Sentence Correction

The success of the program to eradicate smallpox has stimulated experts to
pursue what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as measles and yaws.

A. what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as
B. what they had not previously considered a possibility -- better control, if not eradication, of such infections like
C. something they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of such infections as
D. something not considered a previous possibility -- better control and perhaps eradication, of other infections such as
E. the possibility of what they had not previously considered possible – better control and possibly eradication of infections like

OA after discussion.

A, between A and C.

i believe we need 'such as' here. A uses the word 'other diseases' that makes me choose A over C when seeing from a meaning perspective. from a concision perspective, i would have chosen C because the extra 'the' in A looks mighty awkward.

The success of the program to eradicate smallpox has stimulated experts to
pursue what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as measles and yaws.

A. what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as

what they had --- i find it awkward and strong assertion

B. what they had not previously considered a possibility -- better control, if not eradication, of such infections like

OUT like should not be used

C. something they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of such infections as

Correct

D. something not considered a previous possibility -- better control and perhaps eradication, of other infections such as

Perhaps eradication ---changes the meaning

E. the possibility of what they had not previously considered possible – better control and possibly eradication of infections like

OUT-- like should not be used

OA C

any ideas why that OA logitech? is it coz GMAT hates 'what' ?

https://www.beatthegmat.com/smallpox-t23 ... ht=measles

Read Ron's explanation.

RON RULES!

Mals24 is also bringing her magic to this problem.

Why is past perfect had previously considered correct?

Onell wrote:Why is past perfect had previously considered correct?

Answer choice C:
The success of the program to eradicate smallpox has stimulated experts to pursue something they had not previously considered possible.

Action in the past:
The success...has stimulated experts to pursue.
The present perfect implies a past action that affects the present. Thus, sometime in the past, the success with smallpox stimulated experts to pursue better control of other diseases.

Action even further in the past:
...something they had not previously considered possible.
Previously, the experts had not considered better control possible, but then this action stopped: clearly, the experts DID consider better control possible when they were stimulated to pursue it.

Putting it all together:

The success has stimulated experts to pursue...something they had not previously considered possible.

imo c
gmat prep question

Hi GMATGuruNY

Why option A (what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as ) is wrong.

is it because of option A, has 'what' ?

Please help to understand.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

gmat062011 wrote:Hi GMATGuruNY

Why option A (what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as ) is wrong.

is it because of option A, has 'what' ?

Please help to understand.

In A, the is too specific: what are THE other infections? Since we don't know -- the sentence gives only two examples, not the whole list -- the word the is inappropriate.

Another issue: the word what suggests that better control is the ONLY thing that the scientists had not previously considered possible. The intended meaning is that better control is something -- not the only thing -- that the scientists had not previously considered possible.

how can we justify the use of past perfect here (had considered)... Please explain

Onell wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

gmat062011 wrote:Hi GMATGuruNY

Why option A (what they had not previously considered possible -- better control, if not eradication, of the other infections such as ) is wrong.

is it because of option A, has 'what' ?

Please help to understand.

In A, the is too specific: what are THE other infections? Since we don't know -- the sentence gives only two examples, not the whole list -- the word the is inappropriate.

Another issue: the word what suggests that better control is the ONLY thing that the scientists had not previously considered possible. The intended meaning is that better control is something -- not the only thing -- that the scientists had not previously considered possible.

how can we justify the use of past perfect here (had considered)... Please explain

Please see my first post, in which I explain why the past perfect is justified.

have done never goes with past tense

why inhere

have done gose with had done.

strange???? I am confused.

maybe Mintch Hunt's explanation is correct.