Plz help ...Tense Problem

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Plz help ...Tense Problem

by bzg2hg » Wed May 27, 2009 6:11 am
Balzac drank more than fifty cups of coffee a day and died of caffeine poisoning; furthermore, caffeine did not seem to bother Samuel Johnson, the great writer and lexicographer, who was reported to have drunk twenty-five cups of tea at one sitting.

(A) furthermore, caffeine did not seem to bother
(B) however, caffeine did not seem to bother
(C) however, caffeine did not seem to have bothered
(D) furthermore, caffeine did not seem to have bothered
(E) in addition, caffeine did not seem to bother

Why OA is B not C .

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Re: Plz help ...Tense Problem

by California4jx » Wed May 27, 2009 6:42 am
bzg2hg wrote:Balzac drank more than fifty cups of coffee a day and died of caffeine poisoning; furthermore, caffeine did not seem to bother Samuel Johnson, the great writer and lexicographer, who was reported to have drunk twenty-five cups of tea at one sitting.

(A) furthermore, caffeine did not seem to bother
(B) however, caffeine did not seem to bother
(C) however, caffeine did not seem to have bothered
(D) furthermore, caffeine did not seem to have bothered
(E) in addition, caffeine did not seem to bother

Why OA is B not C .
Yes, the correct answer is B. You need a contrasting comparison, so we used however. The comparison was made with Balzac, that used past tense and therefore we used a past tense in B.