Tenses please explain

Expert replies

hey_thr67: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 299; Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2011 10:27 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 9 times

by hey_thr67 » Mon Jun 18, 2012 6:26 am

In 1860, the Philological Society launched its effort to create a dictionary more comprehensive than the world had ever seen; although the project would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary had been born.

A: would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary had been
B: took more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was
C: would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was being
D: would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was
E: took more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was about to be

OA is D. Why not B

Last edited by hey_thr67 on Tue Jun 19, 2012 7:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Jun 18, 2012 6:26 am

Bill@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1248; Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:57 pmFollowed by: 192 members; Location: Everywhere; Thanked: 503 times; GMAT Score:780

by Bill@VeritasPrep » Mon Jun 18, 2012 7:20 am

B uses the simple past tense "took", which could lead to interpretation errors. We already have "was" (born) as a past tense verb, so it could sound like the dictionary was completed and born at the same time.

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Gaurav 2013-fall: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 307; Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2012 9:45 pm; Thanked: 12 times; GMAT Score:700

by Gaurav 2013-fall » Mon Jun 18, 2012 8:48 am

I think this problem is worthy of more discussion.

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that! (Rocky VI)

GMAT_2010_2707: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 21; Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 4:19 am

by GMAT_2010_2707 » Mon Jun 18, 2012 12:14 pm

Hi,

I would request an expert to kindly explain this.

We need to understand -

So in a sentence where series of action took place in past and the earliest action is in simple past tense - how do we handle the successive actions?

Thanks,
NM

jimmyjimmy: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 148; Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 1:08 pm; Thanked: 8 times

by jimmyjimmy » Tue Jun 19, 2012 6:54 am

Gaurav 2013-fall wrote:I think this problem is worthy of more discussion.

nice quote..buddy (the seven lines rainbows and sunshine)

rajcools: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 80; Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:00 am; Thanked: 4 times

by rajcools » Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:31 pm

read Stacey's explanation
https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/in- ... -t421.html

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