The evolutionary theory of punctuated equilibrium maintains

when you say characteristics were possessed it means that they are not possessed any more. This doesn't go with the logic of the sentence.Hence wrong.

Hi,

How can A be the right answer choice? Doesn't it sound awkward and incomplete? How can B be eliminated? Plese help..

Thanks,
Uma

B is wrong because of the wrong tenses used.
Past perfect tense is used to convey a time line of events when there are two actions in the past that are related.

For example : I remained in bed all week as i had sprained my leg during the football match.
Spraining happened before remaining in bed hence use past perfect tense.

Also there is no need of have been. Have been is used to convey an event that happened in the past that is continuing right now or whose effects are still continuing .
To convey the intended meaning we simply need to use simple present tense.

Hope i am clear.

matt wrote


1. Any reported speech has to be introduced by a relative pronoun such as 'that'. Therefore, D and E are gone. Among A, B, and C
An evolutionary theory is a universal and perpetual phenomenon and not just about a single or even a few events.
Keep A for the moment and look at the others. B says that some features have been possessed implying that these are not any more possessed. The use of 'had developed' is also dubious, as we cannot have the past perfect without a regular past tense. C is also wrong because the characteristics are not possessed anymore.

The evolutionary theory of punctuated equilibrium maintains that the characteristics that are possessed by any given species developed over long periods of stability interrupted by short periods of rapid change.

that the characteristics that are possessed by any given species developed

that the characteristics that have been possessed by any given species had developed

that the characteristics of any given species were possessed and have developed

the characteristics of any given species to be a possession developed

the characteristics that are possessed by any given species to have been developed

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

Creating a filter: We read the prompt, and it passes the basic tests. So we move to the answer choices and will try to eliminate exhaustively, starting with (B).

Finding objective defects: Scanning, we can note that choices (A) through (C) begin one way, (D) and (E) another. Choice (D) uses an awkward "to be" construction, so we throw it out. Recall that, in the indirect statement of a belief, the best usage is usually "that," as we discussed in Recession Underway.Choice (E) has the same problem, in an even more garbled form. So we eliminate (D) and (E).

We are down to (A), (B), and (C), which differ in their verb tenses. What's the intended meaning of the sentence? It's that the development of present characteristics happened in the past. Choice (C) puts the characteristics in the past, so it's out. Choice (B) tries to get fancy without adding meaning. The use of "had" in "had developed" would have to refer to point before some other point in the past, but there is no such reference in the sentence to a moment in the past and a moment before that. The correct usage of past perfect (past tense with "had") is to refer to a point in the past prior to another, later point in the past. If there is no such later point, the use is incorrect. So (B) is out.

The correct answer is (A).

Although (a) sounds the best, is this not part of the "subjunctive" rule ("maintains that"), making the verb "be" the appropriate verb? Please explain what I'm missing here...