The first United States Solicitor General, Benjamin H.

Question

The first United States Solicitor General, Benjamin H. Bristow  born in 1832 and served in the Grant administration from 1874 to 1876. Earlier in his life, Bristow had served as a lieutenant colonel in the 25th Kentucky Infantry .

(A) born in 1832 and served in the Grant administration from 1874 to 1876. Earlier in his life, Bristow had served as a lieutenant colonel in the 25th Kentucky Infantry

(B) was born in 1832 and had served in the Grant administration from 1874 to 1876. Earlier in his life, Bristow served as a lieutenant colonel in the 25'h Kentucky Infantry

(C) born in 1832 and appointee in the Grant administration from 1874 to 1875. Earlier in his life, Bristow served as a lieutenant colonel in the 25th Kentucky Infantry

(D) was born in 1832 and served in the Grand administration from 1874 to 1876. Earlier in his life, Bristow had served as a lieutenant colonel in the 25th Kentucky Infantry

(E) was born in 1832 and served in the Grand administration from 1874 to 1876. Earlier in his life, Bristow served as a lieutenant colonel in the 25th Kentucky Infantry

gomennassai · Accepted Answer

I think the last option should read

(E)  w as born in 1832 and served in the Grand administration from 1874 to 1876.  E arlier in his life, Bristow served as a lieutenant colonel in the 25th Kentucky fanny

Then option E is the right answer. Assuming option E has the changes above,

We would use the past perfect tense if we need to clearly establish a sequence of events which otherwise would be unclear/non obvious in the sentence.

ex: I had left the party when the murder happened.

This indicates that the action -- leaving the party happened before the murder. The "had left" past perfect tense is critical in establishing this sequence.

In the given sentence since timelines are explicitly stated, the sequence of events are very obvious. There is no need to use the past perfect tense. The preference would be to use simple past.

Looking at the options:

We can quickly eliminate A,B and D as they use "had served" in one format or the other. We are left with C and E.

Sentence C can be a run on without the "was" after the comma. So we can eliminate C as well. It also uses the "appointee" instead of "served".

Right answer is E.

bschooladmit · Answer

Strike 1: Verb tense - had is not required as timelines are Already said. 
Strike 2: appointee changes meaning

Posted from my mobile device

aks456 · Answer

I have a query. Why is D wrong here? Why we wont be using "Had served" ? is it because its already mentioned "Earlier in his life"? Case of redundancy?

ankurgupta03 · Answer

Hi,

D is wrong here, because it uses "had" which is not required here as the time lines are clearly stated in the sentence. Hence simple past tense should be used.

Hope that clears your doubt.

goforgmat · Answer

Had served makes the sentence look like he served as ......before was born.Clearly illogical.
Hence D will be wrong.

daagh · Answer

To say that the past perfect 'had served' is not required is different from saying from 'had served' is wrong. At best, one has the option not to use the past perfect but using the past perfect is not such a blatant error as to render it unfit; There are so many instances in official examples, where the past perfect is considered good enough, in spite of a clearly demarcated timeline. I would feel the difference between the choices is not water-tight'.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

I agree that the use of past perfect in D is not definitively wrong. Since "Earlier in his life" clearly tells us we are talking about the period before his service in the Grant (not Grand!) administration, the past perfect is justified, even if it isn't really needed.

However, a real SC would never be two sentences. Also, you should change the last word of E, which seems to be referring to private parts(!) rather than the military.

leanhdung · Answer

The first United States Solicitor General, Benjamin H. Bristow  born in 1832 and served in the Grant administration from 1874 to 1876. Earlier in his life, Bristow had served as a lieutenant colonel in the 25th Kentucky Infantry .

(D) was born in 1832 and served in the Grand administration from 1874 to 1876. Earlier in his life, Bristow  had served  as a lieutenant colonel in the 25th Kentucky Infantry
--> There is only one clause in the second sentence "Earlier in his life, Bristow..." ---> The use of  PAST PERFECT  is  MEANINGLESS .

(E) was born in 1832 and served in the Grand administration from 1874 to 1876  .   Earlier in his life, Bristow  served  as a lieutenant colonel in the 25th Kentucky Infantry

cledgard · Answer

I completely agree with you; the  past perfect  is not necessary, but it  is not wrong . I have not found in any dictionary the word fanny as a synonym of infantry. We must remember that sentences in the GMAT are formal, so, even if the word fanny were some kind of jargon, it would still be wrong. 
I would say that the  best choice is  D   .
I would like to comment that this problem has  two sentences  -it uses a full stop- so it is  not a GMAT problem .

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

There are two main problems with this sentence.

(1) The subject (the first United States Solicitor General) does not have a verb.

(2) The past perfect tense had served is wrong as the phrase earlier in his life makes it clear that his service as a lieutenant occurred before his service as solicitor general. Consequently, the past perfect tense is not needed to differentiate the timing of the two events in the past.

A. the subject (the first United States Solicitor General) does not have a verb

B. the past perfect tense had served is wrong as it conveys the idea that his service in the Grant administration occurred before he was born

C. the subject (the first United States Solicitor General) does not have a verb

D. the past perfect tense had served is wrong as the phrase earlier in his life makes it clear that his service as a lieutenant occurred before his service as solicitor general

E. the past perfect tense is not used; the subject (the first United States Solicitor General) has a verb

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

The first United States Solicitor General, Benjamin H.

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The first United States Solicitor General, Benjamin H.

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards