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BHARATI

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by arorag » Thu Jun 19, 2008 8:47 am
Being a United States citizen since 1988 and born in Calcutta in 1940, author Bharati Mukherjee has lived in England and Canada, and first came to the United States in 1961 to study at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

(A) Being a United States citizen since 1988 and born in Calcutta in 1940, author Bharati Mukherjee has
(B) Having been a United States citizen since 1988, she was born in Calcutta in 1940; author Bharati Mukherjee
(C) Born in Calcutta in 1940, author Bharati Mukherjee became a United States citizen in 1988; she has
(D) Being born in Calcutta in 1940 and having been a United States citizen since 1988, author Bharati Mukherjee
(E) Having been born in Calcutta in 1940 and being a United States citizen since 1988, author Bharati Mukherjee

What is wrong with B. If we has lived doesn't it mean that she is still living
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by punit.kaur.mba » Thu Jun 19, 2008 8:58 am
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by sulabh » Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:15 am
B suggests that she had been a citizen of US before she was born !!!!
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by lvincy » Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:17 am
I will go for C.
Has lived is present prefect but can be used for past event when exact time is not known.
In this example she lived in England and Calcutta during 1940 to 1961 but it is not known for how long.So here "has lived "is correct.

Arorag what is OA?
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by punit.kaur.mba » Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:24 am
Ya, I also thought C was the best option.
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by g_beatthegmat » Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:59 am
(C) is the best option here.

There are couple of problems in option (B) - look closely to what "having been" is referring to -
Having been a United States citizen since 1988, she was born in Calcutta in 1940
notice that I've removed the text after ';'. That's because, any sentence before or after a semi-color ';' should make complete sense.. sentences before and after the semi-colon can be interdependent alright, but have to make complete sense without each other too.

So the quote above doesn't refer to any definite person, only refers to some "she". Who is this "she" isn't clear.
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by varunrajwade » Fri Jun 20, 2008 7:36 am
I too selected C initially, but I am confused about the semicolon.. What does it signify? And how does sentence flow work with it?
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by punit.kaur.mba » Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:19 am
a semicolon suggests two independent clauses and hence should make sense irrespective of the fact that the other is present. So, a pronoun in one of the independent clauses cannot refer to a subject or object in the other independent clause.
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by ildude02 » Fri Jun 20, 2008 5:21 pm
If this holds true, then the independent clause in C after ; begins with "she" as well and it doesn't have a noun to refer too for that particular clause. I don't think having a SHE without the reference makes it non-independent. At least, that's my thinking'not sure if anyone wants to weight on this thought
punit.kaur.mba wrote:a semicolon suggests two independent clauses and hence should make sense irrespective of the fact that the other is present. So, a pronoun in one of the independent clauses cannot refer to a subject or object in the other independent clause.
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by shipra » Sat Jun 21, 2008 3:28 am
can sum1 pl stell em ewhats wrong with option D?
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by punit.kaur.mba » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:01 am
Shipra,

As far as I know... we should try to avoid sentences that have "being" in them.

I eliminate them right away and look at such choices at the end only if others don't seem correct.
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by anubhavmehrotra » Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:09 am
Would have to go with (C) ... (A) and (B) can bee right away eliminated, and even (D) is awkward... between (C) and (E), C seems the most concise, and well worded. Also people... the only answer choice not having the word 'being' ... a straight no no for the GMAT !!

Cheers :)
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