Gmat Paper SC

This topic has expert replies
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:44 am
Thanked: 1 times

Gmat Paper SC

by lalabee » Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:47 pm
not sure why have to pick A, and why "has ever come" is used

i thought the whole sentence is past tense, i picked C for the first time, and D for the 2nd time.

Please kindly explain thanks.
Attachments
SC.JPG

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 » Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:20 pm
The different tenses give a different meaning to the sentence.

"has ever come" means we're comparing that person's achievement to all other achievements - before him, coincident with him and after him.

All of the other answers use tenses completely in the past, which indicate that we're only comparing his achievements with other past achievements. Those tenses aren't necessarily gramatically incorrect, but changing the meaning of the sentence is against the rules.

Every correct answer needs to satisfy 3 critera. In order of priority:

(1) gramatically correct;

(2) doesn't change the meaning of the original sentence; and

(3) stylistically superior.

Only when the original sentence is nonsensical are we allowed to play with the meaning.
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

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 39
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:17 am

by yalephd2007 » Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:39 pm
A is the correct answer. As ... as...