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Had vs did?

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by what? » Sun Jan 16, 2011 2:31 pm
I did a quick search and couldn't find anything on the topic.

Today, because of public education and government breeding programs, the state of Michigan reports three times as many falcon nests than it has in 1970.

A. as many falcon nests than it has
B. as many falcon nests than it had
C. as many falcon nests than it did
D. as many falcon nests than it had been reporting
E. as many falcon nests than it does

You know what the answer is because of the question topic, but can someone please explain.
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by Target2009 » Sun Jan 16, 2011 3:11 pm
what? wrote:I did a quick search and couldn't find anything on the topic.

Today, because of public education and government breeding programs, the state of Michigan reports three times as many falcon nests than it has in 1970.

A. as many falcon nests than it has
B. as many falcon nests than it had
C. as many falcon nests than it did
D. as many falcon nests than it had been reporting
E. as many falcon nests than it does

You know what the answer is because of the question topic, but can someone please explain.
My Pick : [spoiler]A we use "had" to indicate some past event happened before some other past event. Here first part of sentence is in Present tense. [/spoiler]
Ok .. After referring back to MGMAT SC guide I am changing My choice to B mainly cause of following lines.
" Also note that the later past event does not need to be expressed with a Simple Past tense
verb. You could just use a date or another time reference.
Right: By 1945: the United States HAD BEENat war for several years."
Last edited by Target2009 on Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Abhishek
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by nayanikapawar » Sun Jan 16, 2011 7:18 pm
than it did??
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by bblast » Sun Jan 16, 2011 8:19 pm
I find has awkward here

i think it should be C
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by what? » Sun Jan 16, 2011 10:37 pm
can you please explain why you choose "that it did" and not "than it had" ... the answer is C
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by bblast » Sun Jan 16, 2011 10:47 pm
what? wrote:can you please explain why you choose "that it did" and not "than it had" ... the answer is C
the the state of Michigan reports means the act of doing something,
in choice A uses "has" : an incorrect present perfect for an action completed in the past.
Eg; > he has done his homework.->means a person completed his homework and the action is still present.
In choice B :
the past perfect is strictly not required here as target 2009 already pointed out.



simple past tense of doing something is DID, and thats the correct choice here.
Last edited by bblast on Sun Jan 16, 2011 10:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by Jim@Grockit » Sun Jan 16, 2011 10:53 pm
I believe "had" would have been acceptable had the main verb been in the past tense, leaving the sequence of tenses "reported . . . had (reported)" instead of the correct "reports . . . did (report)".
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by bblast » Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:00 pm
agreed with Jim, here we need simple past tense, not the perfects
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by powerpuff » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:54 am
Thanks, Jim for clearing it up! :)
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by diebeatsthegmat » Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:56 am
what? wrote:I did a quick search and couldn't find anything on the topic.

Today, because of public education and government breeding programs, the state of Michigan reports three times as many falcon nests than it has in 1970.

A. as many falcon nests than it has
B. as many falcon nests than it had
C. as many falcon nests than it did
D. as many falcon nests than it had been reporting
E. as many falcon nests than it does

You know what the answer is because of the question topic, but can someone please explain.
this ST is so odd. i said its odd because something is not right.... " the state of M reports 3 times as many... than it ...."
how could it be " as.... than"??? have never seen!
and if we have to choose 1 in test day i will choose C
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by what? » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:16 am
Jim@Grockit wrote:I believe "had" would have been acceptable had the main verb been in the past tense, leaving the sequence of tenses "reported . . . had (reported)" instead of the correct "reports . . . did (report)".
^ this makes sense. Thank you for explaining both scenarios, not only the correct one.
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