Sentence Correction

Researchers in Germany have unearthed 400,000-year-old wooden spears from what it appears was an ancient lakeshore hunting ground as stunning evidence of human ancestors who systematically hunted big game much earlier than believed.


A. it appears was an ancient lakeshore hunting ground as stunning evidence of human ancestors who
B. it appears had been an ancient lakeshore hunting ground and stunning evidence that human ancestors
C. appears was an ancient lakeshore hunting ground and is stunning evidence that human ancestors
D. appears to be an ancient lakeshore hunting ground, stunning evidence that human ancestors
E. appears that it is an ancient lakeshore hunting ground, stunning evidence of human ancestors who

Before we jump to look at the answer choices we need to get few basics right. In Gmat you follow the verb tense as given in the non underlined part of the sentence unless a change is required.

Here the verb is 'have unearthed' - present perfect. So we maintain this tense unless a change is required.

A. it appears was an ancient lakeshore hunting ground as stunning evidence of human ancestors who [ too many mistakes here. 'It' has no proper antecedent. 'was' is a past indicator. we need to maintain the present tense format]

B. it appears had been an ancient lakeshore hunting ground and stunning evidence that human ancestors [ had been- past perfect. why is past perfect necessary here?? present tense format is required]

C. appears was an ancient lakeshore hunting ground and is stunning evidence that human ancestors [voils!the author is making a roller coaster of tenses. he shifts from present to past and then back to present. Do we need to take this ride?]

D. appears to be an ancient lakeshore hunting ground, stunning evidence that human ancestors [Correct answer. simple things stated right!]

E. appears that it is an ancient lakeshore hunting ground, stunning evidence of human ancestors who [ 'it' again does not have a proper antecedent. 'evidence of' is wrongly used. it changes the meaning of the sentence!]

Hope this helps!

Thanks OA D

Hey fibbonnaci,

how is the present perfect tense maintained in option D ?

fibbonnaci wrote:
Here the verb is 'have unearthed' - present perfect. So we maintain this tense unless a change is required.

D for me...

Final solution at one place:

Important: The purpose of this post (and all the other posts by me) is to give a complete solution to all GMAT-Prep Verbal questions at one place. Sometimes students have to wade through dozens of posts to get to the final answer. My posts will give one complete and crisp solution required to arrive at the correct answer by eliminating the wrong one. Some of the content in these posts may have been taken from various other sources (discussion forums).

Researchers in Germany have unearthed 400,000-year-old wooden spears from what it appears was an ancient lakeshore hunting ground as stunning evidence of human ancestors who systematically hunted big game much earlier than believed.
(A) it appears was an ancient lakeshore hunting ground as stunning evidence of human ancestors who
(B) it appears had been an ancient lakeshore hunting ground and is stunning evidence that human ancestors
(C) it appears to have been an ancient lakeshore hunting ground and is stunning evidence that human ancestors
(D) appears to be an ancient lakeshore hunting ground, stunning evidence that human ancestors
(E) appears that it is an ancient lakeshore hunting ground, stunning evidence of human ancestors who

Imagine the sentence:

From what happened yesterday, I have drawn a lesson for life. CORRECT

From what 'it' happened yesterday, I have drawn a lesson for life. WRONG, obviously.

This is a similar construction, so 'it' appears will be wrong. This eliminates A, B, and C.

The use of 'it is' is wrong in E because the entire sentence is a conjecture at best (from available data). 'It is' shows certainty. 'Evidence that' is preferred to 'evidence of' as per the preferences on the GMAT. So E is wrong.

From MGMAT SC Guide:

V-A-N Pattern 2: Prefer a That-Clause (with Verbs) to a Series of Phrases (with Nouns)

Wordy: The hypothesis ABOUT the COMPOSITION OF the universe AS largely dark energy seems strange.

Better: The hypothesis THAT the universe IS largely COMPOSED OF dark energy seems strange.

When you tack a long thought onto a noun, try to put the thought in a That-Clause rather than in a long series of prepositional phrases. A That-Clause starts with the word that and contains a working verb (one that, as is, can be the main verb of a sentence by itself). Is composed is a working verb.

"Idea" nouns, such as hypothesis, idea, or suggestion, lend themselves particularly well to this pattern. Other examples include belief, discovery, evidence, indication, and report. These sorts of nouns are often modified by That-Clauses that contain full sentences:

The BELIEF THAT the Earth is flat is contradicted by EVIDENCE THAT the Earth is round and the DISCOVERY THAT the Earth circles the Sun.

Correct: D