Sentence Correction

Question

Right: The band U2 WAS just one of many new groups on the rock music
scene in the early 1980s, but less than ten years later, U2 HAD
fully ECLIPSED its early rivals in the pantheon of popular music.

The first independent clause uses simple past. The second independent clause
(after the word but) contains a time marker (ten years later) and then mentions
another action (had eclipsed) that occurs before that time marker. Even though
had eclipsed is not the earliest action in the entire sentence, it is the earlier of the
two actions in its independent clause. This complex construction is correct.

In the explanation given above, which two actions in the independent clause are being referred to while clarifying use of "had eclipsed" ?

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

There are not two actions. The mention of "two actions" is an error in the explanation.

There are the time marker "less than ten years later" and the clause "U2 had eclipsed."

"Had eclipsed" precedes "less than ten years later."

Alankrita26 · Answer

The manager HAS THE CAPABILITY OF RUNNING the plant.

What is wrong with the above statement?

Alankrita26 · Answer

She gave money SO the school could offer scholarships.

Why is the above statement wrong ?

bb · Answer

Hi. I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong but it may not be best. If you have another choice such as the manager has the capability to run the plant, that would be a more concise and the better way to say it.

However, GMAT usually doesn’t test these gray areas. Usually is the emphasized word. They prefer more black and white and cleaner mistakes.

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

It doesn’t sound wrong to me right off the bat but I think grammatically correct way would be to say she gave them money so that the school could offer scholarships… adding the word that.

Posted from my mobile device

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi Alankrita, the sentence you have mentioned is correct and represents the following scenario:

An event that has happened within some timeframe before time in the past .

Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  this usage of Past perfect . Have attached the corresponding section of the book, for your reference.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Alankrita26

If there are some queries you have as a result of specific SC questions, it may be helpful to mention/include them in the post as well. You could copy/paste the gmatclub links, for example.

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi Alankrita26,

Although the GMAT may prefer a  that  after  so  in sentences that use  so (that) , there's no absolute error in that sentence.

Sentence Correction

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