This is similar to one of the OG questions and answer is B

'Themes' plural, need 'were' or 'have' remove A, C and D.

E is out because of the meaning change.

B is correct

reply2spg wrote:This is similar to one of the OG questions and answer is B

'Themes' plural, need 'were' or 'have' remove A, C and D.

E is out because of the meaning change.

B is correct

What is the OG question?

Exactly right regarding "themes" as plural..and it's part of a compound subject, too (along with "writing style"), so that would also make it plural (say, for example, it were "Lincoln's writing style and flair for public speaking..." it would have to be "were", too).

C, D, and E are also wrong because of the "had been" past-perfect tense. That tense comes up a lot on GMAT questions, and you should look forward to that - in order to use that tense, you need to have another past-tense event that happens after the "had" tense.

You could say:

"By the time Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address he had already penned dozens of speeches that are today considered classics."

Because "delivered" clearly happens after "had already penned".

You couldn't say:

"Abraham Lincoln, America's 16th president, had become famous as a public speaker when he debated Stephen Douglas."

Those events happened at the same time ("when" tells us that), so the "had" past-perfect tense doesn't work.

When you see the presence of the word "had" indicating the past perfect tense, check the timeline to ensure that it's warranted!

Brian@VeritasPrep wrote:Exactly right regarding "themes" as plural..and it's part of a compound subject, too (along with "writing style"), so that would also make it plural (say, for example, it were "Lincoln's writing style and flair for public speaking..." it would have to be "were", too).

C, D, and E are also wrong because of the "had been" past-perfect tense. That tense comes up a lot on GMAT questions, and you should look forward to that - in order to use that tense, you need to have another past-tense event that happens after the "had" tense.

You could say:

"By the time Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address he had already penned dozens of speeches that are today considered classics."

Because "delivered" clearly happens after "had already penned".

You couldn't say:

"Abraham Lincoln, America's 16th president, had become famous as a public speaker when he debated Stephen Douglas."

Those events happened at the same time ("when" tells us that), so the "had" past-perfect tense doesn't work.

When you see the presence of the word "had" indicating the past perfect tense, check the timeline to ensure that it's warranted!

Only D is using had been. C is using has been and E is using have been.