The widely accepted big-bang theory holds that the universe began in a

The widely accepted big-bang theory holds that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding ever since.

(A) that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding - Correct

(B) that the universe had begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and had been expanding - use of past perfect had is incorrect ; use of past perfect continuous “had been expanding” is incorrect

(C) that the beginning of the universe was an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that has expanded - “that has expanded” either modifies “years” or, at a stretch, “instant”. Either of these modifications will yield an illogical meaning.

(D) the beginning of the universe to have been an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that is expanding - present continuous tense in “that is expanding” is incorrect

(E) the universe to have begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding - Parallelism issue - “has been expanding” and “to have begun” both attach with “the universe” but are not parallel to each other.

Answer A

Hello Everyone!

Let's take an in-depth look at this question to determine how to best get to the right answer! First, here's the original question with any major differences between each option highlighted in orange:

The widely accepted big-bang theory holds that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding ever since.

(A) that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding
(B) that the universe had begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and had been expanding
(C) that the beginning of the universe was an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that has expanded
(D) the beginning of the universe to have been an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that is expanding
(E) the universe to have begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding

After a quick glance over the options, a couple major differences jump out:

1. How they begin (the universe began / the beginning of the universe was)
2. How they end (has been expanding / had been expanding / has expanded / is expanding)

Since verb tenses tend to be easier problems for test takers to spot, let's start with #2 on our list. The writer is trying to convey that the Big Bang started in the past, and the universe started to expand then and is still expanding today. That means we need to find options that use present perfect progressive tense! Let's see which options best convey this meaning with the correct verbs:

(A) that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding --> present perfect progressive = OK
(B) that the universe had begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and had been expanding --> past perfect progressive = WRONG (This suggests that the expansion stopped at some point in the past, which isn't true.)
(C) that the beginning of the universe was an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that has expanded --> past perfect = WRONG (This suggests the expansion happened before some other past event, which doesn't make sense.)
(D) the beginning of the universe to have been an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that is expanding --> present tense = WRONG (This doesn't properly show that the expansion started in the past - it just happens in the present, which isn't right.)
(E) the universe to have begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding --> present perfect progressive = OK

We can eliminate options B, C, and D because they don't use the correct verb tense to convey the intended meaning clearly.

Now that we're left with only options A & E, let's take a closer look to figure out which is the better choice:

(A) that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding

This is CORRECT! It uses the clearest and most accurate verb tenses to convey meaning. It uses past tense to say that the Big Bang "began" in the past, and it "has been expanding" ever since.

(E) the universe to have begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding

This option is INCORRECT because it uses the past perfect "have begun" instead of just using plain past tense to show that the Big Bang happened in the past. There is no other past event in the sentence that happened and ended later, so there's no need for past perfect tense.

There you go - option A was the correct choice all along!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.

The appropriate algorithm for solving this question is:

1. Remove choices C and D for flouting the pronoun touch rule--- 10 to 20 billion years ago, that has expanded, /that is expanding---. The restrictive relative pronoun that wrongly refers to what God only knows.
2. Remove E for using bad parallelism around the conjunction 'and".
3. The word 'since', used as an adverb, implies sometimes from the past till now. The past perfect 'had been expanding' in B is inconsistent with the sequential chronology of the event.
4. Only A is left and one can see it is devoid of any errors stated above

Hello experts,
Please help explain POE for this question.
I am stuck between A & C

daagh explained it already but I did not understand it quite well.
Need more explanation.

Thank you

This is option C:

... the beginning of the universe was an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that has expanded...

It is the universe that "has expanded ever since", not the explosive instant.

The widely accepted big-bang theory holds that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding ever since.

A. that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding
bingo
B. that the universe had begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and had been expanding
needs a simple past in this sentence or a time marker (accepted isn’t simple past, it’s just an adjective); “had been” (past perfect) doesn’t make any sense here. You need present perfect since you have “ever since,” which is hinting/alluding to the expansion is still continuing to the present! Thus, you need the present perfect; more specifically, you need “has been.”

C. that the beginning of the universe was an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that has expanded
the “beginning” wasn’t literally “an explosive instant” – doesn’t make sense.

D. the beginning of the universe to have been an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that is expanding
the theory doesn’t literally hold the beginning of the universe – need “that”; also, illogical tense changes from “have been” (present perfect) to “is expanding” present; moreover, “is expanding” seems to be modifying “10 to 20 billion years ago.” How can “10 to 20 billion years ago” expand?

E. the universe to have begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding
the theory doesn’t literally hold the beginning of the universe – need “that”; “have begun” doesn’t make sense here – the universe to have begun in an instant? So this beginning began in the past and it continues to have begun? It only began once. Present perfect doesn’t make any sense in this context.

Replying to a question that was posted in another thread.

First, consider these two examples:

• "The new law has expanded the property tax credit to veterans injured during peacetime service." - In this case, the agent of the action is the subject of the sentence (the new law). In other words, the new law has expanded something. That something is the property tax credit--this is the object of the verb.

Contrast that example with the following:

• "The economy has been expanding ever since the last recession." - Now we no longer have one thing (the subject) doing the action to another thing (the object). Instead, the subject is the thing that has been growing/expanding.

If we change "has been expanding" to "has expanded" in choice (A), it would sound like the universe is expanding something else. In other words, it would seem as though the subject (the universe) is doing the action to another thing.

But that of course would not make sense. The universe did not expand something else -- the universe is the thing that has been growing/expanding.

I hope that helps!

The widely accepted big-bang theory holds that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding ever since.


(A) that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding -> We have subject "universe" and "begun ...." makes sense in past, further "has been..." makes sense, as from past, it is continued. Let's keep it.

(B) that the universe had begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and had been expanding -> "had been expanding" It means, no more the universe is expanding. which is not the intended meaning of author. Incorrect.

(C) that the beginning of the universe was an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that has expanded -> Same as B. We can't say "has expanded" because, it means, it was expanding till now. But, author is saying, the universe is still expanding.

(D) the beginning of the universe to have been an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that is expanding -> When we are talking about "10 to 20 billion years ago..." then, we are in past, not in present.

(E) the universe to have begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding -> Same as D.

So, I think A.

The widely accepted big-bang theory holds that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding ever since.


(A) that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding CORRECT

(B) that the universe had begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and had been expanding X

Present perfect continuous is preferred over the past perfect continuous...the universe continues to expand into the present

(C) that the beginning of the universe was an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that has expanded X

"the beginning" is a time...a time cannot be an explosive instant

(D) the beginning of the universe to have been an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that is expanding X

"to have been" is blatantly wrong

(E) the universe to have begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding X

"to have begun" is terribly, terribly wordy

GMATNinja VeritasKarishma

(D) the beginning of the universe to have been an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that is expanding X
In D and E - I want to understand the usage of "To have been" and "to have begun"
Is it similar to infinitive phrases? Are there any specific rules to consider?
If we use "has been" instead of "have been", Is it correct?
Can you explain the sentence structure?

Thanks!

The structures in (D) and (E) are not correct.

BBT holds that the Universe began 20 billion years ago ...
is similar to "BBT says that the Universe began ... "

BBT says the beginning of the Universe to have been ...
We are missing "that" here. Also, we need to say "the beginning of the Universe "was" an explosive instant 20 billion years ago".
It was a point in time in the past. We need to use simple past. Also, the beginning = explosive instant
"to have been" is not correct here because it shows that the state is over. But the beginning is still that moment.

"to have been"/"to have begun" are perfect infinitive forms.
He is believed to be the best teacher of our school - means he is the believed to be the best in the present.
He is believed to have been the best teacher of our school - means he is believed to have been the best in the past. He is not the best teacher of our school anymore.

I chose A too, but by POE becasue that was the only one that fit well for me.
But, my doubt is
'widely ACCEPTED....universe BEGAN' , now here the universe began first and then this theory came forward, and it was widely accepted. So shouldnt we use had begun to show the timeline?

GMATNinja GMATNinja2 VeritasKarishma
pls help

'accepted' is not used as a verb here. It is a modifier, a past participle, modifying 'theory'.

It is a widely accepted theory.
It is a rational theory.

'widely accepted' and 'rational' are modifiers for 'theory'.

The theory holds that ... (the sentence uses simple present to tell us what the theory says)

The theory holds that the universe began 20 billion years ago ... (only one complete action in the past "the beginning of the universe")
... and has been expanding ever since (the expansion is continuing till date).

Oh right! Totally missed that! Thank you so much

-> Sentence says that the big bang theory states (holds) that the..... Makes sense.
-> "began" is logically parallel to "has been". Two Parallel Verbs need not be of the same tense.

Let's keep Option A.



Following are the errors in Option B -

i) Verb Tense Error : We generally use Past Perfect Tense to show the timeline of 2 correlated actions. Here, "had begun in an explosive instant" and "had been expanding" appear without the presence of any verb in the simple past tense. (I'm not really sure if we can eliminate on the fact that "universe is currently expanding so the verb tense has to be present perfect GMATNinja or any other expert can give their view on this)

Eliminate Option B.



Following are the errors in Option C -

i) Modifier Error : the second "that" refers back to "an explosive instant" which does not make sense.
ii) Meaning Error : The sentence illogically says that "the beginning of the universe was an explosive instant"

Eliminate Option C.



Following are the errors in Option D -

i) Meaning Error : The sentence illogically says that "the big bang theory holds the beginning of the universe" which is illogical.
ii) Modifier Error : The second "that" refers back to "an explosive instant" which does not make sense.
iii) Verb Tense Error : Would prefer using "has been expanding" over "is expanding" because clearly this is an action that started in the past and has been continuing till date.

Eliminate Option D.



Following are the errors in Option E -

i) Meaning Error : The sentence illogically says that "the big bang theory holds the universe"
ii) Parallelism Error : "have begun" is not parallel to "has been".

Eliminate Option E.

So our answer is Option A.

A —> began (past simple) and has been expanding (present perfect continuous). This tense use is correct as the beginning happened in an instant in the past; whereas, its expansion started from that moment and it is still ongoing. The use of the present perfect continuous is correct, it only emphasises the universe expansion.

All these other choices have a wrong use of the tenses

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