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the limits of nature

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the limits of nature

by paes » Sat May 29, 2010 5:58 pm
Attempting to explore the limits of nature before the modern scientific method was established, alchemists relied on all of the following, hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions and magic when trying to transform metals into gold.

A. Attempting to explore the limits of nature before the modern scientific method was established, alchemists relied on all of the following, hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions and magic
B. Attempting to explore the limits of nature prior to the modern scientific method being established, alchemists relied on both hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions, magic
C. Because alchemists had wanted to explore the limits of nature before the development of the modern scientific method, they had to rely on hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions, magic
D. When attempting to explore the limits of nature before the modern scientific method had been established, alchemists must rely on hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions and magic
E. Because the modern scientific method had not yet been developed, alchemists interested in exploring the limits of nature relied on hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions and magic

OA after some discussion
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by muralithe1 » Sat May 29, 2010 8:05 pm
I Guess 'A' is the correct answer.

B-'on both hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions, magic ' is wrong.
C-'Because alchemists had wanted to ________ they had to rely on hearsay' , both sentences can't be past perfect at a time.
D-', alchemists must rely on hearsay, mysticism, ' changes the meaning.
E-'Because the modern scientific method had not yet been developed, alchemists interested in ' seems awkward..
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by hardik.jadeja » Sun May 30, 2010 7:00 am
IMO E.

B) Wrong use of word 'both'
C) Unnecessary use of past perfect tense in the first part of the sentence.
D) Use of 'must' changes the meaning.

Between A and E. I would choose E as 'all of the following' looks wordy to me.
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by missionGMAT007 » Sun May 30, 2010 7:34 am
IMO A
but should't it be .......cultural traditions, and magic when trying to transform ?
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by jube » Sun May 30, 2010 8:53 am
E - A is worded ambiguously.
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by gmat_perfect » Sun May 30, 2010 11:02 am
paes wrote:Attempting to explore the limits of nature before the modern scientific method was established, alchemists relied on all of the following, hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions and magic when trying to transform metals into gold.

A. Attempting to explore the limits of nature before the modern scientific method was established, alchemists relied on all of the following, hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions and magic

=> After the word following, I think, colon should have been used.

B. Attempting to explore the limits of nature prior to the modern scientific method being established, alchemists relied on both hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions, magic

=> "Alchemist relied on X, Y, Z, and M" should have been the structure. But the final and is missing. Besides, the use of being is not correct.

C. Because alchemists had wanted to explore the limits of nature before the development of the modern scientific method, they had to rely on hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions, magic

=> Unnecessary use of past perfect.

D. When attempting to explore the limits of nature before the modern scientific method had been established, alchemists must rely on hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions and magic

=> Unnecessary use of passive.

E. Because the modern scientific method had not yet been developed, alchemists interested in exploring the limits of nature relied on hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions and magic

=> Correct, though comma before and is missing.

OA after some discussion
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by SmarpanGamt » Sun May 30, 2010 12:09 pm
gmat_perfect wrote:
paes wrote:Attempting to explore the limits of nature before the modern scientific method was established, alchemists relied on all of the following, hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions and magic when trying to transform metals into gold.

A. Attempting to explore the limits of nature before the modern scientific method was established, alchemists relied on all of the following, hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions and magic

=> After the word following, I think, colon should have been used.

B. Attempting to explore the limits of nature prior to the modern scientific method being established, alchemists relied on both hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions, magic

=> "Alchemist relied on X, Y, Z, and M" should have been the structure. But the final and is missing. Besides, the use of being is not correct.

Y colon should be their after " Following". IMO A Perfect tense in E is ambiguous. Plz correct. OA plz.


C. Because alchemists had wanted to explore the limits of nature before the development of the modern scientific method, they had to rely on hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions, magic

=> Unnecessary use of past perfect.

D. When attempting to explore the limits of nature before the modern scientific method had been established, alchemists must rely on hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions and magic

=> Unnecessary use of passive.

E. Because the modern scientific method had not yet been developed, alchemists interested in exploring the limits of nature relied on hearsay, mysticism, cultural traditions and magic

=> Correct, though comma before and is missing.

OA after some discussion
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by paes » Sun May 30, 2010 10:11 pm
OA E

I selected A.

In E "had not yet been developed," was looking awkward to me.
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by vikram4689 » Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:21 am
Isn't the usage of Past Perfect INCORRECT, only PAST tense would suffice.

e.g. Because the technology to start fire was not known, stone age people found another way to ignite wood.

Though i agree that A is wordy but E seems to change meaning. Experts please share views.
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