During an age in which most children learn basics of chess, Paul Morph

Question

During an age in which most children learn basics of chess , Paul Morphy, the chess prodigy, had beaten many professional chess players.

A) During an age in which most children learn basics of chess
B) During time in which children learn most basics of chess
C) In an age when many children learn basics of chess
D) At an age when most children learn basics of chess
E) When he was as young as most children learning basics of chess

gvij2017 · Answer

How did you split between A and D. 
In my view, both seems correct. But I cancelled D because of  age+when .
"during an age" versus "at an age".

Is it because of "an age"? Probably an age is indicating a particular number; therefore, the use of during may be incorrect.

Kindly help to clear my doubts.

arvind910619 · Answer

Even I have the same doubt. Both A and D seem legible answers. 
I think during an age seems to suggest a time period as general rather than time in life of children. Anyway D seems short. I think because of shortness this is the answer.
What are your thoughts about it?

insertnicksname · Answer

Answer is D.

"At an age when" is the correct idiom, not "during an age". I only see during+age when referring to a specific era/period such as Age of Enlightenment, but not During A/An age.

Arit007 · Answer

D will be the answer since during age seems odd

Posted from my mobile device

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  Arit007 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To provide a bit more detail here, in the construction "During an age", the term "age" refers to a span of time, typically a historical one, and in the construction "At an age", "age" refers to the chronological age of a person.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team.

krndatta · Answer

KarishmaB  Ma'am, 
In option B "most" modifies basics of chess. What is the meaning conveyed in this option? 
Can you please elaborate?

Thanks

KarishmaB · Answer

Yes, in option (B), "most" modifies "basics." So it implies that children learn most basics of chess (perhaps they don't learn all the basics of chess). Of course, the meaning makes no sense. 
We want to say that most children learn the basics of chess - as done in correct option (D).

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  krndatta ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the use of "most" to modify "basics of chess" implies that at a certain age,   all   children learn the   majority   of the basics of chess, but not all of the basics; the intended meaning, of course, is that at a certain age, the   majority   of children, but not all of them, learn   all   the basics of chess.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

VerbalBot · Answer

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During an age in which most children learn basics of chess, Paul Morph

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During an age in which most children learn basics of chess, Paul Morph

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