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During an era

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During an era

by crackgmat007 » Sun Sep 06, 2009 12:47 pm
During an era when interracial tensions in the United States have run high, Rosa Parks became a quiet, unassuming symbol of the continued struggle for human dignity.
(A) have run high
(B) ran high
(C) had run highly
(D) run high
(E) were running highly

Doesnt use of 'during' demand present perfect? OA - B
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by cramya » Sun Sep 06, 2009 5:46 pm
Use present perfect when an action started in the past and the action or its result still continues till date. When "since" is metioned in a sentence I have seen present perfect being used since the action or its result may continue till date.

If u look at the 2nd part of the sentence it uses became(simple past) so simple past is sufficient here since the action nor its result is indicated to continue till date.

If I am way off here then one of the experts pl correct me. Hope this helps.

B

Regards,
CR
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by capnx » Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:36 am
cramya is right. In that sentence, there's no clear indication that one action came before another. During X period, Rosa park did Y... So it is reasonable to consider that both actions occurred at the same time.

Had the sentence used another preposition (ie: before the period...), then clearly the sentence would had two separate tenses that would demand perfect tense usage.
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by gmatv09 » Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:08 am
my 2 cents -
"when interracial tensions in the United States ran high"
= "Rosa Parks became a quiet"

The 2 actions occur at the same time. Hence we have to use simple past.

:)
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by crackgmat007 » Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:10 am
I agree that both events occur at the same time and hence require same tense.

So it looks like 'during' in the sentence does not always demand present perfect tense. Share your thoughts for the below:

1. During the past 2 hours, I _____. <have slept/slept>
2. During the past 2 days, I ______ quant. <have been working/have worked>

IMO - 1. have slept
2. have worked
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by babuxavier » Sun Dec 09, 2012 3:21 am
IMO B
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