Answer should be A. You need the past perfect because Howard's success in the regulated channels presumably came about BEFORE he opted out for the less regulated stations.btgyes wrote:...
D and E are out because they miss the "although" connection between the success on the regulated channels and Howard's choice to change direction to the less regulated ones.
'Had had' is scary to many students, but it's actually quite the regular form of the past perfect tense: had + V3 (perfect form)
For example, in the verb "had gone", the 'had' is the Past perfect 'had', and "gone is the V3 (perfect form) of the verb "go".
"had had" is really no different: The first 'had' is the past perfect 'had', and the second 'had' is the V3 (perfect form) of the verb 'have', which just happens to be the same 'had'.












