Until Antoine Lavoisier proved otherwise in the eighteenth century, many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood.
many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood
many scientists believed that phlogiston was an imaginary substance released by combustion and its properties were not fully understood
phlogiston was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood and which many scientists had believed was released by combustion
phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood, was believed by scientists to be released by combustion
many scientists had believed that phlogiston was released by combustion and was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood
Y B IS wrng
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Antoine Lavoisier
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gmatnmein2010
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thephoenix
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(A) CORRECT. The past perfect "had believed" is correct because it is the earlier of two past actions the later action is "proved," which is in the simple past tense.
(B)PASSIVE
(C)Misplaced Modifier The placement of "phlogiston" incorrectly implies that phlogiston had been imaginary until Lavoisier proved otherwise.
(D) This sentence is unnecessarily in the passive voice. Moreover, "was believed" is in the simple past tense. It should be in the past perfect tense
(E) its construction incorrectly implies that scientists had believed that phlogiston was imaginary.
which is not the case
(B)PASSIVE
(C)Misplaced Modifier The placement of "phlogiston" incorrectly implies that phlogiston had been imaginary until Lavoisier proved otherwise.
(D) This sentence is unnecessarily in the passive voice. Moreover, "was believed" is in the simple past tense. It should be in the past perfect tense
(E) its construction incorrectly implies that scientists had believed that phlogiston was imaginary.
which is not the case
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soumyopriyosaha
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IMO A.gmatnmein2010 wrote:Until Antoine Lavoisier proved otherwise in the eighteenth century, many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood.
many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood
many scientists believed that phlogiston was an imaginary substance released by combustion and its properties were not fully understood
phlogiston was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood and which many scientists had believed was released by combustion
phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood, was believed by scientists to be released by combustion
many scientists had believed that phlogiston was released by combustion and was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood
Y B IS wrng
B somewhat changes the meaning of the sentence. It says that "scientists believed that phlogiston is an imaginary substance" which means that may or may not be true. But in the original it is stated as a fact.
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harsh.champ
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IMO A.gmatnmein2010 wrote:Until Antoine Lavoisier proved otherwise in the eighteenth century, many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood.
(A)many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood - stating the facts clearly.
(B)many scientists believed that phlogiston was an imaginary substance released by combustion and its properties were not fully understood - passive voice.We should try not to alter the sentence.
(C)phlogiston was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood and which many scientists had believed was released by combustion- too wordy and constructed very long
(D)phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood, was believed by scientists to be released by combustion-again passive voice.combustion takes a back seat
(E)many scientists had believed that phlogiston was released by combustion and was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood - too wordy again.
Y B IS wrng
B is wrong since it is in passive voice and construction seems too wordy.
Hope,my explanation is correct.
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VikingWarrior
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Answer is A.
B is incorrect because it does not use past perfect tense "had believed" and it has ambiguous pronoun referral when it says "and its properties"
B is incorrect because it does not use past perfect tense "had believed" and it has ambiguous pronoun referral when it says "and its properties"
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harshavardhanc
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with B, you should be more concerned about the meaning it conveys.
Author's intention is to tell that scientists believed : "combustion releases a substance" ( being imaginary was an additional characteristic).
B changes the order of these two things, giving primary importance to the "imaginary" part.
Author's intention is to tell that scientists believed : "combustion releases a substance" ( being imaginary was an additional characteristic).
B changes the order of these two things, giving primary importance to the "imaginary" part.
Regards,
Harsha
Harsha
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komal
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This is y (B) is wrong :
It uses the simple past for both verbs, incorrectly implying that they were simultaneous. I suppose the "until" clarifies the intended timeline, but the verbs should indicate the order correctly, too.
--"was an imaginary substance released by combustion" is unnecessarily in passive voice.
--the construction "and its properties were not fully understood" is incorrectly parallel with "phlogiston was released by combustion" rather than subordinate to it, as in the original sentence; this also creates ambiguity around the pronoun "its" which could refer to either combustion or phlogiston.
It uses the simple past for both verbs, incorrectly implying that they were simultaneous. I suppose the "until" clarifies the intended timeline, but the verbs should indicate the order correctly, too.
--"was an imaginary substance released by combustion" is unnecessarily in passive voice.
--the construction "and its properties were not fully understood" is incorrectly parallel with "phlogiston was released by combustion" rather than subordinate to it, as in the original sentence; this also creates ambiguity around the pronoun "its" which could refer to either combustion or phlogiston.
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sumanr84
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I don't see any option convincingly correct. However, A seems better among other choices.gmatnmein2010 wrote:Until Antoine Lavoisier proved otherwise in the eighteenth century, many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood.
many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood
many scientists believed that phlogiston was an imaginary substance released by combustion and its properties were not fully understood
phlogiston was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood and which many scientists had believed was released by combustion
phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood, was believed by scientists to be released by combustion
many scientists had believed that phlogiston was released by combustion and was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood
Y B IS wrng
In A, combustion released phlogiston sounds pretty awkward and usage of Passive Voice should be OK.
Also, Modifier has been put towards the end of the sentence..not grammatically wrong but structure-wise not a smart way of composing a sentence.
I would put my sentence as below,
many scientists had believed that phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood, was released by combustion.
I am on a break !!
