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MGMAT SC

by crak.gmat » Sun Sep 14, 2008 2:32 pm
Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power only after a long struggle by the native people.
A Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power
B Before independence in 1947, Britain had ruled India as a colony and relinquished power
C Before its independence in 1947, India was ruled by Britain as a colony and they relinquished power
D Before independence in 1947, India had been ruled as a colony by Britain, which relinquished power
E Before independence in 1947, India had been a colony of the British, who relinquished power

Explanations please

OA E
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by niraj_a » Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:02 pm
eliminate A and B immediately based on the modifier issue, they both make it sound like Britain got independence in 1947.

then eliminate C as the 'its' in this sentence is really not required, when there are better constructions in D and E.

eliminate D because it is unnecesaarily wordier than E.

hope that helps.
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by vivek.kapoor83 » Sun Sep 14, 2008 8:19 pm
IMO E. OA pls
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by sudharsong » Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:35 pm
IMO D OA Please
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by louvre » Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:18 am
Is D eliminated just because it's wordier than E?!
Could Britain be referenced as Who and Which?
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Re: MGMAT SC

by wonder » Mon Sep 15, 2008 4:00 am
crak.gmat wrote:Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power only after a long struggle by the native people.
A Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power
B Before independence in 1947, Britain had ruled India as a colony and relinquished power
C Before its independence in 1947, India was ruled by Britain as a colony and they relinquished power
D Before independence in 1947, India had been ruled as a colony by Britain, which relinquished power
E Before independence in 1947, India had been a colony of the British, who relinquished power

Explanations please

OA E



i googled a bit and am just posting Stacey Koprince's
reply here (from some other forum)
"before" places the "independence" portion of the sentence relative to the following clause. It does not place the "who relinquished power" portion of the sentence. We still have two events: (1) had been a colony, and (2) the people who relinquished power only after a long struggle. That's our past perfect / simple past mix in this case.

This is not the same thing as saying, for example:
Before she went to the store, she stopped by her mom's house.
Now, the before is actually linking the only two events we have here.

Also, for that before/after rule. It's not saying that you cannot have past perfect - only that it's not required any more. Typically, if the meaning of the sentence is "this one thing happened RIGHT before this other thing - very close in time" then I don't generally use past perfect. If they are still widely separated, though, then I may use it.

Thanks Stacey !!
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by niraj_a » Mon Sep 15, 2008 5:03 am
@louvre,

that's just how i solved this problem. i tend to (successfully) rely on my ear a lot, and bring in official grammar rules only when i have narrowed it down to two choices.
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Re: MGMAT SC

by praneeth » Sat Nov 08, 2008 10:27 am
wonder wrote:
crak.gmat wrote:Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power only after a long struggle by the native people.
A Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power
B Before independence in 1947, Britain had ruled India as a colony and relinquished power
C Before its independence in 1947, India was ruled by Britain as a colony and they relinquished power
D Before independence in 1947, India had been ruled as a colony by Britain, which relinquished power
E Before independence in 1947, India had been a colony of the British, who relinquished power

Explanations please

OA E



i googled a bit and am just posting Stacey Koprince's
reply here (from some other forum)
"before" places the "independence" portion of the sentence relative to the following clause. It does not place the "who relinquished power" portion of the sentence. We still have two events: (1) had been a colony, and (2) the people who relinquished power only after a long struggle. That's our past perfect / simple past mix in this case.

This is not the same thing as saying, for example:
Before she went to the store, she stopped by her mom's house.
Now, the before is actually linking the only two events we have here.

Also, for that before/after rule. It's not saying that you cannot have past perfect - only that it's not required any more. Typically, if the meaning of the sentence is "this one thing happened RIGHT before this other thing - very close in time" then I don't generally use past perfect. If they are still widely separated, though, then I may use it.

Thanks Stacey !!
Doesn't the official answer alter the meaning slightly in this case, i.e. being ruled as a colony is not the same as being a colony?

I thought if the question has a clear meaning we are not allowed to change it. Would love to hear thoughts from the gurus.

Thank you.
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by hk_4u » Tue Jan 05, 2010 9:44 pm
Reviving an old thread

I feel option B cannot be discarded because of the modifier issue.

option B says ,"Before Independence in 1947" and NOT "Before its independence in 1947" . These 2 modifiers are different and option B is correct as Independence is just an event and is not linked to Britain or India

Even MGMAT in its explanation says

(B) Britain should not be the recipient of the modifier "Before its independence."

It might be a typo.
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by Fooxdype » Tue Sep 18, 2012 11:09 am
You commit an error. I can defend the position. Write to me in PM, we will communicate.
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by Blue_Skies » Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:10 pm
crak.gmat wrote:Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power only after a long struggle by the native people.
A Before its independence in 1947, Britain ruled India as a colony and they would relinquish power
B Before independence in 1947, Britain had ruled India as a colony and relinquished power
C Before its independence in 1947, India was ruled by Britain as a colony and they relinquished power
D Before independence in 1947, India had been ruled as a colony by Britain, which relinquished power
E Before independence in 1947, India had been a colony of the British, who relinquished power

Explanations please

OA E
After the opening warm-up or prepositional modifier, India is the noun being modified. Now among C,D and E, C incorrectly uses they for Britain. Eliminate C. Now between D and E. India was a colony of the British is idiomatically correct. D is a unclear in meaning(ruled as a colony doesn't sound correct to me).(Usually , as is used for comparison in clauses).
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