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confused Tenses

by thevoid » Sun Sep 19, 2010 9:34 pm
His studies of ice-polished rocks in his Alpine homeland, far outside the range of present-day glaciers, led Louis Agassiz in 1837 to propose the concept of an age in which great ice sheets had
existed in now currently temperate areas.

(A) in which great ice sheets had existed in now currently temperate areas
(B) in which great ice sheets existed in what are now temperate areas
(C) when great ice sheets existed where there were areas now temperate
(D) when great ice sheets had existed in current temperate areas
(E) when great ice sheets existed in areas now that are temperate
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by kvcpk » Sun Sep 19, 2010 11:38 pm
IMO B.

I dont see any tense issue here.

"when" is used to indicate time of event.

When did Louis Agassiz propose the concept??
When great ice sheets had existed - This is wrong.
In 1837 - this is right.

"great ice sheets had existed... " is describing Ice Age. Hence use of "In which" is right here.

Now and Currently are redundant.

Hence pick B.

What is OA?
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by kvcpk » Sun Sep 19, 2010 11:47 pm
In case you are confused whether to use "when" or "in which", remove the prepositional phrase and check.

His studies of ice-polished rocks in his Alpine homeland, far outside the range of present-day glaciers, led Louis Agassiz in 1837 to propose the concept of an age in which great ice sheets had
existed in now currently temperate areas.

C,E can be eliminated easily.

If you want to choose based on Verb tense:

Past perfect tense is used when 2 related events occur in the past.

Ebents occuring here are:
Louis Agassiz proposing the concept
great ice sheets existing.

These 2 are unrelated events. Hence past perfect tense cannot be used.
A,D are out.

Hope this helps!!
"Once you start working on something,
don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it.
People who work sincerely are the happiest."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)
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by thevoid » Mon Sep 20, 2010 3:09 am
kvcpk wrote:In case you are confused whether to use "when" or "in which", remove the prepositional phrase and check.

His studies of ice-polished rocks in his Alpine homeland, far outside the range of present-day glaciers, led Louis Agassiz in 1837 to propose the concept of an age in which great ice sheets had
existed in now currently temperate areas.

C,E can be eliminated easily.

If you want to choose based on Verb tense:

Past perfect tense is used when 2 related events occur in the past.

Ebents occuring here are:
Louis Agassiz proposing the concept
great ice sheets existing.

These 2 are unrelated events. Hence past perfect tense cannot be used.
A,D are out.

Hope this helps!!

OA is B only thnx dat was a kool explanation
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by kvcpk » Mon Sep 20, 2010 4:01 am
thevoid wrote: OA is B only thnx dat was a kool explanation
Glad it helped. Good to see that I got the tense part right. Should thank e-Gmat for that.
"Once you start working on something,
don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it.
People who work sincerely are the happiest."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)
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by rayapudisandeep » Mon Sep 20, 2010 8:47 am
Hi,

Isn't "in which" modifying "an age" instead of "concept"?

Thanks,
Sandeep
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by kvcpk » Mon Sep 20, 2010 8:58 am
rayapudisandeep wrote:Hi,

Isn't "in which" modifying "an age" instead of "concept"?

Thanks,
Sandeep
I misread that. You are right. Both of them can be used.
But as stated in my post above, there is a tense issue too.
So D can be eliminated.

Hope this helps!!
"Once you start working on something,
don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it.
People who work sincerely are the happiest."
Chanakya quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275BC)
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by beatthegmatinsept » Mon Sep 20, 2010 9:07 am
kvcpk wrote:
thevoid wrote: OA is B only thnx dat was a kool explanation
Glad it helped. Good to see that I got the tense part right. Should thank e-Gmat for that.
Me too!! For a change, I didnt have to read the sentence over and over again to make sure I have the tenses right. e-GMAT really did some awesome job explaining that concept :)
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