For hundreds of years, origami was just an art form, but with the

Question

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2) 
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For hundreds of years,  origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become  an application that may one day save lives.

A) origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become

B) origami had been just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become

C) origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami is

D) origami had been just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami became

E) origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami became

generis · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)

THE PROMPT

The sentence describes two things about origami: 
(1) that it  was  something for hundreds of years,  a time period that is over  and before which nothing else happened, and 
(2) that it  has turned into  something else  over the last century   .

To refer to events whose time period is finished, we use simple past tense.

On the other hand, to refer to a duration of time that continues into the present or the very recent past, we should use the present perfect tense.
Present perfect: HAS/HAVE + past participle (verbED)

Present perfect is a "bridge" between the present and the past.
The time of the event or action is before now but without a specific date.
Often we are more focused on the result than on the event or action itself.

Use present perfect, in other words:
→ to describe a situation or action that started in the past and continues into the present (such as  over the last century )
 He has been in grad school for two years. 
→ to describe a situation or action that occurred during a time period that has not yet finished (such as  over the last century )
 Over the last year, many aspects of life have become difficult. 
→ often, to refer to a duration of time (such as  over the last century )*
 Over the course of a few weeks, the exercise group has met a dozen times.

Finally, the nonunderlined portion gives a clue: . . . with the astounding amount of technological advancement that  has taken place  over the last century, . . .

THE OPTIONS  
 
• I do not see any errors
• We have two different time periods that require two different verb tenses.
→ The time period  for hundreds of years  is finished. Over. No other event happened before that time span. Simple past is appropriate.

→ The time period  over the last century  is not finished. It continues to the present day. To link past and present, use present perfect.
In other words, the sentence uses appropriate tense structure to put the two actions in their respective time periods.
KEEP

• This sentence does not talk about two actions that both took place  in the past  at different times.
• Nor is there an event written with simple past tense verb or time stamped, before which the past perfect verb event would have happened
ELIMINATE B

• The use of the simple present tense (origami  is ) to refer to a duration of time is incorrect.
The simple present tense does not capture the sense of development over time.
ELIMINATE C

• same problem as that in option B: The use of the past perfect tense  had been  is incorrect because the sentence does not talk about two actions that both took place in the past at different times.
• the use of the simple past tense  became  to refer to a duration of time is incorrect. 
 Correct :  Elizabeth became queen of England in June of 1953. 
 Wrong :  For the last few months, vaccination became a priority. 
ELIMINATE D

• same problem as that in option D: The use of the simple past tense  became  to refer to a duration of time is not correct.
ELIMINATE E

The answer is A.

COMMENTS

I see a couple of people whom I haven't seen in awhile. I am glad.

As always, welcome, everyone.

Most of you do a good job of explaining your choices, even if you took a slightly wrong turn somewhere.

This time, kudos go to correct answers that were posted before the OA was revealed.

I am proud of everyone for continuing to work.
Stay safe.

*There are other situations in which present perfect is needed.
→ An event that ended, or an action that occurred, in the very recent past, a fact we express with the word "just":  He has just completed his MBA. 
→ An event or action for which the time is not important:  I have seen Rodin's early sculptures.  
→ A event or action that is repeated in an unspecified time period between the past and now:  They have bumped into each other several times in Charles de Gaulle Airport.

winterschool · Answer

For hundreds of years, origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become an application that may one day save lives.

A)  origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become   Correct

seems correct

B) origami  had been  just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become  Incorrect

had been uses wrong

C) origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami  is   Incorrect

missing become; has become better than is

D) origami  had been  just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami  became   Incorrect

technological advancement is in present continuous form, origami is in past form
had been uses wrong
 
E) origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami  became   Incorrect

technological advancement is in present continuous form, origami is in past form

I think Answer A

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (B).  It took me 02:19. I realized that this question focuses on proper verb tenses and nothing else. I spent too much time debating between (A) and (B). In actual test, I should pick one quickly and move on.

It is relatively easy to eliminate (C), (D), and (E): with the astounding amount of technological advancement that  has taken place over the last century , origami has become / is / became an application that may one day save lives. 
The sentence is predicting what future holds for origami. Past tense "became" is totally wrong. 
"is" affirms such prediction with full conviction, which does not jibe with "may".

Now, we are left with (A) and (B), and it is rather tough for me.

The reason that I ended up choosing (B), which uses past perfect tense: " for hundreds of years " strongly indicate a perfect tense. For example: I have lived in Chicago for five years. 
For past perfect tense, we need to make sure that was a past event before which another event had occurred. Here, I can regard the "technological advancement that has taken place over the last century" as the past event. Before that, origami had been just an art form.

On the other hand, if there is no strong reason to use perfect tense, Simple past tense may suffice. When the sentence makes it clear about the temporal relationship between two events, perfect tense may not be needed. From that perspective, "A" might use the proper tense.

Ultimately, writers have some freedom in choosing either (A) or (B). After spending too much time deliberating between (A) and (B), I chose (B), which is more formal / complicated / pedantic. Whether it is also wrong I am not very sure.

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

For hundreds of years, origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become an application that may one day save lives.

Past perfect is used to sequence the two related events; earlier event is presented by using past perfect tense.

Here we are presenting form of Origami not some action/event that origami has performed; so, simple past is more suitable

A) origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become

Past perfect is not desirable

B) origami had been just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become

sequence is presented using past perfect tense

C) origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami is

Use of present tense is wrong

D) origami had been just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami became

Past tense is wrong

E) origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami became
Same issue as D

A is the right answer

Anuragsharma93 · Answer

IMO B .. Took me 2.30mins was confused between A & B.. had to zoom out to see the construct and tense.

First Lets Eliminate C, D and E because of wrong use of "is" and Became at the end of the sentence.

For hundreds of years,  origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become  an application that may one day save lives.

A) origami  was  just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become -- Need Perfect tense

B) origami  had been  just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become -- Had been is correct usage of past perfect tense since there is another event which has apparently happened over the last century.

carouselambra · Answer

IMO A

For hundreds of years, origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become an application that may one day save lives.

A) origami  was  just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement  that has taken place  over the last century, origami  has become 
Correct

B) origami  had been just an art form , but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that  has taken place  over the last century, origami has become

C) origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century,  origami is

D) origami  had been just  an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement  that has taken place  over the last century, origami  became

E) origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami  became

sumitkrocks · Answer

For hundreds of years,  origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become  an application that may one day save lives.

Past perfect is used to sequence the two related events; earlier event is presented by using past perfect tense.

Here we are presenting form of Origami not some action/event that origami has performed; so, simple past is more suitable

A) origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become

Past perfect is not desirable

B) origami  had been  just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become

sequence is presented using past perfect tense

C) origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami is

Use of present tense is wrong

D) origami had been just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami became

Past tense is wrong

E) origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami became 
Same issue as D

A is the right answer

RajatJ79 · Answer

For hundreds of years,  origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become  an application that may one day save lives.

Pre-thinking :  Parallel Tense usage  - had been, has taken and has become

A) origami  was  just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become

B) origami   had been   just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that   has taken   place over the last century, origami   has become

C) origami  was  just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami  is

D) origami had been just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami  became

E) origami was just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami  became

IMO answer should be Option B.

ArindamLucky · Answer

IMO B

Was is not the right verb as it means something existed in the past but in present its not existing. Had is the right verb

A,C,E out.
Out of B and D

B) origami had been just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami has become

D) origami had been just an art form, but with the astounding amount of technological advancement that has taken place over the last century, origami became

origami has become Vs origami became 
Has become is correct compared to became as it shows the continuity

Posted from my mobile device

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here .

keyuwang · Answer

I don't understand the explanation on why B is wrong. There are clearly two different actions that took place at DIFFERENT time!

1st time: The "hundreds of years" when the origami was an art form
2nd time: after the "technological advancement"

Past perfect tense properly distinguishes these two as it puts the "1st time" before the "2nd time".

VerbalBot · Answer

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For hundreds of years, origami was just an art form, but with the

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

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