BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

OG 10- Native american burial sites

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 99
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 7:56 pm
Thanked: 5 times
GMAT Score:720

OG 10- Native american burial sites

by singhag » Sun Sep 20, 2009 9:47 am
Native American burial sites dating back 5000 years indicate that the residents of Maine at that time were part of a widespread culture of Algonquian-speaking people.
(A) were part of a widespread culture of Algonquian-speaking people
(B) had been part of a widespread culture of people who were Algonquian-speaking
(C) were people who were part of a widespread culture that was Algonquian-speaking
(D) had been people who were part of a widespread culture that was Algonquian-speaking
(E) were a people which had been part of a widespread，Algonquian-speaking culture

[spoiler]As per OG E is incorrect because Were and had been are inconsistent for tenses;which is not the proper pronoun for people-wordy and imprecise.
Please explain me how were and had been is inconsistent..is it general rule [/spoiler]
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 43
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 9:54 am
Thanked: 2 times

by glorydefined » Sun Sep 20, 2009 11:30 am
let me knw if the OA is A
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 58
Joined: Sat Apr 17, 2010 7:30 am
Thanked: 2 times

by r2kins » Mon Jan 21, 2013 7:26 pm
singhag wrote:Native American burial sites dating back 5000 years indicate that the residents of Maine at that time were part of a widespread culture of Algonquian-speaking people.
(A) were part of a widespread culture of Algonquian-speaking people
(B) had been part of a widespread culture of people who were Algonquian-speaking
(C) were people who were part of a widespread culture that was Algonquian-speaking
(D) had been people who were part of a widespread culture that was Algonquian-speaking
(E) were a people which had been part of a widespread，Algonquian-speaking culture

[spoiler]As per OG E is incorrect because Were and had been are inconsistent for tenses;which is not the proper pronoun for people-wordy and imprecise.
Please explain me how were and had been is inconsistent..is it general rule [/spoiler]
This is an old one but I am confused about the same thing. The explanation for Option E says that it is incorrect because Were and had been are inconsistent tenses. Aren't the past perfect and the simple past supposed to go together?
Top
Legendary Member
Posts: 1404
Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 6:55 pm
Thanked: 18 times
Followed by:2 members

by tanviet » Wed Feb 13, 2013 7:06 pm
had done in e is wrong because there is no sequece here. "were"can not logically in sequence with "had done"

remember, had done is used to show a sequence. if you want to use had done, you have to find/see a sequence.
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2095
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pm
Thanked: 1443 times
Followed by:247 members

by ceilidh.erickson » Thu Feb 14, 2013 8:02 am
"Were" is the simple past tense - we use it for anything that was generally true in the past, or that happened at one specific past moment.

"Had been" is the past perfect - we use it to indicate what happened before some other past tense event:
The teacher worried about the student who had been absent the entire month. The being absent happened before the worrying.

We can use the simple past and the present perfect together in a sentence if the meaning requires that two things happen at different time periods. In this sentence, though, "they were a people" and "[they] had been part of a ... culture" should not be happening at different time periods, so we should not use two different verb tenses.

In fact, we don't need to use two different verbs at all. "They were a people who were..." would be redundant. The most logical and concise way to phrase this is "they were part of..."
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2012 4:15 am
Thanked: 1 times

by viveksingh222 » Sun Feb 17, 2013 10:03 am
It is quiet simple to rule out E just remove the fluff..
then read the sentence you will find some thing like this
Residents were a people..

Thank You,
Vivek.
Top
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:38 pm

by vishalbpr » Mon Feb 18, 2013 8:40 am
glorydefined wrote:let me knw if the OA is A
As per the discussion here, OA is A.

My take..

Native American burial sites dating back 5000 years indicate that the residents of Maine at that time were part of a widespread culture of Algonquian-speaking people.
(A) were part of a widespread culture of Algonquian-speaking people
(B) had been part of a widespread culture of people who were Algonquian-speaking //There is no past event which "had been" should be compared with.
(C) were people who were part of a widespread culture that was Algonquian-speaking //Culture can not speak english
(D) had been people who were part of a widespread culture that was Algonquian-speaking //Same as B
(E) were a people which had been part of a widespread，Algonquian-speaking culture // A People is not right
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1