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Darwin

by GmatKiss » Tue May 15, 2012 12:16 pm
Darwin was not the first to advance a theory of evolution; his tremendous originality lay in the fact that he proposed the idea of natural selection as the means by which evolution worked.

　　(A) lay in the fact that he proposed the idea

　　(B) lay in the fact of his proposing the idea

　　(C) laid in the fact of his proposing the idea

　　(D) laid in his proposal

　　(E) lay in his proposal
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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Tue May 15, 2012 6:24 pm
This one is tricky, but we can get rid of a few answers by deciding if we need "lay" or "laid".

"Lay" is the past tense of "to lie" (as in "lie on the couch") whereas "laid" is the past tense of "to lay" (as in "lay the paper on the porch"). Since we're saying the originality was located in his proposal of natural selection, we need the verb that expresses location: "lay". This leaves us with A, B, and E.

B uses the awkward "fact of his proposing."

A and E seem grammatically fine, but E is much more direct, so I would go with that.
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by hailmanyu » Wed May 16, 2012 11:56 pm
Hi Bill

There is a difference in the construction of A and E. A) puts stress on Darwin while E) puts stress on the proposal. Since first clause stresses on people and not their achievements, option A) is a better choice.
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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Thu May 17, 2012 7:01 am
hailmanyu wrote:Hi Bill

There is a difference in the construction of A and E. A) puts stress on Darwin while E) puts stress on the proposal. Since first clause stresses on people and not their achievements, option A) is a better choice.
And you would get it wrong ;)

Did his originality come from him proposing the idea or from his proposal itself?
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by hailmanyu » Sun May 20, 2012 6:23 am
Yup, that makes sense. I can see your point now. :)
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