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by abhi332 » Wed Jul 21, 2010 4:48 pm
Some buildings that were destroyed and heavily damaged in the earthquake last year were constructed in
violation of the city's building code.

(A) Some buildings that were destroyed and heavily damaged in the earthquake last year were
(B) Some buildings that were destroyed or heavily damaged in the earthquake last year had been
(C) Some buildings that the earthquake destroyed and heavily damaged last year have been
(D) Last year the earthquake destroyed or heavily damaged some buildings that have been
(E) Last year some of the buildings that were destroyed or heavily damaged in the earthquake had been



[spoiler]OA: B[/spoiler]

I need to know why E is wrong.

OG says "Choice E suggests that the construction of the buildings, rather than the earthquake, occurred last year, thus making the sequence of events unclear"
What you think, you become.
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by pradeepkaushal9518 » Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:01 pm
E is wordy and change the meaning of the sentence it talks about the construction rather than the earthquake
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by gmat_perfect » Thu Jul 22, 2010 12:12 am
abhi332 wrote:Some buildings that were destroyed and heavily damaged in the earthquake last year were constructed in violation of the city's building code.

(A) Some buildings that were destroyed and heavily damaged in the earthquake last year were
(B) Some buildings that were destroyed or heavily damaged in the earthquake last year had been
(C) Some buildings that the earthquake destroyed and heavily damaged last year have been
(D) Last year the earthquake destroyed or heavily damaged some buildings that have been
(E) Last year some of the buildings that were destroyed or heavily damaged in the earthquake had been

[spoiler]OA: B[/spoiler]

I need to know why E is wrong.

OG says "Choice E suggests that the construction of the buildings, rather than the earthquake, occurred last year, thus making the sequence of events unclear"

Some critical reasoning:

1. Destruction Vs Constructions:

Which one is first?

Obviously the building MUST be first constructed; then it can be destroyed.

If the destruction is in the past simple, the construction MUST be in past perfect tense.

=> This rule eliminates the options C and D.

2. Destruction and Damage:

One thing can not be damaged and destroyed at the same time. It can be either destroyed or damaged.

=> This rule eliminates A and C.

3. I can find two things wrong in the option E:

a. some of the buildings that were destroyed..

=> It talks about some of the destroyed buildings.

Example: Total number of destroyed building = 100
Some buildings have been mentioned = 60
The point is these some buildings,60, had not been constructed by following the code.

Bu the original meaning is not that. The meaning is some buildings that were destroyed had been constructed violating the code.

=> It changes the meaning of the sentence.

b. At the very first reading one can easily be misguided by the sentence:

=> the earthquake had been constructed inn violation of the city's building code.

So, this reading is misleading.

Answer is B, the choice which has used all the things correctly.

=> Tense --CORRECT.
=> Meaning --CORRECT.
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