BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

King Alfred

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 228
Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:08 am
Thanked: 4 times

King Alfred

by jainrahul1985 » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:04 pm
Just because King Alfred occupied and fortified London in 886 did not mean that he also won the loyalty of its citizens: the invading Danes were well aware of this weakness and used it to their advantage in 893.
(A) Just because King Alfred occupied and fortified London in 886 did not mean that he
(B) The fact that King Alfred had occupied and fortified London in 886 did not mean that he had
(C) Just because King Alfred occupied and fortified London in 886, it did not mean he
(D) The fact that King Alfred occupied and fortified London in 886, it did not mean that he
(E) Just because King Alfred had occupied and fortified London in 886, it did not mean he

OA B

C,D,E wrong because "it" doesn't have a clear referent.
Why is A wrong?
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3380
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 am
Thanked: 2256 times
Followed by:1535 members
GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:12 pm
jainrahul1985 wrote:Just because King Alfred occupied and fortified London in 886 did not mean that he also won the loyalty of its citizens: the invading Danes were well aware of this weakness and used it to their advantage in 893.
(A) Just because King Alfred occupied and fortified London in 886 did not mean that he
(B) The fact that King Alfred had occupied and fortified London in 886 did not mean that he had
(C) Just because King Alfred occupied and fortified London in 886, it did not mean he
(D) The fact that King Alfred occupied and fortified London in 886, it did not mean that he
(E) Just because King Alfred had occupied and fortified London in 886, it did not mean he

OA B

C,D,E wrong because "it" doesn't have a clear referent.
Why is A wrong?
(a) doesn't have a legitimate subject. the subject of a sentence can't be a subordinate clause ["(just) because king alfred occupied..." is a subordinate clause].

this is a common thing in spoken english, in which modifiers are used as though they were subjects on a regular basis, but it's not allowed in the written language.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

--

Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi

--

Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.

Yves Saint-Laurent

--

Learn more about ron
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3225
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 2:40 pm
Location: Toronto
Thanked: 1710 times
Followed by:614 members
GMAT Score:800

by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:36 pm
As always, great explanation by Ron!

Another reason we can eliminate (A) is improper verb tense. In the non-underlined portion of the sentence we have the simple past used to refer to an action taken in 893. Since the action in the first part of the sentence refers to 886, it should use an earlier tense. On the GMAT an action two steps into the past is usually expressed in the double past (aka the past perfect), which (B) properly uses.
Image

Stuart Kovinsky | Kaplan GMAT Faculty | Toronto

Kaplan Exclusive: The Official Test Day Experience | Ready to Take a Free Practice Test? | Kaplan/Beat the GMAT Member Discount
BTG100 for $100 off a full course
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1