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Historian!

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Historian!

by gmat_perfect » Thu Aug 05, 2010 3:57 am
A historian attempting to predict in the 1870's which nation would take over world leadership from the British probably would have guessed Bismarck's Prussia and been quite wrong.

(A) have guessed Bismarck's Prussia and been
(B) have guessed that it would have been Bismarck's Prussia and he would be
(C) have guessed Bismarck's Prussia and would be
(D) guess Bismarck's Prussia and be
(E) guess that it would be Bismarck's Prussia and would have been

[spoiler]OA: A[/spoiler]

Why is D wrong?

Thanks.
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by indiantiger » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:48 am
IMO : A

(A) have guessed Bismarck's Prussia and been
(B) have guessed that it would have been Bismarck's Prussia and he would be <too wordy>
(C) have guessed Bismarck's Prussia and would be
(D) guess Bismarck's Prussia and be <we need have>
(E) guess that it would be Bismarck's Prussia and would have been <we need have>
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by selango » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:49 am
"Historian attempting to in predict in 1870's" is an past event.So guessed must be used.
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by selfmade » Thu Aug 05, 2010 5:57 am
I would pick A

Here is my explaination:

E - Can be ruled out easily eliminated becaused it uses "would" twice .. Read the sentence like this

Historian would have guess that it would....... wrong usage of would ... would

B is too wordy

Historians would have guessed that it would have have been .. and he would have ---- 3 would in one sentence makes it awkward.

C and D - wrong tense

- would have guessed and would be wrong
- would guess and be wrong

A - is the proper usage of tense and concise.
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