Unfortunately for the commuters who lost their lives when

Question

Unfortunately for the commuters who lost their lives when the bridge collapsed, the engineer was not honest at the preliminary public safety commission hearing, when he was questioned about the structure’s weight-bearing abilities.

was not honest
was not
was honest
had not been honest
had not been being honest

1. was not honest
2.was not
3.was honest
4.had not been honest
5.had not been being honest

packem · Answer

IMO A.

2.was not   was not what?? 
3.was honest   was not honest is needed to support "unfortunately" 
4.had not been honest  past-perfect not required 
5.had not been being honest  past-perfect not required

Mikko · Answer

4. had not been

Preliminary happened before the bridge collapsed

pmenon · Answer

Yep, D for the same reason as above.

rampuria · Answer

If preliminary hearing happened before the accidentthen why does the sentence state "he  was  questioned" . This should have also been in past perfect.

IMO prelimary hearing occurred after the accident during the investigation stage.

Minheequang · Answer

IMO  A

Unfortunately for the commuters who lost their lives when the bridge collapsed, the engineer was not honest at the preliminary public safety commission hearing, when he was questioned about the structure’s weight-bearing abilities.

was not honest
was not
was honest
had not been honest
had not been being honest

1. was not honest -->  best. He might not be honest at the pre commission hearing because there he was asked about the problem. So, past tense is best fit 
2.was not -->  nonsense 
3.was honest -->  wrong meaning 
4.had not been honest -->  he can't be honest before he was asked, because the first is an action happened after the second 
5.had not been being honest same as D

trainspotting · Answer

Perfect tense should be avoided in this sentence....B and C ae changing the meaning..So I'll go with A....

atish · Answer

Unfortunately for the commuters who lost their lives when the bridge collapsed, the engineer was not honest at the preliminary public safety commission hearing, when he was questioned about the structure’s weight-bearing abilities.

was not honest
was not
was honest
had not been honest
had not been being honest

was not honest
was not
was honest
had not been honest
had not been being honest

ugimba · Answer

I think A should be fine.

"unfortunately" forces that engineer  not

so B and C are gone. Now 'being' eliminated option E ,so it is between A and D.
I think A is better than D here, for having a later clause " when he was questioned .."says "was' was used so the engineer responded at the same time when he was questioned so A makes sense.

option D says .. Engineer was not honest before he was questioned.. this doesnt make sense.

IMO A.

atish · Answer

OA is D.

I had the same reason to eliminated D as you had.
Any verbal gurus out there. Please help me understand this.

azurik12x · Answer

D

Past perfect is used because "he was not honest" before he "was questioned". He did something in the past that occurred before something else in the past, thus past perfect should be used.

atish · Answer

Don't get it, he was being dishonest while he was being questioned right, how is "he was not honest" before he "was questioned"???

azurik12x · Answer

Err excuse me, it's D because the commuters had lost their lives after he was not honest. He was not honest before the commuters lost their lives. It's past perfect because it occurred before something else in the past tense.

noboru · Answer

OK, i would agree with you if it not were because the phrase "preliminary public safety commission hearing" solves any ambiguity of tense, so past perfect is not strictly necessary.

scheol79 · Answer

Any other takers?

I think that simple past is fine here.

noboru · Answer

The engineer was not honest when he was questioned (obviously), so both tenses have to match. 
Please, check the OA. Thanks.

daagh · Answer

The chronology of the episode point to the fact that the preliminary safety hearing (when the engineer was not honest) was the first event, then the building of the bridge was the second and the collapse of the bridge and loss or life, the final. The word preliminary though giving a feeble inkling of the earlierness of the occurrence, still needs to be buttressed by a past perfect tense of the verb to aver that the accident occurred due to the engineer’s earlier dishonesty.

If we do not need to use a past perfect, even in such perfect settlings, then why have a past perfect tense at all.

If we do not need to use a past perfect, even in such perfect settlings, then why have a past perfect tense at all.

noboru · Answer

We have a past perfect for those cases in which the chronology of the events is not so clear.

If you are correct, then why the sentence does not conclude like: when he   had been   questioned about the structure’s weight-bearing abilities? That is my point: this two actions (being questioned and being dishonest occurred at the same time!).

Please clarify. Thanks.

daagh · Answer

Yes it should be --had been questioned - just in line with the -had been dishonest -, pointing to the fact that this example itself is none too that rightly worded. But it still doesn't negate the validity of the past perfect theory

noboru · Answer

I guess that this is not an Official Example. Otherwise I dont catch it..

Unfortunately for the commuters who lost their lives when

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Unfortunately for the commuters who lost their lives when

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