Forty two passengers of the Tonna were rescued, just before midnight t

Question

Forty two passengers of the Tonna were rescued, just before midnight that same night  by a Greek freighter to which had relayed the Tonna's distress call.

(A) by a Greek freighter to which had relayed the Tonna's distress call.
(B) by a Greek freighter which had been relaying Tonna's distress call.
(C) by a Greek freighter to which Tonna's distress call had been relayed.
(D) by a Greek freighter to which Tonna's distress call was relayed.
(E) by a Greak freighter which relayed Tonna's distress cal.

TestPrepUnlimited · Answer

Added a comma after "night" as the sentence does not make much sense unless "just before midnight that same night" is a modifier.

Correct answer: C

This question pivots on the actor behind the action, i.e., who made the distress call. Logically, the distress call was made by some actor (Tonna) and received by the Greek freighter. It does not make sense for the Greek freighter to have made the distress call: after all, the Greek freighter was not in distress, and the Greek freighter receiving the distress call enabled it to rescue the Tonna.

(A): Incorrect. (A) correctly identifies the Greek freighter as the recipient of the distress call ("to which"). However, the correct verb form is "had been relayed" to indicate the Greek freighter as the passive object. 
(B): Incorrect. (B) incorrectly identifies the Greek freighter as the actor, suggesting that the Greek freighter relayed Tonna's distress call. 
(C): Correct
(D): (D) is a close second; however, the simple past is improper here. The meaning of the sentence is that sometime in the past, before the Tonna's passengers were rescued, the Greek freighter received the distress call. Since this time is unknown, the past perfect ("had been") is preferable. 
(E): Incorrect. (E), like (B), incorrectly identifies the Greek freighter as the entity which relayed the distress call.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Forty two passengers of the Tonna were rescued, just before midnight t

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Forty two passengers of the Tonna were rescued, just before midnight t

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