Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
TomB
Rock samples taken from the remains of an asteroid about twice the size of the 6-mile-wide asteroid that eradicated the dinosaurs has been dated to be 3.47 billion years old and thus is evidence of the earliest known asteroid impact on Earth.
(A) has been dated to be 3.47 billion years old and thus is
(B) has been dated at 3.47 billion years old and thus
(C) have been dated to be 3.47 billion years old and thus are
(D) have been dated as being 3.47 billion years old and thus
(E) have been dated at 3.47 billion years old and thus are
Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Idioms• “dated at” is a correct, idiomatic construction.
A: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun “samples” with the singular verbs “has been dated” and “is”. Further, Option A incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “dated to be” rather than the idiomatic construction “dated at”; please remember, “dated at” is a correct, idiomatic construction.
B: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun “samples” with the singular verb “has been dated”. Further, Option B fails to form a complete sentence, as there is no active verb to act upon the subject “samples” in the latter part of the sentence – “thus evidence of the earliest known asteroid impact on Earth”.
C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “dated to be” rather than the idiomatic construction “dated at”; please remember, “dated at” is a correct, idiomatic construction.
D: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “dated as being” rather than the idiomatic construction “dated at”; please remember, “dated at” is a correct, idiomatic construction. Further, Option D fails to form a complete sentence, as there is no active verb to act upon the subject “samples” in the latter part of the sentence – “thus evidence of the earliest known asteroid impact on Earth”.
E: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the plural noun “samples” with the plural verbs “have been” and “are”. Further, Option E acts upon the independent noun “samples” with the active verb “are” to form a complete thought, leading to a complete sentence. Additionally, Option E correctly uses the idiomatic construction “dated at”.
Hence, E is the best answer choice.All the best!
Experts' Global Team
My ear wanted to change "have been" to "were" for simplicity's sake...
Would "were" be the same as "have been" e.g., --> "were dated at 3.47 billion years old and thus are"