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When to use being in GMATland?

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When to use being in GMATland?

by rahulg83 » Mon May 04, 2009 7:40 am
Revered by an ill-informed citizenry, the Duke of York was feted opulently for several months before there was denunciation and exile.

(A) there was denunciation and exile
(B) he was to be denounced with exile
(C) being denounced and exiled
(D) denunciation and his exile
(E) being exiled, having been denounced

OA C, which seems correct to me. please explain when to use being in the sentence..
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by Jose Ferreira » Mon May 04, 2009 1:00 pm
This is a very dicey GMAT idea, given how frequently test-prep teachers talk about avoiding "being" at all costs.

The fact is, "being" is wrong about 99 per cent of the time in this section. It often leads to wordy and awkward constructions. But, to give you a short answer, you should answer with "being" if the other four answers are wrong.


Revered by an ill-informed citizenry, the Duke of York was feted opulently for several months before there was denunciation and exile.

(A) there was denunciation and exile
The "there was denunciation" construction is not parallel with "he was feted"

(B) he was to be denounced with exile
"denounced with exile" is not a preferred idiomatic way of expressing this idea, and it is wordy

(C) being denounced and exiled
The only thing "wrong" is the fact that we usually avoid "being." However, this is parallel in terms of its two past-tense verbs and its passive-verb construction

(D) denunciation and his exile
We need a verb to be parallel with "was feted"

(E) being exiled, having been denounced
"having been" is unnecessarily wordy. Additionally, it implies that he was denounced before he was exiled, which we do not have evidence to support

The sentence I would prefer would be this:

"Revered by an ill-informed citizenry, the Duke of York was feted opulently for several months before he was denounced and exiled."

We do not get that option, so we are forced to pick the best available answer, which is answer C.
Jose Ferreira
Founder and CEO, Knewton, Inc.
https://www.knewton.com/gmat
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