The Atlantic Ocean, formed when Europe split away from America 130 mil

Question

The Atlantic Ocean,  formed when Europe split away from America 130 million years ago and still expands today, will be   Earth's largest ocean at some point in the distant future.

formed when Europe split away from America 130 million years ago and still expands today, will be
formed when Europe split away from America 130 million years ago and still expanding today, will be
formed when Europe split away from America 130 million years ago and still expanded today, becoming
forming when Europe split away from America 130 million years ago and still expanding today, will be
forming when Europe split away from America 130 million years ago and still expanding today, becoming

B

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

The Atlantic Ocean, formed when Europe split away from America 130 million years ago and still expands today, will be  Earth's largest ocean at some point in the distant future.
1. "formed" is correct. Eliminate D and E.
2. "will be" is correct. Eliminate C.
3. We are left with A and B. "still expanding" is parallel with "formed
A formed when Europe split away from America 130 million years ago and still expands today, will be
B  formed when Europe split away from America 130 million years ago and still expanding today, will be
 C formed when Europe split away from America 130 million years ago and still expanded today, becoming
D forming when Europe split away from America 130 million years ago and still expanding today, will be
E forming when Europe split away from America 130 million years ago and still expanding today, becoming

BillyZ · Answer

OFFICIAL SOLUTION

A crucial difference between these two structures is the first comma, after the subject. If the subject is followed by a comma, there must be a modifier on the other side of that comma, not a main verb. Here, the subject, the "Atlantic Ocean", is immediately followed by a comma. This is a case in which the punctuation gives us a crucial piece of information about the sentence. We know the overall structure of the sentence must be choice #2 — it cannot be choice #1, because of the presence of that first comma, immediately following the "Atlantic Ocean." The modifiers are participial phrases. Which answer choices follow the "choice #2" pattern?

(A)"The Atlantic Ocean,   "and"  ,  " = incorrect

(B)"The Atlantic Ocean,   "and"  ,  " = correct

(C)"The Atlantic Ocean,   "and"  ,  " = incorrect (missing verb mistake)

(D)"The Atlantic Ocean,   "and"  ,  " = correct

(E)"The Atlantic Ocean,   "and"  ,  " = incorrect (missing verb mistake)

Now, we have two possibilities with the correct overall form, choices (B) & (D). Let's look at verb tense. BIG IDEA: verbs or verb forms in parallel do NOT need to be in the same tense. Here, in fact, having the same tense would make absolutely no sense. The first participle, about the formation of the Atlantic, is about something that happened 130 million years ago — since that's not particularly recent, we would need a past participle for that: "formed." The second participle is about something happening "today", so this has to be a present participle: "expanding." Choice (D) illogically makes them the same tense, which leads to a present participle for an event that happened 130 million years ago — sheer nonsense! The only choice that has the correct choice for each participle is choice (B), which is the best answer.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Choice A:  This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense, rather than the simple present continuous tense, to refer to an action that is currently ongoing. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice B:  This answer choice maintains proper tense use throughout the sentence. Thus, this answer choice is correct.

Choice C:  This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense to refer to an action that is currently ongoing. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice D:  This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past continuous tense to refer to an event, the formation of the Atlantic Ocean, that concluded in the past. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice E:  This answer choice repeats the error seen in Option D. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Hence, B is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses on GMAT", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZj-SubJwsM

To understand the concept of "Simple Continuous Tenses on GMAT", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2puWKuLccCM

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

VerbalBot · Answer

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The Atlantic Ocean, formed when Europe split away from America 130 mil

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The Atlantic Ocean, formed when Europe split away from America 130 mil

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