School board meeting minutes from the last 2 years

Question

School board meeting minutes from the last 2 years demonstrate that members of the school board over that period  have been part of a widespread culture of partisan backstabbing and fighting  that has led to the poor state of the districts schools.

 
(A) have been part of a widespread culture of partisan backstabbing and fighting
(B) had been part of a widespread culture of people who were partisan, backstabbing, and fought and
(C) had been part of a widespread culture of partisan backstabbing and fighting
(D) were part of a widespread culture of partisan backstabbing and fighting
(E) have been part of a widespread culture of partisanship, backstabbing, and fighting

rthothad · Answer

I am not totally convinced but will go with 'D'.
I was able to eliminate 'B' & C' for the use of 'had been'
I feel 'over that period were....has led' to be better than 'over that period have been....has led'

qpoo · Answer

I would go with A

'Over a period of time' seems to match better with 'have been'. What it stresses is: the effect of action in this time frame has led to current situation.

To use 'were', I would more likely match it with a certain point of time, rather than a time period.

sastal · Answer

C. I like the choice because it expresses the past and at the same time uses a participle that complements "has led." I thought about the use of "were," but do not like the parallel between it and the participle "has led." If D said "led" rather than "has led," I would choose D.

MA · Answer

agree with D. over the last 2 years is a complet action in the past.

sonaketu · Answer

I'm inclined towards E. 
...culture of partisanship, backstabbing and fighting...

GMATT73 · Answer

OA is D.

Explanation: 
Recognize the errror being tested:
Verbs: When there are two or more time frames in a sentence be alert for verb errors being tested. In this case there are the time periods where the members had the minutes and the period where they 'were part of the culture.'

Decide On a Fix:
The rule for this form of the Verb error is that the time frames must be made clear through the use of words tha tindicate time and/or through use of the have + verb form with one of the verbs.

Because the have + verb form is used with the verb 'led' the other verb should not use this form. 

POE:
Because E repeat sthe verb error it , as well as A should be eliminated.

Chunk and Compare:
B and C both use had + verb which is the Past Perfect versus D which uses the simple past. 

Since the past perfect is not appropiate here eliminate B and C.

School board meeting minutes from the last 2 years

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