Sentence Correction

Until Antoine Lavoisier proved otherwise in the eighteenth century, many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood.

1.many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood.

2.many scientists believed that phlogiston was an imaginary substance released by combustion and its properties were not fully understood

3.phlogiston was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood and which many scientists had believed was released by combustion

4.phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood, was believed by scientists to be released by combustion

5.many scientists had believed that phlogiston was released by combustion and was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood

IMO E

Option A seems to be correct.

IMO A
Scientists believed earlier than Antoine Lavoisier proved.Hence the past perfect had believed is correct.
Moreover,many scientists should come first in the independent clause just to make the 2 clauses parallel.This eliminates 3 and 4.
2 is wrong because it does not use the past perfect had believed and thus it seems as if the many scientists and Lavoisier believed and proved at the same time which is wrong.
Compared to A and E,A is better as it uses active voice "combustion released phlogiston" instead of passive voice used in 5
"phlogiston was released by combustion"

one more vote for A

ankurmit wrote:Until Antoine Lavoisier proved otherwise in the eighteenth century, many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood. 1.many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood.

2.many scientists believed that phlogiston was an imaginary substance released by combustion and its properties were not fully understood

3.phlogiston was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood and which many scientists had believed was released by combustion

4.phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood, was believed by scientists to be released by combustion

5.many scientists had believed that phlogiston was released by combustion and was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood

Quickest approach:

Since the action of believing was completed before another past action (proved), we need the past perfect tense had believed. Eliminate B and D.

In C, the pronoun which is incorrect and should be replaced with the pronoun that. Eliminate C. (One easy way to spot the error: in most cases the pronoun which should be preceded by a comma.)

Between A and E, E is passive (phlogiston was released by combustion) and lacks parallelism (the sentence should say that phlogiston was released by combustion and that it was an imaginary substance). Also, if you're left with A and another answer choice, and you can't spot a clear error in A, eliminate the other answer choice and pick A. It's much safer to stick with the original sentence.

The correct answer is A.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

ankurmit wrote:Until Antoine Lavoisier proved otherwise in the eighteenth century, many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood. 1.many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood.

2.many scientists believed that phlogiston was an imaginary substance released by combustion and its properties were not fully understood

3.phlogiston was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood and which many scientists had believed was released by combustion

4.phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood, was believed by scientists to be released by combustion

5.many scientists had believed that phlogiston was released by combustion and was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood

Quickest approach:

Since the action of believing was completed before another past action (proved), we need the past perfect tense had believed. Eliminate B and D.

In C, the pronoun which is incorrect and should be replaced with the pronoun that. Eliminate C. (One easy way to spot the error: in most cases the pronoun which should be preceded by a comma.)

Between A and E, E is passive (phlogiston was released by combustion) and lacks parallelism (the sentence should say that phlogiston was released by combustion and that it was an imaginary substance). Also, if you're left with A and another answer choice, and you can't spot a clear error in A, eliminate the other answer choice and pick A. It's much safer to stick with the original sentence.

The correct answer is A.

Ummmm.... I am not too sure of that. E should be the correct answer. The questions clearly says that -"Antoine Lavoisier proved ....." ... He proved 2 things - 1) Phlo.. was realeased by combustion
2) It was imaginary.
Just because the first part is passive, we cannot rule it out. Passive voices ARE correct at times, when they reflect the meaning clearly.

Secondly, we can drop the subject after and when the same idea is being carried forward. For ex -

Sam is the biggest contributor to the society and is also, the biggest donor.

dinesh19aug wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

ankurmit wrote:Until Antoine Lavoisier proved otherwise in the eighteenth century, many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood. 1.many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood.

2.many scientists believed that phlogiston was an imaginary substance released by combustion and its properties were not fully understood

3.phlogiston was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood and which many scientists had believed was released by combustion

4.phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood, was believed by scientists to be released by combustion

5.many scientists had believed that phlogiston was released by combustion and was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood

Quickest approach:

Since the action of believing was completed before another past action (proved), we need the past perfect tense had believed. Eliminate B and D.

In C, the pronoun which is incorrect and should be replaced with the pronoun that. Eliminate C. (One easy way to spot the error: in most cases the pronoun which should be preceded by a comma.)

Between A and E, E is passive (phlogiston was released by combustion) and lacks parallelism (the sentence should say that phlogiston was released by combustion and that it was an imaginary substance). Also, if you're left with A and another answer choice, and you can't spot a clear error in A, eliminate the other answer choice and pick A. It's much safer to stick with the original sentence.

The correct answer is A.

Ummmm.... I am not too sure of that. E should be the correct answer. The questions clearly says that -"Antoine Lavoisier proved ....." ... He proved 2 things - 1) Phlo.. was realeased by combustion
2) It was imaginary.
Just because the first part is passive, we cannot rule it out. Passive voices ARE correct at times, when they reflect the meaning clearly.

Secondly, we can drop the subject after and when the same idea is being carried forward. For ex -

Sam is the biggest contributor to the society and is also, the biggest donor.

Yes, passive voice can be in the correct answer. But if given a choice, we should avoid passive voice. If A is in active voice and E is in passive voice, we shouldn't pick E unless A has a clear error.

The example that you cited about Sam is ok because it's parallel: Sam is the biggest contributor...and the biggest donor. Sam is [noun] and [noun]. E does not give us such a parallel structure:

...many scientists had believed that phlogiston was released...and was an imaginary substance.

In, E the structure is phlogiston was [verb] and was [noun], a structure that lacks parallelism.

Another reason that answer choice E cannot be correct: it changes the intended meaning of the sentence. E says that many scientists had believed that phlogiston...was an imaginary substance. This is not what the scientists had believed; it was what Antoine proved.

And what I mentioned above still holds true: if you're left with A and another answer choice, and you can't spot a clear error in A, you should pick A.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

dinesh19aug wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

ankurmit wrote:Until Antoine Lavoisier proved otherwise in the eighteenth century, many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood. 1.many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood.

2.many scientists believed that phlogiston was an imaginary substance released by combustion and its properties were not fully understood

3.phlogiston was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood and which many scientists had believed was released by combustion

4.phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood, was believed by scientists to be released by combustion

5.many scientists had believed that phlogiston was released by combustion and was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood

Quickest approach:

Since the action of believing was completed before another past action (proved), we need the past perfect tense had believed. Eliminate B and D.

In C, the pronoun which is incorrect and should be replaced with the pronoun that. Eliminate C. (One easy way to spot the error: in most cases the pronoun which should be preceded by a comma.)

Between A and E, E is passive (phlogiston was released by combustion) and lacks parallelism (the sentence should say that phlogiston was released by combustion and that it was an imaginary substance). Also, if you're left with A and another answer choice, and you can't spot a clear error in A, eliminate the other answer choice and pick A. It's much safer to stick with the original sentence.

The correct answer is A.

Ummmm.... I am not too sure of that. E should be the correct answer. The questions clearly says that -"Antoine Lavoisier proved ....." ... He proved 2 things - 1) Phlo.. was realeased by combustion
2) It was imaginary.
Just because the first part is passive, we cannot rule it out. Passive voices ARE correct at times, when they reflect the meaning clearly.

Secondly, we can drop the subject after and when the same idea is being carried forward. For ex -

Sam is the biggest contributor to the society and is also, the biggest donor.

Yes, passive voice can be in the correct answer. But if given a choice, we should avoid passive voice. If A is in active voice and E is in passive voice, we shouldn't pick E unless A has a clear error.

The example that you cited about Sam is ok because it's parallel: Sam is the biggest contributor...and the biggest donor. Sam is [noun] and [noun]. E does not give us such a parallel structure:

...many scientists had believed that phlogiston was released...and was an imaginary substance.

In, E the structure is phlogiston was [verb] and was [noun], a structure that lacks parallelism.

Another reason that answer choice E cannot be correct: it changes the intended meaning of the sentence. E says that many scientists had believed that phlogiston...was an imaginary substance. This is not what the scientists had believed; it was what Antoine proved.

And what I mentioned above still holds true: if you're left with A and another answer choice, and you can't spot a clear error in A, you should pick A.

Thanks. It makes sense now.

Thanks mitch,
please clarify...... Does whose refer to phlogiston OR an imaginary substance?

Thanks GURU..

OA A

shweta.kalra wrote:Thanks mitch,
please clarify...... Does whose refer to phlogiston OR an imaginary substance?

In A, whose refers to substance, the noun that immediately precedes it.

Hey Mitch,

Can we say E changes the meaning.

Scientist believed 2 things
"that x and that y"

but option E says
"that X and Y"

E says scientist believed only X.