Sentence Correction

Hi All,

In the below question, the OA is [spoiler]"A"[/spoiler]. Can somebody please help me understand why to kick out [spoiler]"C", "D" and "E" ?[/spoiler]

During the Renaissance, scholars were uncertain as to the location of Troy, and by the eighteenth century many historians doubted that Troy had ever existed.
(A) doubted that Troy had ever existed
(B) doubt that Troy has ever existed
(C) were in doubt as to the existence of Troy
(D) were doubtful concerning Troy’s existence
(E) had doubts about Troy’s ever existing

Thanks
Mohit

Only A

(B) doubt that Troy has ever existed-wrong bc "doubt" needs to be in the past tense bc it says "by the 18th century" and "has" needs to be "had"
C,D,and E are unidiomatic

kuldeep4gmat wrote:Only A

Can you please tell why you kicked out "C", D" and "E" ?

Thanks
Mohit

PinkBox wrote:(B) doubt that Troy has ever existed-wrong bc "doubt" needs to be in the past tense bc it says "by the 18th century" and "has" needs to be "had"
C,D,and E are unidiomatic

Can you please tell which idiom is broken in "C", D" and "E" ?

Thanks
Mohit

"in doubt as to" in C
"doubtful concerning" in D
"doubts about" in E

E uses the wrong tense.

"were in doubt" vs "were doubtful" vs "doubted"

"doubted" won

PinkBox wrote:"in doubt as to" in C
"doubtful concerning" in D
"doubts about" in E

I don't think idioms are at fault here. In fact, "in doubt as to" and "doubts about" can be correct (just not here). I'm not sure about "doubtful concerning". I don' t think it's idiomatically incorrect, but I would imagine that "doubtful about" would be more concise.

The key here is to remember that by the 18th century, Troy didn't exist any longer. The question is whether it had ever existed before then, not whether it was in existence at that time. With that in mind, take another look at C and D.

C) were in doubt as to the existence of Troy
D) were doubtful concerning Troy's existence

These answers are wrong because they focus on Troy's existence within the 18th century whereas the intended meaning is Troy's existence at any point prior to this period.

E) had doubts about Troy's ever existing

This answer is wrong because it uses the possessive form "Troy's" which is short for "of Troy". Problem is, we have no idea what the object of the possesion is. "Troy's existence" would have been better (still wrong, but at least clear).