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Board response

by jain2016 » Thu Dec 31, 2015 10:33 am
The Board's response did not surprise Mandy at all; she was, in fact, expecting such a response.

A) did not surprise Mandy at all; she was, in fact, expecting

B) had not surprised Mandy at all; she was in fact expecting

C) had not surprised Mandy at all; she had, in fact, expected

D) did not surprise Mandy at all; she had, in fact , expected

E) did not surprise Mandy at all; because she was expecting

OAD

Hi Experts ,

What is wrong with option B?

What is the use of the comma after had in OA?

Please explain.

Thanks in advance.

SJ
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by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Thu Dec 31, 2015 11:43 am
jain2016 wrote:The Board's response did not surprise Mandy at all; she was, in fact, expecting such a response.

A) did not surprise Mandy at all; she was, in fact, expecting

B) had not surprised Mandy at all; she was in fact expecting

C) had not surprised Mandy at all; she had, in fact, expected

D) did not surprise Mandy at all; she had, in fact , expected

E) did not surprise Mandy at all; because she was expecting

OAD

Hi Experts ,

What is wrong with option B?

What is the use of the comma after had in OA?

Please explain.

Thanks in advance.

SJ
We use the past perfect (HAD + PAST TENSE VERB) when we wish to convey that something occurred in the past before something else in the past.

For example: when I met with the student, she had already taken a practice test. She had taken the practice test before I met with her.

Answer choice B: The Board's response had not surprised Mandy at all; she was in fact expecting such a response. The literal meaning here is that Mandy was not surprised by the Board's response before she was expecting the response. (The past perfect action takes place first.) This is illogical. It makes far more sense for her expectations to precede the board's actions that don't surprise her, not the other way around.
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by jain2016 » Thu Dec 31, 2015 9:19 pm
Hi David ,

Thanks for your reply.

Can you please also advise that what is the use of the COMMA after had in OA? I rejected this option just because of comma.

Please shed some light on this.

Thanks,

SJ
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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Dec 31, 2015 10:54 pm
jain2016 wrote: Can you please also advise that what is the use of the COMMA after had in OA? I rejected this option just because of comma.
OA: She had, in fact, expected such a response.
Here, in fact is enclosed in commas to indicate that this phrase is a NON-ESSENTIAL modifier.
If we remove the non-essential modifier, we get the core meaning of the sentence:
She had expected such a response.

The GMAT does NOT test comma usage.
Do not eliminate an answer choice because of what seems like a misplaced comma.
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