BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Target Test Prep · GMAT

Choose how you want to prepare

Learn live with an expert or move at your own pace. Every option includes the complete TTP study system.

★★★★★5.0559 reviews
Vote for Target Test Prep, Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards 2026
NEWSWEEK READERS’ CHOICE 2026

BIG NEWS! Target Test Prep has been nominated, and they’d love your vote!

TTP has worked incredibly hard to build the best test prep experience possible, and winning Newsweek’s 2026 Readers’ Choice Award for Best Test Prep would mean a lot to them. If TTP has helped you, they’d be incredibly grateful for your vote. You can vote once each day through September 9.

Vote for TTP
GMATLiveTeach 7 seats left
Chris Peckover
NEXT LIVE COHORT

Oct 13 to Jan 7, 2027

with Chris Peckover

Schedule
Tue, Thu · 8:00 to 10:00 PM ET
Included
40 live hours + 6 months of GMAT OnDemand
  • Live instruction and real-time questions
  • Class recordings and assigned practice
View class & enroll
Limited cohort · enrollment openTarget Test Prep
EALiveTeach 5 seats left
Logan Thompson
EXECUTIVE ASSESSMENT

Sep 6 to Dec 6, 2026

with Logan Thompson

Schedule
Sun · 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM ET
Included
40 hours of live online classes plus six months of access to the complete TTP EA OnDemand course.
  • 165+ EA Score Guarantee
  • 4,100+ Quant, Verbal, and Integrated Reasoning practice questions
  • 400+ hours of in-depth video lessons
  • 3,000+ step-by-step video solutions
View EA class & enroll
Limited cohort · enrollment openTarget Test Prep
GMATOnDemand Start anytime
SELF-PACED MASTERCLASS

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

Complete access from day one. Study on your schedule.

715+ score guarantee
$0to start then $127/mo
  • Personalized study plan and analytics
  • Thousands of lessons and practice questions
Start free 5-day trial
Read 559 reviewsTarget Test Prep

Compare the format, schedule, and included access before enrolling. Prices and seat counts shown reflect the supplied offer details.

SC question: A huge flying reptile...

Expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 78
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:05 am
Thanked: 7 times
by dinesh19aug » Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:38 am
A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet, believed to be the largest flying creature the world has ever seen.
(A) believed to be
(B) and that is believed to be
(C) and it is believed to have been
(D) which was, it is believed,
(E) which is believed to be

I ruled out D and E as "which" was incorrectly refering to wingspan (Rule: Which should always refer to the noun preceding it).

I ruled out C because it use "Have been" should be used with a plural subject -------- AM I CORRECT about this??

B was ruled out because it uses that and it again refers to wingspan.

I chose A.


The OA is C.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Source: — Sentence Correction |
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 357
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:31 pmFollowed by: 7 members
Thanked: 128 times

by grockit_andrea » Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:46 am
dinesh19aug wrote:A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet, believed to be the largest flying creature the world has ever seen.
(A) believed to be
(B) and that is believed to be
(C) and it is believed to have been
(D) which was, it is believed,
(E) which is believed to be

I ruled out D and E as "which" was incorrectly refering to wingspan (Rule: Which should always refer to the noun preceding it).

I ruled out C because it use "Have been" should be used with a plural subject -------- AM I CORRECT about this??

B was ruled out because it uses that and it again refers to wingspan.

I chose A.

The OA is C.
In choice A, "believed to be" introduces a modifying phrase, which (just like choices D and E) modifies the noun preceding it, so you can eliminate A. In choice C, "it" refers to the Quetzalcoatlus, which is singular. In the perfect tense used here, "have been" is appropriate for either singular or plural, though. You could say "they were believed to have been" or "it was believed to have been," and both of those uses would be correct.
Andrea A.
Grockit Tutor
https://www.grockit.com
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1893
Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 11:48 pmFollowed by: 7 members
Thanked: 215 times

by kvcpk » Sat Jul 24, 2010 12:58 pm
Good question... C makes sense!!
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 305
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2009 5:38 am
Thanked: 10 times

by Shawshank » Sat Jul 24, 2010 7:33 pm
Its strange but I thouhgt that all the answers are wrong here..
Andrea has pointd out the mistakes...

Just one question. In "C" how do you identify what "it" is pointiing to ,,,, "Quetzalcoatlus" OR "wingspan". please clear my doubts..
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Shawshank Redemtion -- Hope is still alive ...
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 357
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:31 pmFollowed by: 7 members
Thanked: 128 times

by grockit_andrea » Sat Jul 24, 2010 7:40 pm
Shawshank wrote:Its strange but I thouhgt that all the answers are wrong here..
Andrea has pointd out the mistakes...

Just one question. In "C" how do you identify what "it" is pointiing to ,,,, "Quetzalcoatlus" OR "wingspan". please clear my doubts..
There's really no way to determine what "it" refers to except common sense: a wingspan can't be a flying creature, because it's a distance. I think your point here is that the pronoun "it" doesn't have a single clear antecedent, which is true, and is often a reason to eliminate a choice. But the GMAT does occasionally have a correct answer with an ambiguous pronoun in it, and here, while it's not ideal, choice C is the best choice available.
Andrea A.
Grockit Tutor
https://www.grockit.com
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 78
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:05 am
Thanked: 7 times

by dinesh19aug » Sun Jul 25, 2010 1:17 pm
Thanks Andrea ! I was able to rule out everything but did not knew that have been can be used with singular and plural. I was also thinking that I have never heard a sentence which says ".......... believed to has been".

Note to myself - Correct idiom: "......Believed to have been"
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 1:57 am
Thanked: 4 times

by rashmi.kaushal » Mon Jul 26, 2010 11:14 am
Andrea,

Don't we use it for animals ? so how come "they were believed to have been" would have been correct ?

Can you pl explain ?
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 1:57 am
Thanked: 4 times

by rashmi.kaushal » Mon Jul 26, 2010 11:15 am
Andrea,

Don't we use it for animals ? so how come "they were believed to have been" would have been correct ?

Can you pl explain ?
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 357
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:31 pmFollowed by: 7 members
Thanked: 128 times

by grockit_andrea » Sat Jul 31, 2010 5:51 am
rashmi.kaushal wrote:Andrea,

Don't we use it for animals ? so how come "they were believed to have been" would have been correct ?

Can you pl explain ?
I was referring to the use of the verb "have been" being appropriate with either the singular or the plural subject. In the context of this sentence, with a singular antecedent, "it" is the correct pronoun.
Andrea A.
Grockit Tutor
https://www.grockit.com
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1