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Doubt in SC

by vamsi999 » Tue Feb 15, 2011 10:08 am
Qs: Sandra's dream was to become the first female mayor of her home city, but while running in the mayoral election, cancer was detected and another candidate had to be chosen.
A) while running in the mayoral election, cancer was detected and another candidate had to be chosen.
B) while running in the mayoral election, cancer was detected and another candidate was chosen.
C) while running in the mayoral election, the cancer was detected and another candidate was chosen.
D) while running in the mayoral election, Sandra's cancer was detected and another candidate had to be chosen.
E) while running in the mayoral election, a cancer was detected and another candidate was chosen.


Can some one explain me how 'D' is the answer but not 'B'. I'm in a view that simple past 'was chosen' is sufficient and there is no need if 'had to be chosen'.

Thanks in advance,
Vamsi.
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by maihuna » Tue Feb 15, 2011 10:22 am
B has two problem : "a cancer was detected" is not explicitly referring to Sandra's which is rectified in D. Further when two events happen in past and to emphasize the sequence of event one construction needs to be with "had+particple".

Though I am not convince with test sequence here
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by vamsi999 » Tue Feb 15, 2011 10:48 am
Thank u for the reply.

But I still have a doubt --
I guess had + participle should be used for the first event. If I'm not wrong...in this particular case cancer detection is the first event and choosing another candidate is the second event. If so, usage of 'had' isn't wrong??

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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Tue Feb 15, 2011 12:06 pm
Hey guys,

I see what they're trying to do here but D is wrong too. "while running..." must modify Sandra, and "Sandra's" in D isn't a noun for her, it's a modifier for "cancer". This question does not have a correct answer, but is a good learning experience - all of these choices stick you with the modifier "while running in the mayoral election". Cancer cannot run for office, so the next noun must be a plausible candidate like "Sandra".

A correct answer could be:

while running in the mayoral election, Sandra was diagnosed with cancer and another candidate had to be chosen.


Vamsi - good question on the verb tense. You know, in this case "had" is used as a past-tense verb, too. If I were to say "I had to go to the doctor", that's past tense. "Had" refers to the need ("I needed to go to the doctor" would say the same thing), and since there is an infinitive to follow ("had to go...") you can tell that it's not a past-perfect (which would be "had gone" or "had chosen"). So this really isn't a verb tense question at all.

The distinction between "had to be chosen" and "was chosen" is really a difference between what actually happened. Did the voters simply choose another candidate ("was chosen") or did Sandra withdraw from the race and require that a new candidate enter ("had to be chosen")? I think it's more logical that she was forced to withdraw due to illness, so that's why "had to be chosen" is probably a better verb choice.
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by vamsi999 » Tue Feb 15, 2011 10:33 pm
Thank you Brian for the detailed explanation.


Regards
-Vamsi
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