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Roma people

by AIM GMAT » Fri Mar 25, 2011 8:03 am
It is possible that the Roma people have migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that were characterized by this type of nomadic wandering.

A. have migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that were characterized
B. had migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that were characterized
C. migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that had been characterized
D. migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that were characterized
E. migrated from India over the course of several centuries that were characterized across Europe


[spoiler]OA : D[/spoiler]
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by aspirant2011 » Fri Mar 25, 2011 9:28 am
It is possible that the Roma people have migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that were characterized by this type of nomadic wandering.

A. have migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that were characterized ---------> usage of wrong tense.
B. had migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that were characterized ---------> earlier action is being used correctly but later action should be with simple past tense.
C. migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that had been characterized
D. migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that were characterized
E. migrated from India over the course of several centuries that were characterized across Europe ---------> awkward.

When I first read the sentence i brought it down to B and D but in B somehow I was not convinced as I thought that "migrated" should be the first word which should come. Moreover sentence begins with an uncertainity and in "B" if u see the usage of "had migrated" points to an earlier action which was done. Therefore, I chose to go for D...........
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by finalshot123 » Fri Mar 25, 2011 9:29 am
I finally picked D though.....A vs D
i felt my desc was not good.
Last edited by finalshot123 on Fri Mar 25, 2011 9:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by AIM GMAT » Fri Mar 25, 2011 9:30 am
It might be a silly question but i am not able to figure out "what is being characterized here ?"
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by aspirant2011 » Fri Mar 25, 2011 9:36 am
characterised is referring to centuries............
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by shweta.kalra » Fri Mar 25, 2011 10:46 am
BUT WHY "B" IS WRONG. WE KNOW THAT THEY MIGRATED OVER A COURSE OF SEVERAL CENTURIES- IN THE PAST-
WHY PAST PERFECT IS UNWARRANTED HERE?
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by tetura84 » Fri Mar 25, 2011 11:01 am
shweta.kalra wrote:BUT WHY "B" IS WRONG. WE KNOW THAT THEY MIGRATED OVER A COURSE OF SEVERAL CENTURIES- IN THE PAST-
WHY PAST PERFECT IS UNWARRANTED HERE?
We can use past perfect only when we have two actions in the past, one happened earlier (past perfect) than other (simple past). To denote some action occurred over a period of time in past, past perfect is not the correct usage.
Basically, we cannot use past perfect to denote some action occurred over a period of time in past. we must need some other action that happened after the past perfect-ed action. :)

B is wrong because,
Even if we say had migrated is correct usage here, what is the other other action happened after this? that were characterized? It is not very clear, can happen at the same time.
Last edited by tetura84 on Fri Mar 25, 2011 6:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:15 pm
AIM GMAT wrote:It is possible that the Roma people have migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that were characterized by this type of nomadic wandering.

A. have migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that were characterized
B. had migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that were characterized
C. migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that had been characterized
D. migrated from India across Europe over the course of several centuries that were characterized
E. migrated from India over the course of several centuries that were characterized across Europe


[spoiler]OA : D[/spoiler]
I received a PM asking me to comment.

The migration of the Roma people is an example of the nomadic wandering that took place over the course of several centuries.
The two actions -- how the Roma people migrated and how the centuries were characterized by this type of wandering -- took place over the same time period.
Thus, there is no need for the past perfect. The past perfect is required only when one past action is completed before another past action.
Thus, both verbs -- migrated and were characterized -- should be in the simple past tense. Eliminate A, B and C.

In E, characterized across is not idiomatic. The correct idiom is X is characterized by Y.

The correct answer is D.
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