Sentence Correction

Depending on one's point of view, the proliferation of the television is either a great advance in communication or an unmistakable sign that the decline in high culture begun before the war is still continuing.

A. Same
B. decline of high culture begun before the war is still continuing
C. decline of high culture that began before the war is continuing
D. decline in culture in high places that began before the war is continuing
E. declining culture in high places that began before the war still continues.

Source: Princeton Review
The OA is C.

If C is the right answer, doesn't the relative clause that the decline in high culture lack a verb? Can someone please explain what am I missing here?

the entire dependent clause includes 'that the decline of high culture that began before the war is continuing'

Ultimately you have to use a little logic and see that the relative clauses beginning with 'that' are connected.

sidchilling wrote:Depending on one's point of view, the proliferation of the television is either a great advance in communication or an unmistakable sign that the decline in high culture begun before the war is still continuing.

A. Same
B. decline of high culture begun before the war is still continuing
C. decline of high culture that began before the war is continuing
D. decline in culture in high places that began before the war is continuing
E. declining culture in high places that began before the war still continues.

Source: Princeton Review
The OA is C.

If C is the right answer, doesn't the relative clause that the decline in high culture lack a verb? Can someone please explain what am I missing here?

Hey Sid,

I think I get what you're asking. But, technically, there are TWO verbs in the relative clause (starting with "that": "began" and "is continuing."

This question is testing Verb Tenses. And we need to know the differences between "begun" and "began" in order to get it right!

The word "began" is used to express the past tense of the verb "to begin."

Past Tense
I began
you began
he began
we began
you began
they began

"Begun" is used in the "perfect" tenses:

Present Perfect
I have begun
you have begun
he has begun
we have begun
you have begun
they have begun

Past Perfect
I had begun
you had begun
he had begun
we had begun
you had begun
they had begun

The Present Perfect tense describes an event that STARTED in the past, but CONTINUES to the present.

The Past Perfect tense describes an event that occurred BEFORE a simple Past Tense event.

In this sentence, the only other verb in the relative clause is a simple present tense: "is continuing," so why is choice (A) using the past tense, "begun"? They are talking about a SPECIFIC point in time: when this "decline" BEGAN, so we don't need to use the past perfect tense. The meaning of the decline's continuation into the present is already taken care of by the 2nd verb, "is continuing"!

Since we are describing an event that occurred before a simple present event, we only need a simple past tense verb: "began." No need to get all fancy with "perfect" tenses if the sentence doesn't REQUIRE one of them for the sake of clarity of meaning.

Here's another question that use this specific verb. Ask yourself what tense is "begun," and how it is used in each sentence to convey a certain meaning. You can Google for the solution.

1) An effort to control the crippling poverty in Brazil's interior cities, begun almost 30 years ago, has been partially successful, despite the setback of a major draught and the interruption of aid during an extended economic crisis.

A. An effort to control the crippling poverty in Brazil's interior cities,
B. Begun almost 30 years ago for controlling the crippling effects of poverty in Brazil's interior cities,
C. Begun for controlling the crippling effects of poverty in Brazil's interior cities almost 30 years ago,
D. At controlling the crippling effects of poverty in Brazil's interior cities begun almost 30 years ago,
E. That has begun almost 30 years ago to control the crippling effects of poverty in Brazil's interior cities,

Hope this helps!

Best,
Vivian

sidchilling wrote:Depending on one's point of view, the proliferation of the television is either a great advance in communication or an unmistakable sign that the decline in high culture begun before the war is still continuing.

A. Same
B. decline of high culture begun before the war is still continuing
C. decline of high culture that began before the war is continuing
D. decline in culture in high places that began before the war is continuing
E. declining culture in high places that began before the war still continues.

Source: Princeton Review
The OA is C.

If C is the right answer, doesn't the relative clause that the decline in high culture lack a verb? Can someone please explain what am I missing here?

Hey Sid,

I think I get what you're asking. But, technically, there are TWO verbs in the relative clause (starting with "that": "began" and "is continuing."

This question is testing Verb Tenses. And we need to know the differences between "begun" and "began" in order to get it right!

The word "began" is used to express the past tense of the verb "to begin."

Past Tense
I began
you began
he began
we began
you began
they began

"Begun" is used in the "perfect" tenses:

Present Perfect
I have begun
you have begun
he has begun
we have begun
you have begun
they have begun

Past Perfect
I had begun
you had begun
he had begun
we had begun
you had begun
they had begun

The Present Perfect tense describes an event that STARTED in the past, but CONTINUES to the present.

The Past Perfect tense describes an event that occurred BEFORE a simple Past Tense event.

In this sentence, the only other verb in the relative clause is a simple present tense: "is continuing," so why is choice (A) using the past tense, "begun"? They are talking about a SPECIFIC point in time: when this "decline" BEGAN, so we don't need to use the past perfect tense. The meaning of the decline's continuation into the present is already taken care of by the 2nd verb, "is continuing"!

Since we are describing an event that occurred before a simple present event, we only need a simple past tense verb: "began." No need to get all fancy with "perfect" tenses if the sentence doesn't REQUIRE one of them for the sake of clarity of meaning.

Here's another question that use this specific verb. Ask yourself what tense is "begun," and how it is used in each sentence to convey a certain meaning. You can Google for the solution.

1) An effort to control the crippling poverty in Brazil's interior cities, begun almost 30 years ago, has been partially successful, despite the setback of a major draught and the interruption of aid during an extended economic crisis.

A. An effort to control the crippling poverty in Brazil's interior cities,
B. Begun almost 30 years ago for controlling the crippling effects of poverty in Brazil's interior cities,
C. Begun for controlling the crippling effects of poverty in Brazil's interior cities almost 30 years ago,
D. At controlling the crippling effects of poverty in Brazil's interior cities begun almost 30 years ago,
E. That has begun almost 30 years ago to control the crippling effects of poverty in Brazil's interior cities,

Hope this helps!

Best,
Vivian

sidchilling wrote:

If C is the right answer, doesn't the relative clause that the decline in high culture lack a verb? Can someone please explain what am I missing here?

OA: an unmistakeable sign that the decline of high culture that began before the war is continuing
Here, the that-clause in red serves as an adjective modifying the decline of high culture:
the decline of high culture that BEGAN before the war.
The verb for this that-clause is began.
If we omit the that-clause in red, we get:
an unmistakeable sign that the decline of high culture IS CONTINUING.
The verb for this that-clause is is continuing.