An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out the same year as

Question

An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out the same year as the first of the charter schools were opened , revealed that the school board was opposed to the public financing of these schools.

A. An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out the same year as the first of the charter schools were opened

B. An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out in the same year of the opening of the first of the charter school

C. An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out in the same year that the first of the charter school was opened

D. The superintendent of schools sent an email in the same year as the first of the charter schools that

E. The superintendent of schools sent a letter in the same year of the opening as the first of the charter schools that

pqhai · Answer

C is correct.

The structure should be:
 An email.............revealed that......................... 
So we eliminate D & E right away. Also, D & E use "that" incorrectly.

A. An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out the same year as  the first  of the charter schools  were  opened 
 >>> Wrong. "the first" is singular.

B. An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out in the same year  of the opening of the first of the  charter school 
 >>> Wrong. Too bad grammar & awkward.
 
C. An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out in the same year  that the first  of the charter school  was  opened 
 >>> Correct. The use of "that" is correct. "that" modifies "year". "The first ...... was" => correct.

Hope it's clear.

KanupriyaS · Answer

I think C is correct.

We can rule out D,E as the structure should be "An email by the superintendent...revealed..."

Between A, B and C:

A. it says 'were' where the referent is 'first school', so grammatically incorrect. 
B. too wordy and awkward. 
C. Correct. The modifier 'that' is used correctly for 'year.

mohnish104 · Answer

pqhai, In C should it be "first of the charter schools" or "first of the charter school".

IsaacEconomistGMAT · Answer

It seems like a typo; it should be school s  (charter school s ) as we can assume it is the first of more than one school.

jlgdr · Answer

In C shouldn't it be the first of the charter schoolS? Or am I missing something? Cheers! J

leanhdung · Answer

An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out the same year as the first of the charter schools were opened , revealed that the school board was opposed to the public financing of these schools.

A. An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out the same year as the first of the charter schools  were  opened
--> This sentence lacks proposition  in .

B. An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out in the same year  of the opening of  the first of the charter school

C. An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out in the same year that the first of the charter school was opened
--> correct.

D. The superintendent of schools sent an email in the same year as the first of the charter schools that
--> awkward.

E. The superintendent of schools sent a letter in the same year  of the opening as  the first of the charter schools that

sudarshan22 · Answer

Project SC Butler: Day 68: Sentence Correction (SC2) 
 For SC butler Questions  Click Here   
 An e-mail by the superintendent of the schools, sent out the same year as the first of the charter schools were opened , revealed that the school board was opposed to the public financing of these schools.

(A) An e-mail by the superintendent of the schools, sent out the same year as the first of the charter schools were opened

(B) An e-mail by the superintendent of the schools, sent out in the same year of the opening of the first charter schools

(C) An e-mail by the superintendent of the schools, sent out in the same year that the first charter school was opened

(D) The superintendent of schools sent an e-mail in the same year as the first of the charter schools that

(E) The superintendent of schools sent a letter in the same year of the opening as the first of the charter schools that

The best/excellent answers get kudos, which will be  awarded  after   the answer is revealed. 
There may be no best/excellent answers, or a there may be a few excellent answers!

Bunuel · Answer

___________________________
Merged topics.

altairahmad · Answer

I was thrown off by the wrong wording in option (c). A quick Google search reveals the correct option to be actually worded as following:

(C) An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out in the same year that the first charter school was opened.

The OP is requested to please make the necessary correction.

Posted from my mobile device

sudarshan22 · Answer

Official Explanation :

The verb in the underlined portion of this sentence is  were opened , and its subject is  first . It appears that  were opened  was conjugated for  charter schools , but  charter schools  is actually a part of a prepositional phrase, signaled by the word  of , meaning  were opened 's real subject is  first , which is singular instead of plural. Eliminate  (A) .

Choice (B)  slightly changes the meaning of the sentence by changing  were opened  into a noun -  opening  - so  (B)  can be eliminated.

Choice (C)  correctly conjugates  were opened  as  was opened .

Choice (D)  changes the meaning of the sentence by eliminating  were opened  altogeter, so (D) can be eliminated.

Choice (E)  not only changes  were opened  into  opening  but also adds an improper idiom with  as , so (E) can be eliminated.

Choice (C)  is the correct answer.

altairahmad · Answer

Thanks for OE.

The explanations already given were also quite good. The problem is not with the explanation but the wrong wording in the option (c) by the OP. The official question says :

(C) An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out in the same year  that the first charter school  was opened.

while the OP has posted

C. An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out in the same year  that the first of the charter school  was opened.

People are being thrown off by the use of 'of' with singular noun 'charter school' which is a typo by the OP and needs to be corrected.

VerbalBot · Answer

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An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out the same year as

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An email by the superintendent of schools, sent out the same year as

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