A doubt from Manhattan GMAT Book

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umaa: Legendary Member; Posts: 727; Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:32 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 8 times

by umaa » Sat Jun 20, 2009 7:04 pm

I'm little confused with a sentence from Manhattan GMAT sentence correction 3rd edition book.

Page 132;

The band U2 WAS just one of many new groups on the rock music scene in the early 1980's, but less than ten years later, U2 HAD fully ECLIPSED its early rivals in the pantheon of popular music.

We use HAD for Past past events to clarify time frame. right?

Shouldn't this sentence be,

The band U2 HAD BEEN just one of many new groups on the rock music scene in the early 1980's, but less than ten years later, U2 fully ECLIPSED its early rivals in the pantheon of popular music.

What am I missing? Please help me.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sat Jun 20, 2009 7:04 pm

goelmohit2002: Legendary Member; Posts: 1799; Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 3:03 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 36 times

by goelmohit2002 » Sun Jun 21, 2009 11:48 am

I also agree with umaa....

Can someone please explain...

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kc_raj: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 117; Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 7:41 am; Thanked: 5 times

IMO

by kc_raj » Sun Jun 21, 2009 2:54 pm

, but ........ its a new clause where past perfect had eclipsed indicates it happened less than 10 years later (which is still in the past)

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hemanth28: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 157; Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:05 am; Thanked: 9 times; GMAT Score:680

Re: IMO

by hemanth28 » Sun Jun 21, 2009 8:06 pm

kc_raj wrote:, but ........ its a new clause where past perfect had eclipsed indicates it happened less than 10 years later (which is still in the past)

if it is a new clause then why is a past perfect used when a simple past would have done the job ?

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umaa: Legendary Member; Posts: 727; Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:32 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 8 times

by umaa » Sun Jun 21, 2009 9:22 pm

Below is the explanation I've got from another source.

he band U2 was just one Just states a fact about the past.
The band U2 had been just one shows that the writer wants to keep the focus of his paragraph on the later time.
In other words, both tenses are possible.

The reference point is some point less than ten years later. Let's assume it was 1989.
U2 had fully eclipsed means that the eclipsing happened some time before 1989.
U2 fully eclipsed means the eclipsing happened in 1989.

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