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Supreme Court

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by komal » Thu Feb 04, 2010 7:16 pm
Since 1954, when the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was unconstitutional, the Supreme Court heard cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation.

(A) heard cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation
(B) had heard cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation
(C) has heard cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation
(D) has heard cases in which lawyers debated what has constituted segregation
(E) was hearing cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation

OA [spoiler](C)[/spoiler]
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by fibbonnaci » Thu Feb 04, 2010 7:37 pm
Since is a very good indicator of present perfect.

form of present perfect- have/has+ past participle

(A) heard cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation [present perfect tense required]

(B) had heard cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation [present perfect tense required]

(C) has heard cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation [ correct tense maintained]

(D) has heard cases in which lawyers debated what has constituted segregation ['has constituted' indicated that the lawyers are still debating over segregation. the tense required here is a past tense]

(E) was hearing cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation [present perfect tense required]

Hope this helps!
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by hrishi19884 » Fri Feb 05, 2010 6:08 am
fibbonnaci wrote:Since is a very good indicator of present perfect.

form of present perfect- have/has+ past participle

(A) heard cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation [present perfect tense required]

(B) had heard cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation [present perfect tense required]

(C) has heard cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation [ correct tense maintained]

(D) has heard cases in which lawyers debated what has constituted segregation ['has constituted' indicated that the lawyers are still debating over segregation. the tense required here is a past tense]

(E) was hearing cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation [present perfect tense required]

Hope this helps!
That is really a nice explanation.

Can you please elaborate more on D?

"has constituted" is also a present perfect and "since" needs the same. So why it is not possible that the segregation is still taking place since 1954. I think both C and D are correct, but we have to choose only one option :(
Hrishi

"As you sow, so shall you reap"
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