quiz6-q2

@thephoenix - i selected option C, which turned out to be wrong. My question is - Why cant we use a 'past perfect' here?

Since 'had gone deeper in space' happened before 'reported', i felt the use of past perfect here is completely warranted.

Did you also think the same? It will be nice to get answer from e-GMAT team...

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akhpad: Legendary Member; Posts: 809; Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:10 pm; Thanked: 50 times; Followed by:4 members

by akhpad » Wed Apr 07, 2010 8:31 pm

What refers to THEY in A and D. So, A and D out.

I believe it is a comparison with the estimated value. So, estimation should come first.

I also believe that there is no role of previously in "previously estimated".

I will go for B.

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pradeepkaushal9518: Legendary Member; Posts: 1309; Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:41 pm; Thanked: 33 times; Followed by:5 members

by pradeepkaushal9518 » Wed Apr 07, 2010 8:34 pm

it should be in past perfect so has can not be used so A,B,E are out then in between c and d c is correct as it should be used for orion not they as used in D.

So IMO C is correct

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reply2spg: Legendary Member; Posts: 1261; Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:46 am; Thanked: 27 times; GMAT Score:570

by reply2spg » Wed Apr 07, 2010 8:44 pm

IMO E is right here

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rsadana1: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 119; Joined: Sat Jan 24, 2009 3:52 pm; Thanked: 16 times; Followed by:9 members

by rsadana1 » Wed Apr 07, 2010 10:09 pm

Its good to see constructive discussion on these questions.

Lets review the actions that take place in past:

NASA - reported
Orion - gone deeper
NASA estimated

Past perfect tense is used to show sequencing of RELATED events that took place in different times in the past.
The two events that are related here are - Orion gone deeper and NASA estimated. So if at all past perfect tense should be used, it should be used for these two events.

However, in this case, we do not need to use past perfect tense to establish the sequencing since the use of previously sets up the sequencing of these two events stating clearly that NASA estimated previously and then Orion went deeper.

Furthermore, use of present perfect tense is more appropriate here since Orion is still deep inside the space and hence the effect of the action is still valid.

We hope this helps.

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