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SC - difficult one - Perfect tenses

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SC - difficult one - Perfect tenses

by karthikpandian19 » Mon Jul 23, 2012 7:15 pm
The most important factor in shaping a child's personality, according to recent psychological studies, may be the child's relationship to his or her peer group, though it has long been assumed that it was parental care; in order to remain consistent with these findings, we have been forced to reevaluate our understanding of child development.


(A) has long been assumed that it was

(B) has long been assumed to have been

(C) has long been assumed as being

(D) had long been assumed to be

(E) had long been assumed that it was
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by vk_vinayak » Mon Jul 23, 2012 8:40 pm
Between 'has' and 'had', I think 'has' is correct.

C looks incorrect. Also, option A has ambiguous 'it'.

By POE, I think it is B.
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by karthikpandian19 » Mon Jul 23, 2012 8:44 pm
Choice B retains the incorrect present perfect has long been of the original. In addition, to have been incorrectly describes the factor's role in the past, but the factor does not change; it may be, in the present
vk_vinayak wrote:Between 'has' and 'had', I think 'has' is correct.

C looks incorrect. Also, option A has ambiguous 'it'.

By POE, I think it is B.
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by vk_vinayak » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:26 pm
karthikpandian19 wrote:Choice B retains the incorrect present perfect has long been of the original. In addition, to have been incorrectly describes the factor's role in the past, but the factor does not change; it may be, in the present
vk_vinayak wrote:Between 'has' and 'had', I think 'has' is correct.

C looks incorrect. Also, option A has ambiguous 'it'.

By POE, I think it is B.
What does it refer to: factor or relationship ?

The most important factor in shaping a child's personality, according to recent psychological studies, may be the child's relationship to his or her peer group, though it has long been assumed that it was parental care; in order to remain consistent with these findings, we have been forced to reevaluate our understanding of child development.
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by karthikpandian19 » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:43 pm
IT - is not ambiguous here, as it logical refers to the "important factor..."

This sentence contains a verb tense error and an extra pronoun. When we have been forced to reevaluate began at a point in the past, so when it was assumed that the most important factor was something else took place before this other past event. The new studies caused the reevaluation, so the assumption existed before these new studies. The word though expresses that there has been a change between the attitude or assumption in the far past and the new reevaluations that have been taking place in the more recent past.

The original also compares what a factor was to what it may be. The study has not come out with evidence that the role that the factor itself plays has changed; what the study has done is change our assumptions and actions based on this evidence. The factor should consistently be described in the present tense, because in the (non-underlined) portion, this factor may be.

Finally, the double use of the pronoun it is unnecessary. When the same pronoun is used twice in a sentence, it should refer to the same antecedent.

I have explained why A is wrong and from this we can correlate for others too.


vk_vinayak wrote:
karthikpandian19 wrote:Choice B retains the incorrect present perfect has long been of the original. In addition, to have been incorrectly describes the factor's role in the past, but the factor does not change; it may be, in the present
vk_vinayak wrote:Between 'has' and 'had', I think 'has' is correct.

C looks incorrect. Also, option A has ambiguous 'it'.

By POE, I think it is B.
What does it refer to: factor or relationship ?

The most important factor in shaping a child's personality, according to recent psychological studies, may be the child's relationship to his or her peer group, though it has long been assumed that it was parental care; in order to remain consistent with these findings, we have been forced to reevaluate our understanding of child development.
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by CSASHISHPANDAY » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:47 pm
Is OA is D
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by karthikpandian19 » Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:02 pm
OA is D
Pls provide your explanation
CSASHISHPANDAY wrote:Is OA is D
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by patanjali.purpose » Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:11 pm
karthikpandian19 wrote:The most important factor in shaping a child's personality, according to recent psychological studies, may be the child's relationship to his or her peer group, though it has long been assumed that it was parental care; in order to remain consistent with these findings, we have been forced to reevaluate our understanding of child development.


(A) has long been assumed that it was

(B) has long been assumed to have been

(C) has long been assumed as being

(D) had long been assumed to be

(E) had long been assumed that it was
Like Vinayak, I vote for B as well.

use of IT for two different purposes in A/E wrong;
B - being parental care
B/D - IMO D changes the meaning from what was assumed in past (PARENTAL CARE was a factor in past to future by changing from TO HAVE BEEN to TO BE)

TO HAVE BEEN singifies action in past that is consitent with HAS BEEN ASSUMED
TO BE signifies future event

More so, IMO use of HAD BEEN ASSUMED not appropriate without using any other past tense - use of past perfect suggests that the assumption eneded in past itself (the original sentence suggests that new factor is the most important, but it also says we have been assuming that parental care is the key factor. Nowhere, we get any indication that our assumption has ceased to exist in present). The use of HAVE BEEN FORCED is also consitent with MAY BE...HAS BEEN ...TO HAVE BEEN in the sense that we have been assuming X - since some time unknown time in past - as a factor ,but now we find that Y is the key factor)

IMO B
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by karthikpandian19 » Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:19 pm
Patanjali,

OA is D

Choice D is correct. The past perfect tense, had long been assumed, conveys that the act of assuming took place before the past event of the studies' reporting. To be describes the factor in the present tense, agreeing with what the factor may be in the present. Also, It is no longer used twice to refer to different antecedents
patanjali.purpose wrote:
karthikpandian19 wrote:The most important factor in shaping a child's personality, according to recent psychological studies, may be the child's relationship to his or her peer group, though it has long been assumed that it was parental care; in order to remain consistent with these findings, we have been forced to reevaluate our understanding of child development.


(A) has long been assumed that it was

(B) has long been assumed to have been

(C) has long been assumed as being

(D) had long been assumed to be

(E) had long been assumed that it was
Like Vinayak, I vote for B as well.

use of IT for two different purposes in A/E wrong;
B - being parental care
B/D - IMO D changes the meaning from what was assumed in past (PARENTAL CARE was a factor in past to future by changing from TO HAVE BEEN to TO BE)

TO HAVE BEEN singifies action in past that is consitent with HAS BEEN ASSUMED
TO BE signifies future event

More so, IMO use of HAD BEEN ASSUMED not appropriate without using any other past tense - use of past perfect suggests that the assumption eneded in past itself (the original sentence suggests that new factor is the most important, but it also says we have been assuming that parental care is the key factor. Nowhere, we get any indication that our assumption has ceased to exist in present). The use of HAVE BEEN FORCED is also consitent with MAY BE...HAS BEEN ...TO HAVE BEEN in the sense that we have been assuming X - since some time unknown time in past - as a factor ,but now we find that Y is the key factor)

IMO B
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by patanjali.purpose » Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:35 pm
karthikpandian19 wrote:Patanjali,

OA is D

Choice D is correct. The past perfect tense, had long been assumed, conveys that the act of assuming took place before the past event of the studies' reporting. To be describes the factor in the present tense, agreeing with what the factor may be in the present. Also, It is no longer used twice to refer to different antecedents
Some questions:
1) is it appropriate to use PAST PERFECT without additinal past indicator
2) TO BE indicates a future event with respect to HAD BEEN ASSUMED - IMO, this future event could be in past or in present. How do we know TO BE indicates PRESENT EVENT
3)
When we have been forced to reevaluate began at a point in the past, so when it was assumed that the most important factor was something else took place before this other past event
- HAVE BEEN ASSUMED also siginifies past event. How do we know that when we were forced to reevaluate we had already stopped assuming parental care as a factor. I am not able to understand what part of sentence signifies this understanding - ie
"took place before this other past"
Last edited by patanjali.purpose on Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by CSASHISHPANDAY » Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:35 pm
It's a bit of an unusual case, but the past perfect is actually perfectly fine when paired with the present perfect. Either use of present perfect involves events in the past, and as such, the past perfect can be used to denote something that happened in the more distant past.

In B use of incorrect present perfect has long been and have been is incorrect.
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by vk_vinayak » Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:48 pm
patanjali.purpose wrote:
TO HAVE BEEN singifies action in past that is consitent with HAS BEEN ASSUMED
TO BE signifies future event

More so, IMO use of HAD BEEN ASSUMED not appropriate without using any other past tense - use of past perfect suggests that the assumption eneded in past itself (the original sentence suggests that new factor is the most important, but it also says we have been assuming that parental care is the key factor. Nowhere, we get any indication that our assumption has ceased to exist in present). The use of HAVE BEEN FORCED is also consitent with MAY BE...HAS BEEN ...TO HAVE BEEN in the sense that we have been assuming X - since some time unknown time in past - as a factor ,but now we find that Y is the key factor)

IMO B
This is the same reason I chose B. Assumption is there till now when we are contemplating findings of the studies. I don't understand how past perfect would fit.
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by karthikpandian19 » Tue Jul 24, 2012 12:52 am
Patanjali,
This is an example of the hypothetical sentence.
See my explanation against ur q's. Some other q's it will be better if this explained by some GMAT experts

The most important factor in shaping a child's personality, according to recent psychological studies, may be the child's relationship to his or her peer group, though it has long been assumed that it was parental care; in order to remain consistent with these findings, we have been forced to reevaluate our understanding of child development.


(A) has long been assumed that it was

(B) has long been assumed to have been

(C) has long been assumed as being

(D) had long been assumed to be

(E) had long been assumed that it was

patanjali.purpose wrote:
karthikpandian19 wrote:Patanjali,

OA is D

Choice D is correct. The past perfect tense, had long been assumed, conveys that the act of assuming took place before the past event of the studies' reporting. To be describes the factor in the present tense, agreeing with what the factor may be in the present. Also, It is no longer used twice to refer to different antecedents
Some questions:
1) is it appropriate to use PAST PERFECT without additinal past indicator - Perfectly OK, it depends on the situation sometimes. When we have been forced to reevaluate began at a point in the past, so when it was assumed that the most important factor was something else took place before this other past event

2) TO BE indicates a future event with respect to HAD BEEN ASSUMED - IMO, this future event could be in past or in present. How do we know TO BE indicates PRESENT EVENT -


3)
When we have been forced to reevaluate began at a point in the past, so when it was assumed that the most important factor was something else took place before this other past event
- HAVE BEEN ASSUMED also siginifies past event. How do we know that when we were forced to reevaluate we had already stopped assuming parental care as a factor. I am not able to understand what part of sentence signifies this understanding - ie
"took place before this other past"
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Karthik
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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Jul 24, 2012 1:32 pm
karthikpandian19 wrote:The most important factor in shaping a child's personality, according to recent psychological studies, may be the child's relationship to his or her peer group, though it has long been assumed that it was parental care; in order to remain consistent with these findings, we have been forced to reevaluate our understanding of child development.


(A) has long been assumed that it was

(B) has long been assumed to have been

(C) has long been assumed as being

(D) had long been assumed to be

(E) had long been assumed that it was
Intended meaning: PRIOR to the recent studies, the most important factor in shaping a child's personality HAD LONG BEEN ASSUMED to be prenatal care.
Only D conveys the proper sequence of events.
The most important factor in shaping a child's personality, according to recent psychological studies, may be the child's relationship to his or her peer group, though -- PRIOR TO THE RECENT STUDIES -- the most important factor HAD LONG BEEN ASSUMED to be prenatal care.
In D, it refers to the most important factor in shaping a child's personality.
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by patanjali.purpose » Sat Jul 28, 2012 3:20 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
karthikpandian19 wrote: The most important factor in shaping a child's personality, according to recent psychological studies, may be the child's relationship to his or her peer group, though it has long been assumed that it was parental care; in order to remain consistent with these findings, we have been forced to reevaluate our understanding of child development.
(B) has long been assumed to have been
(D) had long been assumed to be
Intended meaning: PRIOR to the recent studies, the most important factor in shaping a child's personality HAD LONG BEEN ASSUMED to be prenatal care.
Only D conveys the proper sequence of events.
The most important factor in shaping a child's personality, according to recent psychological studies, may be the child's relationship to his or her peer group, though -- PRIOR TO THE RECENT STUDIES -- the most important factor HAD LONG BEEN ASSUMED to be prenatal care.
In D, it refers to the most important factor in shaping a child's personality.
Thanks Mitch.

I agree that prenatal care was considered most important factor PRIOR TO THE RECENT STUDIES. But, how we are getting the feeling that we have STOPPED CONSIDERING "PARENTAL CARE" as the most important factor.

Does the use of PAST PERFECT (in D) not changing the original meaning - original sentence only says that we have A NEW FACTOR THAT MAY BE CRITICAL IN SHAPING CHILD'S personality. It also says that we HAVE BEEN ASSUMING SOME OTHER FACTOR AS CRITICAL - How do we know that when we were forced to reevaluate we had already stopped assuming parental care as a factor?

2) Does TO BE indicate a future event with respect to HAD BEEN ASSUMED

Pls clarify.
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