Students = subject = plural . Hence have been.

Whats the OA ?

I'd go with C

beat_gmat_09 wrote:Can anyone tell me the answer for this -

A new study has found that college students had been more involved in on-campus political activities during the last few years than at any time the past two decades.

Options are -
i) same as the underlined
ii) had been....than at any other time
iii) have been..than at any other time
iv) have been...than at any time
v) are more involved ... as compared to any other time

I could figure out that at any other time is necessary for comparison,
but how should one decide between had been,have been and are ?

A request - Please post the complete answer options.

bhumika.k.shah wrote:Students = subject = plural . Hence have been.

Whats the OA ?

I'd go with C

beat_gmat_09 wrote:Can anyone tell me the answer for this -

A new study has found that college students had been more involved in on-campus political activities during the last few years than at any time the past two decades.

Options are -
i) same as the underlined
ii) had been....than at any other time
iii) have been..than at any other time
iv) have been...than at any time
v) are more involved ... as compared to any other time

I could figure out that at any other time is necessary for comparison,
but how should one decide between had been,have been and are ?

IMO it is about comparison. are is also plural..but comparison in the later part is a perfect usage...than at is awkward. My pick is (V)

The correct answer is C.

... meant the words are same as those in the ques.

@ bhumika any reason for rejecting "are" ?

E is wordier than C .
Not quite sure about the idiom part.

Hope this helps

beat_gmat_09 wrote:The correct answer is C.

... meant the words are same as those in the ques.

@ bhumika any reason for rejecting "are" ?

A new study has found that college students had been more involved in on-campus political activities during the last few years than at any time the past two decades.

Options are -
i) had been more involved in on-campus political activities during the last few years than at any time
ii) had been more involved in on-campus political activities during the last few years than at any other time
iii) have been more involved in on-campus political activities during the last few years than at any other time
iv) have been more involved in on-campus political activities during the last few years than at any time
v) are more involved in on-campus political activities during the last few years as compared to any other time

IMO C.

Reason :
everyon till now has identified A and B as wrong answer.
we are left with C,D and E

E : either comparative degree or just compared as.
more ... than / as compared to .. but not both..So E is wrong.

now C and D
the difference is "other"
D is wrong because if we remove "other" from the sentence than the meaning is changed.
In this case the sentence says that the "last few years" time period is included in timeperiod the past two decades.

We use the Present Perfect Continuous to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now
3 & 4 - 'Have been' is correct as the student involvement started few years back and still continue.

However, I am not sure about 3 & 4,
iii) have been..than at any other time
iv) have been...than at any time

also, don't u think we should have 'IN' before - the past two decade.

sumanr84 wrote: also, don't u think we should have 'IN' before - the past two decade.

I agree.

Thanks for the explaination

We use the Present Perfect Continuous to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now
3 & 4 - 'Have been' is correct as the student involvement started few years back and still continue.

However, I am not sure about 3 & 4,
iii) have been..than at any other time
iv) have been...than at any time

also, don't u think we should have 'IN' before - the past two decade