mj41 wrote:Some historians estimate that in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, twice as much acreage was destroyed than had earlier been ravaged in Napoleon ' s Moscow burnings of 1812 and the Great Fire of London of 1666 combined.

A. than had earlier been
B. than the amount that was earlier
C. over the amount that was previously
D. as had earlier been
E. as was

Can someone please explain why OA D is correct and not E

I thought the past perfect is only used when the sequence is not clear. Here dates are clearly given to show one event before the other

Thanks

Hi Mj41,

Always underline in the SC questions. It enhance the readability.

In the above question, there 3 events occurred at two different time intervals. Two period is given but you need to use correct tense to show the time difference.

So, past perfect tense is required to denote the earlier event.

A) is out because it's not parallel. We need here 'as much... as'
B) not parallel
C) not parallel + incorrect tense
D) Correct
E) Incorrect tense.

As years (1812 and 1666) are mentioned to show that fire happened in past, why we need "had" to show that time difference ?

In my opinion, the Great Chicago Fire of 1877 (a more recent incident) is compared to
two situations in the later past:

Napoleon's Moscow burning of 1812 and
the Great Fire of London of 1666 COMBINED.

"twice AS much was destroyed AS had..."
"had" is necessary because both Napoleon's burning and the Great Fire of 1666 occurred
in latter time in the past than (the more recent Great Chicago Fire of 1877)

Clear D.
Idiom : As .... As
Past Perfect: one event before another .. so Had