Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
pierrealexandre77 wrote:
Once they had seen the report from the medical examiner, the investigators did not doubt whether the body recovered from the river was the man who had attempted to escape from the state prison.
(A) did not doubt whether the body recovered from the river was
(B) have no doubt whether the body recovered from the river was
(C) had not doubted that the body recovered from the river was
(D) have no doubt whether the body recovered from the river was that of
(E) had no doubt that the body recovered from the river was that of
Concepts tested here: Tenses + Comparison• A comparison can only be made between similar things.
• If a sentence contains multiple past actions, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “had”) is used to refer to all but the most recent action; the simple past tense is used to refer to the most recent action.
• The simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.
A: Trap:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly compares "the body recovered from the river" to "the man who had attempted to escape from the state prison"; remember, a comparison can only be made between similar things.
B: 1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "have" to refer to the latest of multiple actions that concluded in the past - the man attempting to escape, the investigators seeing the report from the medical examiner, and the investigators having no doubt that the body was that of the man; remember, if a sentence contains multiple past actions, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “had”) is used to refer to all but the most recent action; the simple past tense is used to refer to the most recent action, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.
2/ Option B incorrectly compares "the body recovered from the river" to "the man who had attempted to escape from the state prison"; remember, a comparison can only be made between similar things.
C: 1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the past perfect tense verb "had not doubted" to refer to the latest of multiple actions that concluded in the past - the man attempting to escape, the investigators seeing the report from the medical examiner, and the investigators having no doubt that the body was that of the man; remember, if a sentence contains multiple past actions, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “had”) is used to refer to all but the most recent action; the simple past tense is used to refer to the most recent action.
2/ Option C incorrectly compares "the body recovered from the river" to "the man who had attempted to escape from the state prison"; remember, a comparison can only be made between similar things.
D: 1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "have" to refer to the latest of multiple actions that concluded in the past - the man attempting to escape, the investigators seeing the report from the medical examiner, and the investigators having no doubt that the body was that of the man; remember, if a sentence contains multiple past actions, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “had”) is used to refer to all but the most recent action; the simple past tense is used to refer to the most recent action, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.
E: Correct.1/ This answer choice correctly uses the simple past tense verb "had" to the latest of multiple actions that concluded in the past - the man attempting to escape, the investigators seeing the report from the medical examiner, and the investigators having no doubt that the body was that of the man; remember, if a sentence contains multiple past actions, the past perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “had”) is used to refer to all but the most recent action.
2/ Option E correctly compares "the body recovered from the river" to "that (the body) of the man who had attempted to escape from the state prison".
Hence, E is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
To understand the concept of "Past Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team