past tense forms

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gmatster: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Wed Aug 11, 2010 2:57 pm

by gmatster » Wed Oct 20, 2010 12:45 pm

San Franciscans of the 1890s mocked the claim that declared Los Angeles a world city, yet within twenty years a powerful municipal had made this boast a reality.

a) yet within twenty years a powerful municipal had made this boast a reality
b) yet within twenty years a powerful municipal made this boast a reality
c) yet a powerful municipal within twenty years will make this boast a reality
d) yet this boast had become a reality within twenty years because of a powerful will municipally
e) yet within twenty years a municipal will had made this boast a powerful reality

OA: [spoiler]A. The explanation says "Answer Choice (A) correctly uses the past perfect "had made" as required because there are two past actions, one ending before the other. We use the past perfect for the action that happened first - making the boast a reality."

How does "making the boast a reality" happen first? Doesn't the boast come first, then the boast coming a reality, afterwards?[/spoiler]

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Oct 20, 2010 12:45 pm

frank1: Legendary Member; Posts: 537; Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:06 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 14 times

by frank1 » Wed Oct 20, 2010 9:08 pm

i think structure is
simple past -----then you have past perfect ----(had+v3)

the meaning of the sentence seems to be
in 1890 he mocked.
and somebody is saying this,n may be in 1890+21=1911

Both actions had already taken place in some point of time in past.
1890 he mocked but till 1910 it had happeded.(may be proving the initial action wrong)

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karanrulz4ever: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 358; Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 9:47 amFollowed by: 4 members; Location: Mumbai; Thanked: 34 times; GMAT Score:740

by karanrulz4ever » Wed Oct 20, 2010 9:59 pm

When two past actions are stated in a sentence, the earlier of the two actions is represented using past perfect(had) and the more recent action is represented using simple past. I dont think there is an exception to this thumb rule. I am not sure how the answer is A. For me, the answer is B.

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pesfunk: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 286; Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 5:36 pmFollowed by: 5 members; Location: Kolkata, India; Thanked: 11 times

by pesfunk » Thu Oct 21, 2010 12:32 am

Ok Guys...I am a little confused on this one.

Could someone please elaborate ?

gmatster wrote:San Franciscans of the 1890s mocked the claim that declared Los Angeles a world city, yet within twenty years a powerful municipal had made this boast a reality.

a) yet within twenty years a powerful municipal had made this boast a reality
b) yet within twenty years a powerful municipal made this boast a reality
c) yet a powerful municipal within twenty years will make this boast a reality
d) yet this boast had become a reality within twenty years because of a powerful will municipally
e) yet within twenty years a municipal will had made this boast a powerful reality

OA: [spoiler]A. The explanation says "Answer Choice (A) correctly uses the past perfect "had made" as required because there are two past actions, one ending before the other. We use the past perfect for the action that happened first - making the boast a reality."

How does "making the boast a reality" happen first? Doesn't the boast come first, then the boast coming a reality, afterwards?[/spoiler]

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sumit.sinha: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 82; Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2010 8:18 am; Location: India; Thanked: 5 times

by sumit.sinha » Thu Oct 21, 2010 1:28 am

From what i knew, we required to use past-perfect tense only it two actions happened in the past and the sequence of their happening was not clear.
For e.g., if the sentence explicitly uses "before" or "after" then we need not use past-perfect tense at all as the sequence of event is already understood.

On Similar lines here, we know that the mocking happened earlier (in 1980) and then the boasting became a reality (after 20 years in 9210). So where is the use of past-perfect tense here??

I choose B.

Cheers,
Sumit

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novel: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 42; Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:39 pm

by novel » Thu Oct 21, 2010 6:02 am

IMO B

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niksworth: Legendary Member; Posts: 520; Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:44 amFollowed by: 6 members; Thanked: 70 times

by niksworth » Thu Oct 21, 2010 6:19 am

This source is really clumsy. What is the source?

scio me nihil scire

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Arcane66: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 81; Joined: Sat Aug 08, 2009 1:16 pm; Thanked: 2 times

by Arcane66 » Thu Oct 21, 2010 8:22 am

This is another easy question if you understand when to use had + verb. In this case you need to use had + verb because the second sentence refers to the boast (which happened some twenty years ago). It is key to remember that you need to use had + verb if you have two actions that have taken place in the past. You apply the had + verb formula to the action that took place first. If you understand this, you can clearly eliminate all the answers but A.

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GMATMadeEasy: Legendary Member; Posts: 768; Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2009 3:46 amFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 21 times

by GMATMadeEasy » Thu Oct 21, 2010 11:29 am

@Arcane66 -> I agree with your explanation in general, but how do you see boasting evening happening before the claim ?

Also, what is the source of the question ? Some questions not coming from good source can lead to unlearn good things .

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Arcane66: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 81; Joined: Sat Aug 08, 2009 1:16 pm; Thanked: 2 times

by Arcane66 » Fri Oct 22, 2010 9:14 am

GMATMadeEasy wrote:@Arcane66 -> I agree with your explanation in general, but how do you see boasting evening happening before the claim ?

Also, what is the source of the question ? Some questions not coming from good source can lead to unlearn good things .

Come on, brah. The sentence says something and then follows it with a comma. Then, after the comma, you see the word 'this boast'. This, in my opinion, refers to the first part of the sentence before the comma. I feel as if it's easy to just assume this. Make sense or no?

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