is vs was

Expert replies

[email protected]: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 117; Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2008 5:08 pm; Thanked: 1 times

by [email protected] » Mon Apr 13, 2009 3:57 am

Students in the early 1960s were taught that electrons orbit the nucleus of an atom and the path of this orbit was circular.

the path of this orbit was

the path of this orbit is

the path of this orbit has been

that the path of this orbit is

that the path of the orbit was

Ans.Dwhy not E

Like this post

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Apr 13, 2009 3:57 am

scoobydooby: Legendary Member; Posts: 1035; Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:56 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 104 times

by scoobydooby » Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:12 am

students were taught x and y. x and y need to be parallel.

x) electrons orbit the nucleus. present tense
y) path of the orbit was nucleus. past tense.

to maintain parallelism, we must keep x and y in the same tense. since x has present tense and is in the non-underlined portion, we must use present tense for y. so "is" is preferred to was. therefore D

Like this post

nervesofsteel: Legendary Member; Posts: 594; Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:51 pm; Thanked: 12 times

by nervesofsteel » Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:20 am

also E changes meaning..
it sounds like... it was taught that path used to be circular.. and is not circular when the lesson was being delivered..........

SO D

Like this post

Post new topic Locked

• Page 1 of 1

GMAT Course Reviews

559 reviews

1168 reviews

431 reviews

359 reviews

147 reviews

5/5

5 Star (560 Reviews)

"Target Test Prep is the closest to the official version of the GMAT exam, about 99% accuracy in terms of the quality and quantity of information. The course has excellently created singular sets of focused lessons and tests for every possible topic that one could come across in the official GMAT exam."

"The TTP course maximizes the efficiency of the time you spend studying. It will take time and effort but I could almost guarantee that if you complete the course exactly as it is laid out you will get an amazing score. They also have a very responsive team willing to help with any questions you might have."

"TTP has two things that I think no other test prep company offers: A teaching approach that reinforces understanding and an attitude that will give you the mental preparedness needed to succeed on the test. TTP gives you a deep understanding of the concept you need to know while teaching you how to think."

Write a Review