charan13387 wrote:Q: A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet, believed to be the largest flying creature the world has ever seen.
(A) believed to be
(B) and that is believed to be
(C) and it is believed to have been
(D) which was, it is believed,
(E) which is believed to be
Can you please explain what should be the answer and why.....?
To + verb = PRESENT infinitive.
The present infinitive serves to express CONTEMPORANEOUS action: an action happening AT THE SAME TIME as the main verb.
To illustrate:
John is proud TO SERVE his country.
Here, John IS proud (in the present) TO SERVE (also in the present).
To + have + VERBed = PERFECT infinitive.
The perfect infinitive serves to express PRIOR action: an action that happened PRIOR to the main verb.
To illustrate:
John is proud TO HAVE SERVED his country.
Here, John IS proud (in the present) TO HAVE SERVED (at some point in the past).
In the SC above, the reptile no longer exists, so the PERFECT infinitive is needed:
...the Quetzalcoatlus...is believed TO HAVE BEEN the largest flying creature the world has ever seen.
The correct answer is
C.
Last edited by
GMATGuruNY on Tue Feb 05, 2013 2:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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