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Adolescence - SC

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Adolescence - SC

by GaneshMalkar » Wed Jun 12, 2013 8:40 am
A recent and popular self-help book wryly notes that if adolescence was not so painful, it would have a droll comedic aspect, at least in retrospect.

a. was not so painful, it
b. was not so painful, they
c. were not so painful, they
d. were not so painful, it
e. were not so painful, being one

I got this correct, Just want to verify - Is my elimination reason valid?

a & b - If - so conditional required not past "was"
c - adolescence is singular; so I eliminated they
d - Kept
e- being one is awkward and wordy
If you cant explain it simply you dont understand it well enough!!!
- Genius
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by Iaintgivinup » Wed Jun 12, 2013 9:13 am
Ganesh,
This is a case of Hypothetical Subjunctive where with the verb 'to be' the form 'were' is used. e.g. if 'I were a Child.... '. Your reasoning is aligned but you can refine it more.

a - 'it' pronoun reference looks ambiguous to me
b & c - eliminate based on plural 'they'
d - correct form
e - Avoid 'being' form. Come back to it if nothing else satisfies your validation.

Hope this helps.
Last edited by Iaintgivinup on Sat Jul 27, 2013 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by vivekchandrams » Wed Jun 12, 2013 10:29 am
Bang on target, Ganesh!
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