GMATPrep - Less than 35 years ...

here's a hint -

when you see 'since' in an SC, you have to use present perfect / progressive. that makes C wrong.

I am not an expert, but I can tell you my rationale: Look at the sentence without a lot of the other unnecessary phrases (such as popularly known as killer bees) at focus on the core structure of the sentence:

LESS THAN 35 YEARS after the release of African honeybees, THEIR DESCENDENTS HAD MIGRATED as far north as southern Texas.

If you look at all the other sentences, they are clumsy:
B and C: “In less than” is wrong for this sentence. it does not work correctly with HAD MIGRATED.
D and E “ It took less than” is also clumsy and wordy. Again does not work with HAD MIGRATED.

A was the cleanest.
[/u]

California4jx wrote:couldnt find the rationale for right answer. Pls help.

OA: A

Ok, Let me try

1. I would first eliminate B-"releasing" is terribly akward

2. E- "Time" and "years " express similar idea. Sentence is an akward

less than the 35 years "

The 35 years is miserable.


3. C- "less than the 35 years "

The 35 years is miserable.


"Their descendents" makes event sequence clear

first came "African bees" and then "Killer bees" migration

hence usage of past perfect is not required to indicate the sequence.

4. -D- In such constructions, "From" is not used and "when" is not required since we already know sequence of event and we also have the info about 35 years

A is the correct

jnellaz wrote:I am not an expert, but I can tell you my rationale: Look at the sentence without a lot of the other unnecessary phrases (such as popularly known as killer bees) at focus on the core structure of the sentence:

LESS THAN 35 YEARS after the release of African honeybees, THEIR DESCENDENTS HAD MIGRATED as far north as southern Texas.

A was the cleanest.
[/u]

I agree that A is the best here. However I have another question.

can you replace "THEIR" with "ITS" ? ie. is this sentence OK ?

LESS THAN 35 YEARS after the release of African honeybees, ITS DESCENDENTS HAD MIGRATED as far north as southern Texas.


thanks in advance.
-V

vittalgmat wrote:

jnellaz wrote:I am not an expert, but I can tell you my rationale: Look at the sentence without a lot of the other unnecessary phrases (such as popularly known as killer bees) at focus on the core structure of the sentence:

LESS THAN 35 YEARS after the release of African honeybees, THEIR DESCENDENTS HAD MIGRATED as far north as southern Texas.

A was the cleanest.
[/u]

I agree that A is the best here. However I have another question.

can you replace "THEIR" with "ITS" ? ie. is this sentence OK ?

LESS THAN 35 YEARS after the release of African honeybees, ITS DESCENDENTS HAD MIGRATED as far north as southern Texas.


thanks in advance.
-V

Wrong. 'their' is unambiguously referring to African honeybees. If we replace 'their' with 'its' then 'its' will refer to Sao Paulo, and that's wrong.

Is the use of past perfect tense in the sentence correct?

I think, first honeybees would had been released and then only they migrated. Use of 'had migrated' indicates that migration happened before release.

Thoughts???