| GMAT Club Forum https://gmatclub.com:443/forum/ |
|
| Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they https://gmatclub.com/forum/never-before-had-taxpayers-confronted-so-many-changes-at-once-as-they-137387.html |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | maddy2u [ 09 Oct 2010, 05:17 ] |
| Post subject: | Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they had in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. (A) so many changes at once as they had in (B) at once as many changes as (C) at once as many changes that there were with (D) as many changes at once as they confronted in (E) so many changes at once that confronted them in |
|
| Author: | daagh [ 09 Oct 2010, 06:11 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
The first thing to realize is that, we can not use past perfect tense, (whether one or many) without the accompaniment of a simple past. The later one has to be in simple past Choice A fouls that norm, by having had confronted and they had. Clearly the latter event is the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and the correct answer choice has to use the simple past equivalent of the verb confronted to describe the Act. Choice B is wrong because, we can not have a dangling past perfect. C is unidiomatic in that it is not completing the idiom starting with as with another as but switches over to that. D fits in well and is the right answer, by using the simple past confronted. You can use did here, instead of confronted. E changes the meaning that changes confronted the taxpayers rather than the reverse of it. |
|
| Author: | CrackverbalGMAT [ 23 Nov 2021, 22:04 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they had in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. (A) so many changes at once as they had in The non-underlined part uses the past perfect tense “had confronted”. The second event must hence be in the simple past tense- ‘confronted” and not “had (confronted) in the Tax Reform Act of 1986.. As many as is the correct idiom and not “so many as”. Eliminate (B) at once as many changes as “Changes” is compared to the Tax Reform Act. Eliminate. (C) at once as many changes that there were with “ As many as” is the correct idiom and not “as many that” (D) as many changes at once as they confronted in Correct. (E) so many changes at once that confronted them in Changes the meaning of the sentence. “So many that” is incorrect. Eliminate. VP GMAT SME |
|
| Author: | singh181 [ 09 Oct 2010, 05:38 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
correct idiom is As many as So, C is out. So X as Y is used to express quality rather than quantity. So, A is out. B breaks //lism. Compares "many changes with Tax Reform". I prefer D over E as E says "many changes" confronted the taxpayers. So, IMO D |
|
| Author: | VeritasPrepBrian [ 22 Nov 2010, 17:45 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
Great work on this one, daagh - D it is! I like the way you broke that down: 1) Verb Tense We clearly have a sequence of events: They had never before confronted comes before "they confronted" in 1986, so we can (and should) use past-perfect for the first portion but cannot use it for the second. 2) Comparisons "As many as" is the correct structure 3) Let me also add "logical meaning". Choice A actually could use the word "had" to mean "possessed" in the past-tense (and not "had confronted" in the past-perfect), but is that a logical meaning? Did the taxpayers "possess" or "own" those changes? No - they encountered, or "confronted" them, but they didn't "have" them. So A is, again, eliminated. |
|
| Author: | TomB [ 16 Aug 2012, 12:02 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they had in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. A. so many changes at once as they had in B. at once as many changes as C. at once as many changes that there were with D. as many changes at once as they confronted in E. so many changes at once that confronted them This SC is already posted in this forum,but i have very specific doubt. In option E we have idiom "so...that". How to know that usage is wrong in this context. Please explain Thanks |
|
| Author: | egmat [ 16 Aug 2012, 12:43 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
Hi Tom, Let’s first understand how can we use the idiom “so…that…”. Let’s take an example here: He ate so much that he could not move from his place. This sentence has two clauses: i. Tom ate so much (Independent Clause) ii. that he could not move from his place. (Dependent Clause) Notice that the IC with “so” is presenting the cause and the DC with “that” is presenting the effect. Why could Tom not move from his place? Tom could not move because he ate a lot of food. So there is a cause-effect relationship between the two clauses. This cause and effect relationship has been established by the idiom “so… that…”. Hence, usage of this idiom establishes the cause-effect relationship. Now let’s see whether this usage stands true for this idiom in the OG sentence with choice E: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once that confronted them the Tax Reform Act of 1986. If we analyze this sentence, there is no cause and effect relationship between the two clauses. Notice that in sentence “that” is functioning as a relative pronoun that is modifying a slightly far away noun “changes”. However, in the example sentence, “that” is functioning as a conjunction that connects the cause clause with the effect clause. Hence, the usage of “so… that…” is not correct in choice E. Hope this helps. Thanks. Shraddha |
|
| Author: | daagh [ 18 Aug 2012, 09:19 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
Let us look at it from a different angle; In re: to the comparison: We are trying to compare some changes that occurred earlier with the changes that occurred in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. A comparison that is started with either ‘so’ or ‘as’ should be completed with another ‘as’, per the tenets of comparison; the idiom is as X as Y or so X as Y. It may be seen E is missing the second comparator ‘as’. |
|
| Author: | manhasnoname [ 05 Jul 2017, 13:13 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
WRT (A) vs (D), I'm sure that the problem is not related to "so ... as" vs "as ... as" idioms. what is wrong in (A)? Is "had" not right in this case? Could someone please elaborate? |
|
| Author: | EducationAisle [ 05 Jul 2017, 22:44 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
manhasnoname wrote: WRT (A) vs (D), I'm sure that the problem is not related to "so ... as" vs "as ... as" idioms. what is wrong in (A)? Is "had" not right in this case? Could someone please elaborate? Hi manhasnoname, idiomatic usage is definitely an issue with A. In addition, A incorrectly uses past perfect (had confronted) when it should be using simple past (confronted). In general when there are two events that happened in the past, the event that happened later (in this case taxpayers confronting many changes in the Tax Reform Act of 1986) should be expressed in simple past. p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses Past perfect tense, its application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section. |
|
| Author: | CEdward [ 19 Feb 2021, 19:15 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they had in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. (A) so many changes at once as they had in X The correct idiom here is 'as...as' not 'so...as'. The other issue is 'had in' is problematic...The taxpayers never before had confront so many changes at once as they had IN THE TAX (in essence you are saying they never confronted so many changes at once as they had in a preposition) (B) at once as many changes as X The Tax Reform Act is not a bunch of changes (C) at once as many changes that there were with X This one fudges the idiom altogether (D) as many changes at once as they confronted in CORRECT (E) so many changes at once that confronted them in X -redundancy problem |
|
| Author: | PriyamRathor [ 11 Oct 2022, 06:32 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
maddy2u wrote: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they had in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. (A) so many changes at once as they had in (B) at once as many changes as (C) at once as many changes that there were with (D) as many changes at once as they confronted in (E) so many changes at once that confronted them in Hi AjiteshArun , Can Choices B and C be rejected for wrong placement of at once ? In B and C - "confronted at once" is not what author wants to convey. Rather , confronted changes at once is the intention !! Also, Is there any error other than so that error in Choice E ? How can we reject Choice E if one was confused about the usage of so that. Thanks |
|
| Author: | AjiteshArun [ 12 Oct 2022, 14:03 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
PriyamRathor wrote: Hi AjiteshArun , Can Choices B and C be rejected for wrong placement of at once ? In B and C - "confronted at once" is not what author wants to convey. Rather , confronted changes at once is the intention !! Also, Is there any error other than so that error in Choice E ? How can we reject Choice E if one was confused about the usage of so that. Thanks Hi PriyamRathor, I agree that at once isn't where we'd really want it to be in those options, but remember that the main ("main" ~ "more reliable") reason to take option B out is the meaning call: "As many changes as the Tax Reform Act of 1986" seems to say that the Tax Reform Act of 1986 itself was a change, whereas the intended meaning is that there are changes in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. |
|
| Author: | omsoni134 [ 23 Nov 2022, 11:34 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
Can anyone pls explain why B is wrong ? egmat |
|
| Author: | egmat [ 24 Nov 2022, 06:22 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Never before had taxpayers confronted so many changes at once as they |
omsoni134 wrote: Can anyone pls explain why B is wrong ? Hey omsoni134 Thank you for the interesting question. Happy to help! First, let's take a closer look at choice A, the original sentence:
2. Prior to the Tax Reform Act of 1986, Taxpayers had never confronted those many changes at once. Answer Choice Analysis:
2. Now, the first clause uses the past perfect tense "had confronted". This indicates that the second clause (comparative clause) must be in the simple past tense. 3. Choice A uses the Past Perfect for the second clause as well - ...as they had (confronted) in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. 4. This means both clauses are in the past perfect with no clause in the simple past to fulfil the role of the frame of reference. 5. Hence, A is incorrect. And, we're looking for a choice that has the simple past in the second clause. Now, let's take a closer look at B.
Analysis:
According to the rule of Ellipsis, only identical words/phrases are omitted. This is why the omitted verb in the second clause is also in the past perfect tense, just like the first clause. This is why choice B is incorrect. Now, let's look at choice D, the correct answer:
Notice how choice D uses the simple past tense in the second clause. This simple past action serves as reference to the past perfect action in the first clause. I hope this improves your understanding of the Past Perfect Tense and Ellipsis. Happy Learning! Abhishek |
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ] |
| Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |
|