The biography of the James family, which included Henry, the literary

Question

The biography of the James family, which included Henry, the literary master, and William, the famed psychologist-philosopher, showed  that this extraordinary family was not immune to the kind of Victorian-era dysfunction that contributed  to the insanity and early death of Henry and William's sister Alice.

A. that this extraordinary family was not immune to the kind of Victorian-era dysfunction that contributed
B. that this extraordinary family had no immunity to the kind of Victorian-era dysfunction contributing
C. this extraordinary family not to be immune from the kind of Victorian-era dysfunction that was a contribution
D. this extraordinary family as having no immunity from the kind of Victorian-era dysfunction contributing
E. this extraordinary family was not immune to the kind of Victorian-era dysfunction, and it contributed

Gnpth · Answer

Kinda of ignore the modifier from "which to philosopher". It is really biography showed something so we need that after showed. And we have another clause starting right after the word dysfunction. So we that there too. So only option that fits is A.

prabugmat · Answer

IMO A

B,C and D -- Not better than A

E -- Change in meaning

Abhishek009 · Answer

Nothing wrong with the original sentence, answer must be (A)

GMAce93 · Answer

I was very confused between A and B.
Ended up selecting B. Why is B wrong ?

abansal1805 · Answer

Dear  arpit2093 ,

The use of "had" is inappropriate in this case as it is used to signify which action happened first when two actions are happening in a sentence. Therefore, we do not need a "had" in this case.

Choice A has no error.

Thanks

GMAce93 · Answer

As per my understanding, the intended meaning of the sentence is that the biography of James' family showed that the family was not immune to the Victorian-era dysfunction and Choice B states the same that "the family had no immunity"
What am I not understanding over here ?

NDND · Answer

Hi,

"Showed" should be followed by "that", therefore C, D & E eliminated

I chose A, however, I can't justify in wording why B is incorrect , may be A sounds better to me or because B makes it sounds like in present

I would like some explanation on B please

Thanks,
NDND

deepudiscover · Answer

The biography of the James family, which included Henry, the literary master, and William, the famed psychologist-philosopher, showed  that this extraordinary family was not immune to the kind of Victorian-era dysfunction that contributed  to the insanity and early death of Henry and William's sister Alice.

A. that this extraordinary family was not immune to the kind of Victorian-era dysfunction that contributed
B. that this extraordinary family had no immunity to the kind of Victorian-era dysfunction contributing

Hi  NDND  and  arpit2093  Why not B. If you look closely at the sentence and the meaning it says because the family has influence from the Victorian trends and hence their sister Alice dies. A has a proper use of idiom "was immune to" while in B had no immunity translates that they were forced to be influenced by Victorian laws.
 [/quote

Kudos if you like the expalanation

abuc0112 · Answer

I think that In answer choice B, the use of the word "had" is used as a past tense, not as a perfect past tense. It is the use of the word contributing that is wrong. It should have been "that contributed"

The biography of the James family, which included Henry, the literary

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The biography of the James family, which included Henry, the literary

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