Studies conducted in the 1990s

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Studies conducted in the 1990s

by sKazi » Tue Aug 07, 2012 8:30 am
Studies conducted in the 1990s indicate that even after fifty years, patients are still suffering the long term effects of polio occurring when a child.

A. contracted when a child
B. contracted when children
C. that was contracted when a child
D. contracted when they were children
E. that has been contracted as each was a child

OA D

Need some more inputs.
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by Ludacrispat26 » Tue Aug 07, 2012 11:11 am
We should be able to safely rule out E based on the awkawardness of the structure, so let's go to A-D.

A: "when a child" is improper because we're referring to patients, which is plural, so patients at large were never "a child"

B: when children....what? here, children could be the subject of an incomplete phrase, but we can't have the phrase be "contracted when children." however, this should be a hint: the reason this answer is put here is because it *sounds* correct because, as we know, the correct answer is D. in ordinary usage, someone might say "when children," but we're looking for gramatical preciseness here.

C: "that was" is superfluous and "when a child" suffers the same problem as in A

D: bingo. when did the patients contract polio? "when they were children." the patients did not contract polio when they were a child. see how much clearer it is when you structure it as such?
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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:37 pm
Studies conducted in the 1990s indicate that even after fifty years, patients are still suffering the long term effects of polio occurring when a child.

A. contracted when a child (awkward, and doesn't work with plural "patients")
B. contracted when children (awkward)
C. that was contracted when a child (same problem as A)
D. contracted when they were children (good)
E. that has been contracted as each was a child (it is incorrect to use present perfect for an event that occurred fifty years ago)

On an unrelated note, Ludacrispat26 I love your avatar! I never should have given up animation rights...
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by sKazi » Fri Aug 10, 2012 11:52 pm
Thanks Ludacrispat26 & Bill@VeritasPrep..

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