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Philological Society

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Philological Society

by Deepthi Subbu » Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:47 am
In 1860, the Philological Society launched its effort to create a dictionary more comprehensive than the world had ever seen; although the project would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary had been born.

a.would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary had been
b.took more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was
c.would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was being
d.would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was
e.took more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was about to be
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by HSPA » Thu Oct 06, 2011 8:02 am
I am stuck btw D and B.. my guess is D>B, but is the sentence complete? Are you sure you havent missed the ending words?
First take: 640 (50M, 27V) - RC needs 300% improvement
Second take: coming soon..
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by Neo Anderson » Thu Oct 06, 2011 8:24 am
A: incorrect; cant be 'Had been born'
B: incorrect; as it appears 'that OED was born after completion of the project' (after 60 years); however the intention of the author is 'that OED was born as the effort started'.
C: incorrect; cant be 'was being born'
D: correct; use of would (refering future w.r.t past)and 'OED was born' (simple past)appears to be correct
E: incorrect; cant be 'was about to be born'

IMO: D is correct
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by Deepthi Subbu » Thu Oct 06, 2011 9:21 am
Neo Anderson wrote:A: incorrect; cant be 'Had been born'
B: incorrect; as it appears 'that OED was born after completion of the project' (after 60 years); however the intention of the author is 'that OED was born as the effort started'.
C: incorrect; cant be 'was being born'
D: correct; use of would (refering future w.r.t past)and 'OED was born' (simple past)appears to be correct
E: incorrect; cant be 'was about to be born'

IMO: D is correct
Your answer is definitely correct . But I was stuck between B and D. The action of launching - launched happened in the past and hence the efforts taken for launching also also should have taken in the past . In D ,doesn't would take point to a future activity when the project is supposed to happen immediately ?
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by Proleefeek » Thu Oct 06, 2011 9:27 am
Deepthi Subbu wrote:In 1860, the Philological Society launched its effort to create a dictionary more comprehensive than the world had ever seen; although the project would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary had been born.

a.would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary had been
b.took more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was
c.would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was being
d.would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was
e.took more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was about to be
I would go with 'b' simply because usually Future in Past verb (would take) is not coupled with time clauses like more than 60 years. A simple past is more preferable for these situations. BTW whats the OA?
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by GmatKiss » Thu Oct 06, 2011 9:33 am
In 1860, the Philological Society launched its effort to create a dictionary more comprehensive than the world had ever seen; although the project would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary had been born.

b.took more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was borne.took more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was about to be born

IMO:B
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by Deepthi Subbu » Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:34 am
Assuming all these , I marked b;however the correct answer is D
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by phoenix111 » Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:49 am
IMO :C.
I think C is better because they were in the process of creating the most comprehendsive dictionary.
So it should be -> was being born.

It seems the OA is B, what's the explaination for C??
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by sl750 » Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:15 am
Isn't the semi colon used to separate two independent clauses? the use of although starts a subordinate clause. Is that correct?
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