In the latter years of the Great Depression, colleagues of Franklin Ro

Question

In the latter years of the Great Depression, colleagues of Franklin  Roosevelt’s argued that his proposed Social Security Act has  a good chance of succeeding due to its strong bipartisan support, sound fiscal plan, and widespread electoral approval.

A. Roosevelt’s argued that his proposed Social Security Act has
B. Roosevelt’s argued that his proposed Social Security Act had
C. Roosevelt’s have argued that his proposed Social Security Act had
D. Roosevelt argued that his proposed Social Security Act had
E. Roosevelt had argued that his proposed Social Security Act has

stne · Answer

proposed social security has  vs  proposed social security had  
 which is the former wrong?

Are we expected to know American history? Do we need to know that The great depression happened after Franklin's tenure, hence we need to use PAST PERFECT.
What am I missing ?
I understand " Argued " being in the simple past tense is the clue here.

Is the sentence below wrong?

We argued yesterday that the proposed law has a high chance of success.

This sentence simply means that we were arguing yesterday about a law which has been proposed but not yet been implemented.

Please share your views.

Bunuel · Answer

PRINCETON REVIEW OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

D

This sentence contains a verb tense error. When an event occurred in the past and is over, we use the simple past tense; in this case, Act had a good chance of succeeding. Look for the verbs at the ends of the answer choices. Eliminate (A) and (E) right away because the verbs are in the present tense. The sentence also contains an error in the use of the possessive: colleagues of … Roosevelt’s is redundant. The correct usage is either colleagues of … Roosevelt or Roosevelt’s colleagues.

(A) No. This happened in the past, so has is wrong. Also, the possessive on Roosevelt’s is redundant.

(B) No. Roosevelt’s is redundant.

(C) No. Roosevelt’s is redundant, and the verb tense in have argued is incorrect. The arguing occurred in the past, concluded in the past, and is not linked to any other event, so the verb should be simple past, argued.

(D) Yes. This answer choice corrects the stem’s incorrect of … Roosevelt’s. Also, the two verbs are both in the simple past tense.

(E) No. This choice has a verb tense error. This event obviously happened in the past, yet the verb given here is the present tense has.

GMATRockstar · Answer

In the latter years of the Great Depression, colleagues of Franklin Roosevelt’s argued that his proposed Social Security Act has a good chance of succeeding due to its strong bipartisan support, sound fiscal plan, and widespread electoral approval.

A. Roosevelt’s argued that his proposed Social Security Act has
B. Roosevelt’s argued that his proposed Social Security Act had
C. Roosevelt’s have argued that his proposed Social Security Act had
D. Roosevelt argued that his proposed Social Security Act had
E. Roosevelt had argued that his proposed Social Security Act has

In the first phrase, we get a great clue about what time period these colleagues lived: the "latter years of the Great Depression." This is obviously in the PAST, so we need the action that the colleagues did to be a past tense verb. Answer choice (C) is present perfect tense (used to describe something that started in the past and CONTINUE to the present. But these colleagues are dead now, so how can they still be arguing?) In (E) we have Past Perfect, which is a kind of past tense, BUT we only use this tense to describe an event that occurred before a Simple Past Tense event. In (E), "has" is not past tense, and even if it were, the meaning wouldn't make sense. The colleagues didn't argue BEFORE the Social Security Act had a chance of success.

So, now we know it has to be (A), (B), or (D). Since (A) also uses the word "has" and we discussed this in (E), we can eliminate this, too.

Let's focus on the differences of the Final Two:

(B) In the latter years of the Great Depression, colleagues of Roosevelt’s argued that his proposed Social Security Act had a good chance of succeeding due to its strong bipartisan support, sound fiscal plan, and widespread electoral approval.

(D) In the latter years of the Great Depression, colleagues of Roosevelt argued that his proposed Social Security Act had a good chance of succeeding due to its strong bipartisan support, sound fiscal plan, and widespread electoral approval.

Wow! Only one difference.

So what do we know about the use of possessives? When a noun turns into a possessive, it becomes a modifier.

EX: Jill won the soccer game.
Meaning: Jill is the one who won.

EX: Jill's team won the soccer game.
Meaning: The TEAM won, and "Jill's" just describes the team.

So in (B), if "Roosevelt's" is now a modifier, the question becomes, what is it modifying? The only logical option is "colleagues." So the meaning of (B) is "colleagues of Roosevelt's colleagues." Um...what? That's redundant.

The correct answer is (D).

So what do we know about the use of possessives? When a noun turns into a possessive, it becomes a modifier. EX: Jill won the soccer game. Meaning: Jill is the one who won. EX: Jill's team won the soccer game. Meaning: The TEAM won, and "Jill's" just describes the team. So in (B), if "Roosevelt's" is now a modifier, the question becomes, what is it modifying? The only logical option is "colleagues." So the meaning of (B) is "colleagues of Roosevelt's colleagues." Um...what? That's redundant. The correct answer is (D).

GMATRockstar · Answer

I'm not sure I 100% understand your question. You could argue (simple past tense) yesterday that a PROPOSAL for the future has a good chance of success. But the events in this sentence occurred in 1935. Why would we use a present tense for that?

In the latter years of the Great Depression, colleagues of Franklin Ro

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