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what if every option seems to have some error

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what if every option seems to have some error

by gauravprashar17 » Tue Aug 05, 2014 5:07 pm
1. Before scientists learned how to make a synthetic growth hormone, removing it painstakingly in small amounts from the pituitary glands of human cadavers.
A. scientists learned how to make a synthetic growth hormone, removing it painstakingly
B. scientists had learned about making a synthetic growth hormone, they had to remove it painstakingly
C. scientists learned how to synthesize the growth hormone, it had to be painstakingly removed
D. learning how to make a synthetic growth hormone, scientists had to remove it painstakingly
E. learning how to synthesize the growth hormone, it had to be painstakingly removed by scientists

As the sentence involves two different actions, former and the later action, so we should be using the past perfect tense for former and simple past for the latter. This helps me in chosing option c.
However, there is no antecedent for "it" which makes it incorrect(I guess).
Plus,it cannot refer to the synthetic growth hormone as how can something synthetic be removed from the pituitary glands of human cadavers
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by EducationAisle » Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:25 pm
gauravprashar17 wrote: Plus,it cannot refer to the synthetic growth hormone as how can something synthetic be removed from the pituitary glands of human cadavers
I don't see synthetic growth hormone in C.
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by David@GMATPrepNow » Wed Aug 06, 2014 6:58 am
Hi gauravprashar17,

Good work in choosing answer C, that is correct.

You say that answer C does not have an antecedent for "it," but actually "the growth hormone" is the antecedent to which the pronoun "it" refers.

You would be correct in pointing out that something synthetic cannot be removed from a natural (if dead) body, but look closely at the completed sentence using answer C:

Before scientists learned how to synthesize the growth hormone, it had to be painstakingly removed in small amounts from the pituitary glands of human cadavers.

This correct sentence does not say that a synthetic hormone is removed from human cadavers. It says that BEFORE scientists learned how to make synthetic growth hormone, they removed IT (referring to growth hormone, not synthetic growth hormone) from cadavers.

You may argue that the sentence does not specifically state whether the growth hormone they removed from cadavers was synthetic or natural, but the context of the sentence is clear: BEFORE they could synthesize growth hormone, they had to use natural hormone found in very small amounts in cadavers.

You're doing a good job of closely reading the answers and thinking about what makes sense. Sometimes, though, it is possible to "over think" the answers and not see the forrest because of all the trees! When that happens, when every option seems to have an error, move on and come back to the question later when you have some fresh perspective. There will ALWAYS be a right answer in the official GMAT questions.
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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Aug 07, 2014 6:15 am
gauravprashar17 wrote:1. Before scientists learned how to make a synthetic growth hormone, removing it painstakingly in small amounts from the pituitary glands of human cadavers.
A. scientists learned how to make a synthetic growth hormone, removing it painstakingly
B. scientists had learned about making a synthetic growth hormone, they had to remove it painstakingly
C. scientists learned how to synthesize the growth hormone, it had to be painstakingly removed
D. learning how to make a synthetic growth hormone, scientists had to remove it painstakingly
E. learning how to synthesize the growth hormone, it had to be painstakingly removed by scientists
Synthetic means artificial.
In A, B and D, it seems to refer to a synthetic growth hormone, implying that an ARTIFICIAL hormone was removed from the glands of HUMAN cadavers.
Not the intended meaning. Eliminate A, B and D.

In E, learning seems to modify it, conveying a nonsensical meaning. The intended meaning is that SCIENTISTS were learning how to synthesize the growth hormone. Eliminate E.

The correct answer is C.
As the sentence involves two different actions, former and the later action, so we should be using the past perfect tense for former and simple past for the latter. This helps me in chosing option c.
No verbs in the OA are in the past perfect tense.
OA: Before scientists learned how to synthesize the growth hormone, it had to be painstakingly removed from human cadavers.
Here, had is the simple past tense form of to have, as in the following sentence:
Last year John had a dog.
In the OA, had to be removed = simple past tense + infinitive.

The past perfect form of to have is had had, as in the following:
When he woke up, John described the dream that he had had.
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by bubbliiiiiiii » Fri Aug 08, 2014 1:46 am
GMATGuruNY wrote: No verbs in the OA are in the past perfect tense.
OA: Before scientists learned how to synthesize the growth hormone, it had to be painstakingly removed from human cadavers.
Here, had is the simple past tense form of to have, as in the following sentence:
Last year John had a dog.
In the OA, had to be removed = simple past tense + infinitive.

The past perfect form of to have is had had, as in the following:
When he woke up, John described the dream that he had had.
Hi Mitch,

Great explanation as always! :)

Can you please share some questions/links to threads containing questions testing this concept to get more clarity?
Regards,

Pranay
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by iongmat » Fri Aug 08, 2014 3:31 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
No verbs in the OA are in the past perfect tense.
OA: Before scientists learned how to synthesize the growth hormone, it had to be painstakingly removed from human cadavers.
Here, had is the simple past tense form of to have, as in the following sentence:
Last year John had a dog.
In the OA, had to be removed = simple past tense + infinitive.

The past perfect form of to have is had had, as in the following:
When he woke up, John described the dream that he had had.
Hello Mitch, I am also having difficulty in understanding it. From what I understand, you are suggesting that following is "not" past perfect:

It had to be painstakingly removed from human cadavers.

To me, it looks like a past perfect (in a passive voice).

For example (simplifying and slightly changing the sentence, for ease of understanding):

Active voice in past perfect: Scientists had painstakingly removed hormone from human cadavers. - Past Perfect

Passive voice in past perfect: Hormone had to be painstakingly removed from human cadavers by scientists. - This also should be past perfect, because tense-wise, it really seems exactly the same as the corresponding active voice version.
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Aug 08, 2014 3:50 am
iongmat wrote:
GMATGuruNY wrote:
No verbs in the OA are in the past perfect tense.
OA: Before scientists learned how to synthesize the growth hormone, it had to be painstakingly removed from human cadavers.
Here, had is the simple past tense form of to have, as in the following sentence:
Last year John had a dog.
In the OA, had to be removed = simple past tense + infinitive.

The past perfect form of to have is had had, as in the following:
When he woke up, John described the dream that he had had.
Hello Mitch, I am also having difficulty in understanding it. From what I understand, you are suggesting that following is "not" past perfect:

It had to be painstakingly removed from human cadavers.

To me, it looks like a past perfect (in a passive voice).

For example (simplifying and slightly changing the sentence, for ease of understanding):

Active voice in past perfect: Scientists had painstakingly removed hormone from human cadavers. - Past Perfect

Passive voice in past perfect: Hormone had to be painstakingly removed from human cadavers by scientists. - This also should be past perfect, because tense-wise, it really seems exactly the same as the corresponding active voice version.
An infinitive such as to be removed has no effect on the tense of the main verb.

Present:
The hormone NEEDS to be removed today.
The hormone HAS to be removed today.
The hormones HAVE to be removed today.
Here, needs, has and have are all in the present tense.

Past:
The hormone NEEDED to be removed yesterday.
The hormone HAD to be removed yesterday.
The hormones HAD to be removed yesterday.
Here, needed and had are both in the past tense.

To summarize:
has + infinitive = present singular.
have + infinitive = present plural.
had + infinitive = past (singular or plural).
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