It was anomalies in the orbit of Uranus that led to the

Question

It was anomalies in the orbit of Uranus that  led to the discovery of Neptune.

A. ""
B. It was the orbit of Uranus showing anomalies that
C. They were anomalies in the orbit of Uranus that
D. The orbit of Uranus being analomous was what
E. The anomalies in the orbit of Uranus was what

ywilfred · Answer

A. "" 
B. awkward
C. 'They' has no clear referent
D. 'being analomous' is awkward
E. 'The anomalies' suggested so specific anomalies, which is not right. We're referring to 'anomalies' in general

A for me

laxieqv · Answer

C is definitely out coz "they" has no ante-decent.
D is out coz the use of "being"
E: " was" should be "were"
Between A and B, I go for A coz it sounds more familiar as we often say, for example: " It was your fault that led to their quarrel"
A it is.

GMATT73 · Answer

OA is A.

braindancer · Answer

Sorry for exhuming this, but one question keeps drilling my mind: is the construct "it wAS anomaliES" legitimate in OA? "Was" refers to singular, but "anomalies" are plural... That's why I chose a wordier B and was screwed. Am I missing something?

mailtheguru · Answer

It was X that led to Y.

X = "anamolies in the orbit"

'was' refers to the phrase, not the anamolies itself.

jjhko · Answer

Guru, I can see now why A would be correct. But can you explain why E must be eliminated? 

jjhko

defenestrate · Answer

Even so, it is bad form to start a sentence with It... I find it funny that the GMAT would have such a sentence that most English teachers would steer us away from. WE should know what it refers to without reading any further. In this case we do not. Starting the sentence with The orbit is far more precise.

kripalkavi · Answer

My 2 cents..

A. "" 
B. It was the orbit of Uranus showing anomalies that -  changes the meaning. The anomalies led to the discovery, not the orbit itself. 
C. They were anomalies in the orbit of Uranus that -  They? who? 
D. The orbit of Uranus being analomous was what -  changes the meaning. The anomalies led to the discovery, not the orbit itself. 
E. The anomalies in the orbit of Uranus was what  - S-V agreement. anomalies - was (should be were) 

By POE,  A

kripalkavi · Answer

Nice signature Futuristic :cool

redbeanaddict · Answer

I don't get it. My answer is B
My reason being:
The whole  phenomenon  of " the orbit of Uranus showing anomalies " is what led to discovery of Neptune.

and not
"the anomalies" that led to the discovery

Please shed some light on my tainted reasoning

It was anomalies in the orbit of Uranus that led to the

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