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705-805 (Hard)|   Verb Tense/Form|               
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devansh_god
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Most Helpful Reply
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MartyTargetTestPrep
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General Discussion
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IMHO it can't be B - we have "by the rapid motion" at the end of sentence, so passive should be used.

Alternatives are A and C. I think its A, because "extent that light ... has been shifted" makes no sense
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IMO A.

idiom : extent to OR extent of. So D is out.

"has been shifted" is required because of "by" in the second part of the sentence, "... by the rapid montion of ..."
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duttarupam
IMO A.

idiom : extent to OR extent of. So D is out.

"has been shifted" is required because of "by" in the second part of the sentence, "... by the rapid montion of ..."

We use passive voice, because smthng was done "by rapid motion"...

You cant say that "light has shifted by rapid motion" or "light shifting by rapid motion"..

Maybe wiki article will help you
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_passive_voice
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Confusion lies between A and B

A:LIGHT FROM A DISTANT GALAXY "HAS BEEN" SHIFTED BY XXXXX

TELLS US CLEARLY THAT LIGHT FROM THE GAL WAS MADE TO SHIFT BY THE XXXX

B: LIGHT FROM GAL HAS SHIFTED BY XXXXX

AMBIGUOUSLY DENOTES THAT LIGHT HAS SHIFTED ITSELF BY XXXXX.

A is correct since it conveys the intended meaning precisely
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Cut the fluff, the statement reduces to :

(A) light has been shifted.... by the rapid motion of the galaxy

This means that "light" doesnt have a intent to shift on its own. The reason why it shifted is because of the change in wavelength caused by rapid motion of the galaxy [Doppler's effect] rapid motion of the galaxy causing the wavelength to shift to the red end of the spectrum

(B) to which light from a distant galaxy has shifted ---> change of meaning. It means that light shifted on its own irrespective of the "rapid motion" of galaxy.

Gotcha ! Ohh light shifted on its own and Doppler's theory is bull ****. Christian Doppler are you listening to this???? LOL

:-D
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I chose A as the 'by' in the non-underlined part hinted for passive but can someone explain why is E incorrect?
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Hi Ishita,

Option A: light from a distant galaxy has been shifted
- Notice that light is from the galaxy.

Option E: shift of light from a distant galaxy
- This could be interpreted as if light has been shifted away from the galaxy.

So, E changes the meaning of the original sentence.
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Hi Expert,

Why B is incorrect?

What can't we use "light has shifted" ?

Please explain.

Thank you.
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ballest127
Hi Expert,

Why B is incorrect?

What can't we use "light has shifted" ?

Please explain.

Thank you.
It's because of the by in the non-underlined portion:

In astronomy the term “red shift” denotes the extent to which light from a distant galaxy has been shifted toward the red, or long-wave, end of the light spectrum by the rapid motion of the galaxy away from the Earth.

That by means that we are restricted to the passive voice here (light is not shifting on its own). If we try using the active voice, we'll get the sentence that option B leads to:

In astronomy the term “red shift” denotes the extent to which light from a distant galaxy has shifted toward the red, or long-wave, end of the light spectrum by the rapid motion of the galaxy away from the Earth.

So the call we have to take comes down to this:
... light has shifted toward the red by the rapid motion of the galaxy...
vs.
... light has been shifted toward the red by the rapid motion of the galaxy...
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Hi, can i get help to understand why option b is incorrect - Why do we have to use "Has been"- Thanks
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Super clear now Marty! Thanks so much for your help - So basically anytime the subject of a sentence is acted on by something else, we need to use a passive voice verb as the main verb of that sentence.
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rnn
Super clear now Marty! Thanks so much for your help - So basically anytime the subject of a sentence is acted on by something else, we need to use a passive voice verb as the main verb of that sentence.
Just to be clear, what you said is correct as long as the main verb expresses what something else is doing to the subject. If the subject is acted upon by something else but that action is expressed not by the main verb but, rather, by a verb within a modifier, then, of course, it may make sense to use an active voice verb as the main verb.

So, to be very clear, you could say that, if the subject is taking the action expressed by the main verb, the main verb should be in active voice, and if the main verb expresses what something else is doing to the subject, then it should be in the passive voice. To determine which voice to use, you have to consider context clues present in the sentence.

In the question that is the subject of this thread, the key context clue is the prepositional phrase "by the rapid motion of the galaxy away from the Earth."
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GMATNinja Can you give your view regarding the confusion between A and B, how can we justify in a question which voice will play correctly. Also no official questions other than this I have ever seen which is decided on just the passive and active voice construction alone. Please let us know your insight on this one.
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We are not looking at "just" an active/passive call here. The by in the non-underlined portion is decisive. That is, given the non-underlined portion, we cannot go for B (structure and meaning). For example:

A. He has taken the GMAT.
P. The GMAT has been taken by him.

P1. The GMAT has been taken by him. ← This one is possible.
P2. The GMAT has taken by him. ← We cannot mark this one.
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Why is Past perfect "Has been" okay here? we dont have any past tense in the sentence
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Why is Past perfect "Has been" okay here? we dont have any past tense in the sentence
Hello, sk767. It is not the past perfect (i.e. had been) we are dealing with here, but the present perfect. As such, there does not need to be any other tense in the sentence.

In astronomy the term “red shift” denotes the extent to which light from a distant galaxy has been shifted toward the red, or long-wave, end of the light spectrum by the rapid motion of the galaxy away from the Earth.

The use of the present perfect is warranted to express a present result of an action. You might find this chart from Perfect English Grammar useful.

I hope it helps. If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

- Andrew
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Hi experts

Quote:
(C) that light from a distant galaxy has been shifted

extent is noun
extent that = <noun> that IS NOT UNIDIOMATIC

to the extent of/that/to such an extent that : use expressions such as to the extent of, to the extent that, or to such an extent that in order to emphasize that a situation has reached a difficult, dangerous, or surprising stage.


In C, the construction the extent that light is ungrammatical; denotes the extent must be completed by to which.- I could not understand it how.

Could you please why C is wrong?
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