The Emperor Augustus, it appears, commissioned an idealized sculpture portrait, the features of which are so unrealistic as to constitute what one scholar calls an "artificial face."
(A) so unrealistic as to constitute
(B) so unrealistic they constituted
(C) so unrealistic that they have constituted
(D) unrealistic enough so that they constitute
(E) unrealistic enough so as to constitute
OA: A
The official explanation states: The verbs are and calls indicate that the sculpture is being viewed and judged in the present. Thus, neither the past tense verb constituted (in B) nor the present perfect verb have constituted (in C) is correct; both suggest that the statue's features once constituted an artificial face but no longer do so.
I couldn't get how 'have constituted' can be rejected on the aforementioned grounds.
OG10#88 - verb tense confusion ?
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- sui generis
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To indicate a GENERAL TRUTH -- something that is true now and will remain true in the future -- we use the PRESENT TENSE.sui generis wrote:The Emperor Augustus, it appears, commissioned an idealized sculpture portrait, the features of which are so unrealistic as to constitute what one scholar calls an "artificial face."
(A) so unrealistic as to constitute
(B) so unrealistic they constituted
(C) so unrealistic that they have constituted
(D) unrealistic enough so that they constitute
(E) unrealistic enough so as to constitute
OA: A
The official explanation states: The verbs are and calls indicate that the sculpture is being viewed and judged in the present. Thus, neither the past tense verb constituted (in B) nor the present perfect verb have constituted (in C) is correct; both suggest that the statue's features once constituted an artificial face but no longer do so.
I couldn't get how 'have constituted' can be rejected on the aforementioned grounds.
The features of the sculpture are a general truth.
Thus, the present tense is appropriate here:
The features ARE so unrealistic as TO CONSTITUTE what one scholar CALLS an "artificial face".
The correct answer is A.
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- sui generis
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Thanks Mitch for the quick reply.
I concur with your reasoning; definitely A is better than C. However, in absence of choice A would choice C be correct ? As such I don't see any problem with 'have constituted'.
I concur with your reasoning; definitely A is better than C. However, in absence of choice A would choice C be correct ? As such I don't see any problem with 'have constituted'.
- sui generis
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D uses both 'enough' and 'so that', making the construction redundant and awkward.why not D is correct ?
Using either is the correct usage.
e.g. - X are unrealistic enough to constitute Y
OR X are so unrealistic that they constitute Y
OR X are so unrealistic as to constitute Y
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Looks like this is debatable. While I seem to remember coming across a recent GMATPrep question that uses this idiom, it is interesting to note the OE for OG 12 #37, option C:katy_123 wrote:the correct idiom is "so X as to Y"
The construction so x as to y is not a correct idiom.
But then, some of the OEs are known to be not exactly high class.
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Between A and E, I preferred A for idiomatic usage.sui generis wrote:The Emperor Augustus, it appears, commissioned an idealized sculpture portrait, the features of which are so unrealistic as to constitute what one scholar calls an "artificial face."
(A) so unrealistic as to constitute
(B) so unrealistic they constituted
(C) so unrealistic that they have constituted
(D) unrealistic enough so that they constitute
(E) unrealistic enough so as to constitute
Regards,
Pranay
Pranay