Sentence Correction

Quarried from a site over five miles away, scientists are still puzzled as to how the prehistoric Britons managed to transport the massive stone blocks of Stonehenge over such a great distance without machinery.

A) scientists are still puzzled as to how the prehistoric Britons managed to transport the massive stone blocks of Stonehenge over such a great distance without machinery.

B) the massive stone blocks of Stonehenge are still puzzling to scientists because of how the ancient Britons managed to transport them over such a great distance without machinery.

C) scientists are still puzzled by how the prehistoric Britons managed the transportation of the massive stone blocks of Stonehenge without machinery over such a great distance.

D) the massive stone blocks of Stonehenge still puzzle scientists, who wonder how the prehistoric Britons managed to transport them over such a great distance without machinery.

E) the massive stone blocks of Stonehenge are still a puzzle to scientists due to being transported over such a great distance without machinery.


Why not B why D

My answer is D....

Firstly, the noun modifier initially modifies the noun stones not the scientists so stones should follow it, thus...

A and C are eliminated

E sounds awkward remove it...
now if we look at B present continuous followed by simple past never heard of it plus "puzzling to scientists" that also sounds awkward while as

In D
if main clause is simple present then the dependent clause can be simple past if "it shows a past time action" that is a rule


here, scientists are discussing now (simple present) about an incident already happened in past so (simple past)

Hence, perfect i think my logic is right if any other explanation or if i am wrong do argue it will be appreciated..
Thanks....

j_shreyans wrote:Quarried from a site over five miles away, scientists are still puzzled as to how the prehistoric Britons managed to transport the massive stone blocks of Stonehenge over such a great distance without machinery.

A) scientists are still puzzled as to how the prehistoric Britons managed to transport the massive stone blocks of Stonehenge over such a great distance without machinery.

B) the massive stone blocks of Stonehenge are still puzzling to scientists because of how the ancient Britons managed to transport them over such a great distance without machinery.

C) scientists are still puzzled by how the prehistoric Britons managed the transportation of the massive stone blocks of Stonehenge without machinery over such a great distance.

D) the massive stone blocks of Stonehenge still puzzle scientists, who wonder how the prehistoric Britons managed to transport them over such a great distance without machinery.

E) the massive stone blocks of Stonehenge are still a puzzle to scientists due to being transported over such a great distance without machinery.


Why not B why D

Hello j_shreyans,

Few reasons to consider in Option B:-

The construction 'are still puzzling to scientists' is awkward. We don't need a continuous tense when a simple present tense can convey the same meaning.

The construction 'because of how the ancient Britons managed' is awkward and unidiomatic.

The use of pronoun 'them' is illogical. 'Them' is in the accusative case and can only refer to the noun 'scientists' which is also in the Accusative case in Option B. 'Them' cannot refer to 'the massive stones' in Option B, since 'the massive stones' is in the Nominative case and 'them' is in the Accusative case in Option B.