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Doubt when to use simple past and when to use past perfect

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by 2varuntaneja » Thu Feb 16, 2012 11:16 pm
The Federal Reserve announcement said that growth had accelerated after slowing in the
second quarter and that the policy makers remain concerned about the prospects of inflation,
even though there are few signs of higher energy prices driving up the cost of other goods so
far.

"¢ that growth had accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and that the policy makers
remain concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are few
"¢ growth had accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and that the policy makers remain
concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are few
"¢ that growth had accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and the policy makers remain
concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are little
"¢ growth had accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and the policy makers remain
concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are little
"¢ that growth accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and that the policy makers remain
concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are few

I had doubt between A and E.The answer key gives A as answer arguing that "said" is mentioned. I still have doubt and feel correct answer is E.Kindly confirm.
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by MBACenter » Fri Feb 17, 2012 8:21 am
2varuntaneja wrote:The Federal Reserve announcement said that growth had accelerated after slowing in the
second quarter and that the policy makers remain concerned about the prospects of inflation,
even though there are few signs of higher energy prices driving up the cost of other goods so
far.

"¢ that growth had accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and that the policy makers
remain concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are few
"¢ growth had accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and that the policy makers remain
concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are few
"¢ that growth had accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and the policy makers remain
concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are little
"¢ growth had accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and the policy makers remain
concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are little
"¢ that growth accelerated after slowing in the second quarter and that the policy makers remain
concerned about the prospects of inflation, even though there are few

I had doubt between A and E.The answer key gives A as answer arguing that "said" is mentioned. I still have doubt and feel correct answer is E.Kindly confirm.
The Federal Reserve announced, in the past, something belonging to a more distant past. The past perfect is therefore necessary.
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by rajatvmittal » Fri Feb 17, 2012 10:53 am
At first sight, I chose E but on a second thought I preferred A to E. The reason is that Fed announcement is referring to an event in the deep past.

FED announcement said ... Something that had happened in the past and that policymakers.....(subjunctive mood), even though there are...(present events).
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by chris@magoosh » Fri Feb 17, 2012 6:38 pm
Hi, let's see if I can help :).

Something happened in the past: "the announcement said."

Let's say the announcement was in Nov. 2008.

Now what happens if we have an event taking place in the more distant past?
In this sentence that event is "growth had accelerated." We can say
it did so in Jun. 2008.

Clearly, Jun. 2008 was before Nov. 2008 and that why we want to use the
past perfect to describe what happened in Jun. 2008. So we use had
accelerated vs accelerated.

The reason "remain concerned" uses the simple past is, at the time of
the announcement, policy makers were still concerned.

Hope that helps :).

say Mar. 2007. And let's say this event is
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by Nick333 » Sat Dec 29, 2012 10:44 am
chris@magoosh wrote:Hi, let's see if I can help :).

Something happened in the past: "the announcement said."

Let's say the announcement was in Nov. 2008.

Now what happens if we have an event taking place in the more distant past?
In this sentence that event is "growth had accelerated." We can say
it did so in Jun. 2008.

Clearly, Jun. 2008 was before Nov. 2008 and that why we want to use the
past perfect to describe what happened in Jun. 2008. So we use had
accelerated vs accelerated.

The reason "remain concerned" uses the simple past is, at the time of
the announcement, policy makers were still concerned.

Hope that helps :).

say Mar. 2007. And let's say this event is
but remain concerned is in the simple past clearly
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