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The United States had never previously experienced so many electoral disputes at once as it had in the storied 1876 presidential election, in which Rutherford B. Hayes was ultimately named the winner.

(A) so many electoral disputes at once as it had in
(B) at once as many electoral disputes as
(C) at once as many electoral disputes that there were with
(D) as many electoral disputes at once as it experienced in
(E) as many electoral disputes at once as it had experienced in


Hi
the two points the Q tests on-
1) as many ... as..is the correct idiom
2) there are two actions ,one earlier than the second 1876 election, so 1st portion will be in past perfect whereas the second will be in simple past
only D fits in

Hi,

Just a comment. How do you know A is past perfect? For me it is in simple present "It had". It is not It had had"... please let me know where I am wrong...
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I selected Option E because:
1. as many X as Y seemed to be the right Idiom
2. the election disputes seemed to be the previous action to Rutherford getting elected.
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(A) so many electoral disputes at once as it had in --- This effectively means <so many electoral disputes at once as it had experienced in> ‘experienced’ is elided in the context
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Can someone explain why B is incorrect? Is it because the same tense will be carried over to the second part? So, is there a tense issue of some other issue as well?
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There is Tense as well as Comparison issue in B. The idiomatic usage "As X As" shows comparison. Comparison follows parallelism. In this case "experience of the USA w.r.t electoral disputes" is being compared w.r.t 2 time frames in the past. This makes the usage of simple past tense "in option D" necessary.
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Thanks I think I understand the tense issue with B, but can you elaborate on the comparison issue in B?
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Comparison issue: "As X As" shows comparison - in this case the comparion is w.r.t the number of electoral disputes before 1876 and in 1876 (storied presedential election).

Hope this helps.
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chetan2u
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The United States had never previously experienced so many electoral disputes at once as it had in the storied 1876 presidential election, in which Rutherford B. Hayes was ultimately named the winner.

(A) so many electoral disputes at once as it had in
(B) at once as many electoral disputes as
(C) at once as many electoral disputes that there were with
(D) as many electoral disputes at once as it experienced in
(E) as many electoral disputes at once as it had experienced in


Hi
the two points the Q tests on-
1) as many ... as..is the correct idiom
2) there are two actions ,one earlier than the second 1876 election, so 1st portion will be in past perfect whereas the second will be in simple past
only D fits in

I remember a problem in OG where there were 3 Actions and had (Action1 ) , Had (Action2) , Was (Action3) and thought that their are three actions here...

,one earlier than the second 1876 election, and finally he won the elections... hence preferred E..

How is that not the case here...???

I had a similar problem with this question..

"Although severely damaged in the hurricane, the captain was able to repair
the generator so that it could power the hospital until the city’s electricity was
restored. "


The OA is
Although it had been severely damaged in the hurricane, the captain
was able to repair the generator so that it could power the hospital until the city’s electricity was
restored. "

Why not two Had beens for three actions in sequence???

What am i missing in such Questions???
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I remember a problem in OG where there were 3 Actions and had (Action1 ) , Had (Action2) , Was (Action3) and thought that their are three actions here...

,one earlier than the second 1876 election, and finally he won the elections... hence preferred E..

How is that not the case here...???

I had a similar problem with this question..

"Although severely damaged in the hurricane, the captain was able to repair
the generator so that it could power the hospital until the city???s electricity was
restored. "


The OA is
Although it had been severely damaged in the hurricane, the captain
was able to repair the generator so that it could power the hospital until the city???s electricity was
restored. "

Why not two Had beens for three actions in sequence???

What am i missing in such Questions???
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deependra1234
I remember a problem in OG where there were 3 Actions and had (Action1 ) , Had (Action2) , Was (Action3) and thought that their are three actions here...

,one earlier than the second 1876 election, and finally he won the elections... hence preferred E..

How is that not the case here...???

I had a similar problem with this question..

"Although severely damaged in the hurricane, the captain was able to repair
the generator so that it could power the hospital until the city???s electricity was
restored. "


The OA is
Although it had been severely damaged in the hurricane, the captain
was able to repair the generator so that it could power the hospital until the city???s electricity was
restored. "

Why not two Had beens for three actions in sequence???

What am i missing in such Questions???

The time perspective is required to be understood.
A, B, C : 3 actions happen one after the other in past.
Perspective at A: A simple past, B conditional (would), C conditional (would)
Perspective at B: A past perfect, B simple past, C conditional (would)
Perspective at C: A past perfect, B past perfect, C simple past

The OG example is probably of the third type ( perspective at C).

As for your example, consider the following sentence in present tense:
The captain is able to repair the generator so that it can power the hospital until the city's electricity is restored.

If the above sentence is required to be mentioned in past tense, you will get:
The captain was able to repair the generator so that it could power the hospital until the city's electricity was restored.

[Suggestion: For conditional sentences e,g, with "if" / "until" etc., consider the correct present form and then take the sentence to past - for such conditional sentences, the past perfect rule does not hold.]
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deependra1234
I remember a problem in OG where there were 3 Actions and had (Action1 ) , Had (Action2) , Was (Action3) and thought that their are three actions here...

,one earlier than the second 1876 election, and finally he won the elections... hence preferred E..

How is that not the case here...???

I had a similar problem with this question..

"Although severely damaged in the hurricane, the captain was able to repair
the generator so that it could power the hospital until the city???s electricity was
restored. "


The OA is
Although it had been severely damaged in the hurricane, the captain
was able to repair the generator so that it could power the hospital until the city???s electricity was
restored. "

Why not two Had beens for three actions in sequence???

What am i missing in such Questions???

The time perspective is required to be understood.
A, B, C : 3 actions happen one after the other in past.
Perspective at A: A simple past, B conditional (would), C conditional (would)
Perspective at B: A past perfect, B simple past, C conditional (would)
Perspective at C: A past perfect, B past perfect, C simple past

The OG example is probably of the third type ( perspective at C).

As for your example, consider the following sentence in present tense:
The captain is able to repair the generator so that it can power the hospital until the city's electricity is restored.

If the above sentence is required to be mentioned in past tense, you will get:
The captain was able to repair the generator so that it could power the hospital until the city's electricity was restored.

[Suggestion: For conditional sentences e,g, with "if" / "until" etc., consider the correct present form and then take the sentence to past - for such conditional sentences, the past perfect rule does not hold.]


Thanks for the amazing Explanation Sayantan :)
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To add to what Sayantan has said, a thumb rule of past perfect usage is that in a series of two or three or any number of actions (theoretically speaking) that happened and ended in the past, the last of the events will entail a simple past while all the previous events will go with the past perfect. However, the critical factor is that any of the events should not be either a hypothetical or a wishful thinking that is yet to take place and might occur or not in the future. Because they are yet to occur, the hypothetical or futuristic events lose the pastness that is essential for the use of past perfect. This is what is happening in the generator example.
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

It should be clear at the beginning that you’re dealing with a Comparison here, so you’ll want to check for a well-structured, parallel comparison. Choice B fails that test, as it compares “experienced disputes” with “the 1876 election”. The sentence needs to compare “experienced” to “experienced”. Choice C makes a similar mistake and is also wrong. And choice A uses improper structure, forgoing the proper “as many as” with the phrase “so many...as”. A also introduces a logic problem – “had” could mean the past perfect (“had experienced”) or the past-tense of “possessed” (e.g. “I had a red bike when I was 10”). So for a couple reasons, A fails the test. Then between D and E, recognize the Tense error in E. “Had experienced” would place the 1876 election before the “had never previously experienced” portion – which just isn’t logical. Only D remains, so D is correct.
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The United States had never previously experienced so many electoral disputes at once as it had in the storied 1876 presidential election, in which Rutherford B. Hayes was ultimately named the winner.

Prethinking - As X As Y + Tense form
(A) so many electoral disputes at once as it had in - Incorrect Comparison
(B) at once as many electoral disputes as - It needs to describe the electoral disputes.
(C) at once as many electoral disputes that there were with - Same as B
(D) as many electoral disputes at once as it experienced in - Correct, the comparison is proper and at once describes the electoral disputes. Also the time sequence is correct, first the describes the Experience (History) followed by 1876, hence it must take simple past.
(E) as many electoral disputes at once as it had experienced in - Incorrect tense format, 2 things already described in past perfect, timeline becomes unclear.

Please feel free to correct if I am wrong in my approach. Thanks.
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AbRathod
The United States had never previously experienced so many electoral disputes at once as it had in the storied 1876 presidential election, in which Rutherford B. Hayes was ultimately named the winner.

Prethinking - As X As Y + Tense form
(A) so many electoral disputes at once as it had in - Incorrect Comparison
(B) at once as many electoral disputes as - It needs to describe the electoral disputes.
(C) at once as many electoral disputes that there were with - Same as B
(D) as many electoral disputes at once as it experienced in - Correct, the comparison is proper and at once describes the electoral disputes. Also the time sequence is correct, first the describes the Experience (History) followed by 1876, hence it must take simple past.
(E) as many electoral disputes at once as it had experienced in - Incorrect tense format, 2 things already described in past perfect, timeline becomes unclear.

Please feel free to correct if I am wrong in my approach. Thanks.

Hello AbRathod,

We hope this finds you well.

We are pleased to let you know that your approach is broadly correct, however, Option A does not commit the error of incorrect comparison; rather its errors are using the unidiomatic construction "so A as B" rather than the idiomatic construction "as A as B" and incorrectly using the past perfect tense verb "had experienced"; "experienced" is inferred in this case.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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AbRathod
The United States had never previously experienced so many electoral disputes at once as it had in the storied 1876 presidential election, in which Rutherford B. Hayes was ultimately named the winner.

Prethinking - As X As Y + Tense form
(A) so many electoral disputes at once as it had in - Incorrect Comparison
(B) at once as many electoral disputes as - It needs to describe the electoral disputes.
(C) at once as many electoral disputes that there were with - Same as B
(D) as many electoral disputes at once as it experienced in - Correct, the comparison is proper and at once describes the electoral disputes. Also the time sequence is correct, first the describes the Experience (History) followed by 1876, hence it must take simple past.
(E) as many electoral disputes at once as it had experienced in - Incorrect tense format, 2 things already described in past perfect, timeline becomes unclear.

Please feel free to correct if I am wrong in my approach. Thanks.

Hello AbRathod,

We hope this finds you well.

We are pleased to let you know that your approach is broadly correct, however, Option A does not commit the error of incorrect comparison; rather its errors are using the unidiomatic construction "so A as B" rather than the idiomatic construction "as A as B" and incorrectly using the past perfect tense verb "had experienced"; "experienced" is inferred in this case.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Thank you for correcting my error in approach. Much appreciated!
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