Triceratops, a dinosaur existing around 68 to 65 million years ago and

Question

Triceratops, a dinosaur existing around 68 to 65 million years ago and thus one of the latest species to appear before the estimated extinction event of dinosaurs occurring 65 million years ago, thought to have had two horns on its forehead and one on the bridge of its nose.

A. thought to have had

B. thought to have

C. it had

D. is thought to have had

E. it was thought to have had

Show Answer

Official Answer

D

A. thought to have had

B. thought to have

C. it had

D. is thought to have had

E. it was thought to have had

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Triceratops, a dinosaur existing around 68 to 65 million years ago and thus one of the latest species to appear before the estimated extinction event of dinosaurs occurring 65 million years ago, thought to have had two horns on its forehead and one on the bridge of its nose.

A. thought to have had

B. thought to have

C. it had

D. is thought to have had

E. it was thought to have had

Show Answer

Official Answer

D

A. thought to have had

Incorrect.

This answer choice is grammatically incorrect. The sentence is missing a conjugated verb.

B. thought to have

Incorrect.

This answer choice repeats the original mistake: the sentence is missing a conjugated verb.

Look at the following two sentences: In which sentence is "thought" a conjugated verb?

1: The Triceratops had thought about crossing the river.

2: The Triceratops thought it was time for breakfast.

C. it had

Incorrect.

This answer choice does not fit into the original sentence. The original sentence begins with the subject  Triceratops . This subject requires a verb. However, this answer choice begins with  it  rather than with a verb, and the verb  had  describes the subject  it .

D. is thought to have had

In this answer choice, the first verb  is , which is the present form (V1) of the verb  be , is conjugated, and all following verbs are unconjugated:  thought  is the third form (V3) of  think , to have is the To Verb form of  have , and  had  is the third form (V3)  of have .

E. it was thought to have had

Incorrect.

This answer choice does not fit into the original sentence. The original sentence begins with the subject  Triceratops . This subject requires a verb. However, this answer choice begins with  it  rather than with a verb, and the verb  had  describes the subject  it .

jatin093 · Answer

IMO D.

After Triceratops, verb 'is' is required

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (E) .

Note that we can simplify the sentence by removing the long appositive phrase.
The subject is "Triceratops".

(A) "thought to have had two horns on its forehead and one on the bridge of its nose" itself is past participle phrase. There is no main verb.

(B) No main verb.

(C) Two subjects. It is unacceptable to write "Triceratops it had ..."

(E) See above.

Jaidude · Answer

The sentence between the two commas is describing triceratops and isn't important to the meaning of the passage. The author is telling us about their horns. we can read the passage by eliminating the unnecessary details and focus on making a meaningful sentence with the subject triceratops.

Triceratops, a dinosaur existing around 68 to 65 million years ago and thus one of the latest species to appear before the estimated extinction event of dinosaurs occurring 65 million years ago, thought to have had two horns on its forehead and one on the bridge of its nose.

A. thought to have had

B. thought to have

C. it had

D. is thought to have had

E. it was thought to have had

Show Answer

Official Answer

D

A. thought to have had.

B. thought to have.

C. it had

D. is thought to have had. completes the sentence and makes sense.

E. it was thought to have had

Correct answer is D IMO!

Sumi1010 · Answer

A sentence must have a verb. 
The actual sentence is 
 Triceratops  , <its modifier phrase>,  thought to have had two horns on its forehead and one on the bridge of its nose.

Triceratops thought to have ....? 
Did the Triceratops thought something? 
- No, the dinosaur was /is thought to have/be something.

Only choice D gives us a verb.

IMO  D

crazyBuny · Answer

Clearly D as we need a helping verb. All other cases have missing verb for T

asishron29181 · Answer

Triceratops, a dinosaur existing around 68 to 65 million years ago and thus one of the latest species to appear before the estimated extinction event of dinosaurs occurring 65 million years ago, thought to have had two horns on its forehead and one on the bridge of its nose.

A. thought to have had

B. thought to have

C. it had

D. is thought to have had

E. it was thought to have had

Show Answer

Official Answer

D

A. thought to have had - Conjugate verb is missing. Incorrect

B. thought to have - Same error as A. Incorrect

C. it had - Meaningless sentence. Missing verb. Incorrect

D. is thought to have had - Correct. Adds an additional conjugate verb 'is' and provides the accurate meaning of the sentence.

E. it was thought to have had - Incorrect. Meaningless sentence.

IMO D

100mitra · Answer

Correct Option D.

The only flaw, which is corrected 
in option D is SV agreement.

Triceratops - Singular
Verb "is"- Singular, present tense ( taught today)

(It  have  two horns on its forehead and 
one on the bridge of its nose) and 
 had  to relate it to past tense - action completed

Triceratops  -

{a dinosaur existing around 68 to 65 million years ago and 
thus one of the latest species to appear before the estimated extinction event of dinosaurs occurring 65 million years ago}

-  Is  thought to have had 
 two horns on its forehead and 
one on the bridge of its nose.

Option E,  pronoun "it" creates ambiguity with wrong verb "was" refer past tense.

Posted from my mobile device

akash2703 · Answer

Triceratops, a dinosaur existing around 68 to 65 million years ago and thus one of the latest species to appear before the estimated extinction event of dinosaurs occurring 65 million years ago, thought to have had two horns on its forehead and one on the bridge of its nose.

A. thought to have had

B. thought to have

C. it had

D. is thought to have had

E. it was thought to have had

Show Answer

Official Answer

D

IMO D

The strike out portion is a modifier, and thus need a verb in the independent clause before "and"

A. thought to have had
 Fragment without main verb 
B. thought to have
 Fragment without main verb 
C. it had
 Run on sentence without any conjunction before it 
D. is thought to have had
   
E. it was thought to have had
 Run on sentence without any conjunction before it

sivatx2 · Answer

Slash & burn:
(Remove the modifier but understood that triceratops are a past subject and is no more)

Triceratops thought to have had two horns on its forehead and one on the bridge of its nose. 
Clearly linking verb is missing.

A. thought to have had 
 Linking verb is missing. Eliminate

B. thought to have 
 Because the linking verb is missing, the meaning changed and made the sentence silly( now the triceratops is thinking to have 2 horns????). Eliminate

C. it had 
 There is subject followed by it makes sentence fragmentation. It is redundant here. Eliminate

D. is thought to have had 
 'is' (linking verb) fixes the subject verb agreement and is clearly the correct option. Keep

E. it was thought to have had 
 it breaks the subject and verb agreement & causes fragmentation. Also, 'it' usage is redundant here. Eliminate

So D is the best answer choice.

FazliddinKD · Answer

Triceratops ,  a dinosaur existing around 68 to 65 million years ago and thus one of the latest species to appear before the estimated extinction event of dinosaurs occurring 65 million years ago ,  thought to have had  two horns on its forehead and one on the bridge of its nose.

A. thought to have had - Triceratops thought to have had?  wrong

B. thought to have - Triceratops thought to have had?  wrong

C. it had - Triceratops  it had ?  wrong

D. is thought to have had - Triceratops is thought to have had.  correct

E. it was thought to have had - Triceratops  it  was thought to have had?  wrong

VerbalBot · Answer

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Triceratops, a dinosaur existing around 68 to 65 million years ago and

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Triceratops, a dinosaur existing around 68 to 65 million years ago and

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