both option D & E. But here is my reasoning for D & E:

Option D: Researchers are finding out that plastics are taking more time to deteriorate than it originally seemed (Plastics are taking more time than researchers thought they would take. For example, Let's say researchers thought that plastics will deteriorate in 20 mins but they actually take 50mins to deteriorate. So to put in perspective we need to use would in order to refer to the comparison of anticipated time and actual time. So D is wrong for not showing that clarity in the comparison and one way is to use the word would. Again I am open to critical analysis of what I am saying here)
Option E: Researchers are finding out that plastics are taking more time to deteriorate than it originally seemed they would. ( Now this option sort of hit the nail that researchers thought plastics would take 20mins but they actually take 50mins. In other words, plastics take longer than what was expected. However, I am not sure about the antecedent of they. It seems to me that they can refer to plastics or researchers/ Although logically it should be plastics)

A compares rime to plastics, which is incorrect. B does the same thing, so the first two options are out due to parallelism error. In option C, ‘that’ is redundant. D makes a wrong comparison, as well. Plastics are compared to time. E is mostly correct but there is still ambiguity on the right antecedent for ‘it’

Still, E is the best choice.

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