Ioan Culianu, a historian of religion, eventually became a professor

Question

Ioan Culianu, a historian of religion,  eventually became a professor at the University of Chicago and defected from his native Romania .

A. eventually became a professor at the University of Chicago and defected from his native Romania
B. eventually became a professor at the University of Chicago and had defected from his native Romania
C. eventually became a professor at the University of Chicago and he defected from his native Romania
D. defected from his native Romania and eventually became a professor at the University of Chicago
E. had defected from his native Romania and he eventually became a professor at the University of Chicago

PyjamaScientist · Accepted Answer

milanrajb   Kritika09 
The issue with (B) and (E) is "and".
By the placement of "and" the time line is broken. We use past perfect to depict a continuous timeline with two related past events.
For eg:  The movie had started by the time I reached there.   Here, you can see a continuous timeline with two related past events stated in Past perfect tense.
But, if I introduce an "and" between the two, the continuity gets interrupted.
For eg:  The movie had started and I reached there.  I'm convinced that you can very well differentiate between the two examples that I gave above.

Hope it helps.

Posted from my mobile device

milanrajb · Answer

I think its B.

I would request an expert to validate the answer.

Thanks

Kritika09 · Answer

Why not (E)? We have 2 past events.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation:

Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors:

The order of events in this sentence is unclear. A citizen of one country does not usually become a professor in another country until after he has defected from his native country—or at least immigrated to the new country. So look for an answer choice that puts first things first. Furthermore, in the original, “eventually” can confuse the reader into thinking, at least momentarily, that both the professorship and the defection were eventual. The more likely case is that the defection eventually led to a professorship.

Scan and Group the Answer Choices:

(A), (B), and (C) keep "became a professor" and "defected" in the original order, retaining the ambiguity. (D) and (E) clear things up by moving "became a professor" to a later part of the sentence.

Eliminate Wrong Answer Choices:

(A), (B), and (C) fail to make the order of events clear, so they can be eliminated.

(E) makes the sequence clear but adds the unnecessary words "had" (before "defected") and "he" (before "eventually").

(D) makes the order of events clear without inserting redundant words. Therefore, it is correct.

TAKEAWAY:  If the events in a sentence must have happened in a particular order, choose the answer that presents them in that order without making any additional errors.

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.

Ioan Culianu, a historian of religion, eventually became a professor

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

Ioan Culianu, a historian of religion, eventually became a professor

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