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GMATPREP: Past Continuous vs Past Simple

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by nonameee » Sat Feb 11, 2012 6:05 am
The first trenches that were cut into a 500-acre site at Tell Hamoukar, Syria, have yielded strong evidence for centrally administered complex societies in northern regions of the Middle East that were arising simultaneously with but independently of the more celebrated city-states of southern Mesopotamia, in what is now southern Iraq.


A. that were cut into a 500-acre site at Tell Hamoukar, Syria, have yielded strong evidence for centrally administered complex societies in northern regions of the Middle East that were arising simultaneously with but

B. that were cut into a 500-acre site at Tell Hamoukar, Syria, yields strong evidence that centrally administered complex societies in northern regions of the Middle East were arising simultaneously with but also

C. having been cut into a 500-acre site at Tell Hamoukar, Syria, have yielded strong evidence that centrally administered complex societies in northern regions of the Middle East were arising simultaneously but

D. cut into a 500-acre site at Tell Hamoukar, Syria, yields strong evidence of centrally administered complex societies in northern regions of the Middle East arising simultaneously but also

E. cut into a 500-acre site at Tell Hamoukar, Syria, have yielded strong evidence that centrally administered complex societies in northern regions of the Middle East arose simultaneously with but

OA: E
Could someone please explain the difference between the usage of Past Continuous (were arising) and Past Simple (arose), and why is the latter form preferable here?
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by sam2304 » Sat Feb 11, 2012 9:55 am
B/D - uses yields for plural trenches - wrong
C - simultaneously not parallel to independently of - with is missing, having been is not necessary.

A - that were - redundant or unnecessary and evidence for is wrong idiom.

Between Past continuous and Simple past it is better to use simple tenses unless it involves different times. 'were arising' refers to an ongoing action that was never completed in the past. Continuous tenses are not preferred in GMAT questions as its questionable. So be wary of continuous tenses. Moreover in A the shift in tense seems so awkward. that were cut - unnecessary simple past ... have yielded - past perfect ... were arising - past continuous ... Its so confusing and not clear in presenting the order of events, the same is more clear in E - the first trenches have yielded - past perfect (earlier past action) arose (later past action).

Hope this helps !!
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by nonameee » Mon Feb 13, 2012 3:33 am
I've read that Past Continuous is used for:

1) interrupted action: I was eating my dinner when he called.
2) parallel actions: I was eating and he was playing. While I was eating, he was playing.
3) specific action at a specific time: At 6 I was eating my dinner.

Now, why (2) can't be an option in the question above?
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by sam2304 » Mon Feb 13, 2012 8:52 am
By option 2, i hope you mean parallel actions stated by you. There is no evidence that the action got completed and it is questionable hence it is not preferred.
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by nonameee » Mon Feb 13, 2012 9:11 am
No, I don't quite understand why option (2) can't be the case for centrally administered complex societies and city states of southern Mesopotamia?
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by sam2304 » Mon Feb 13, 2012 9:01 pm
that centrally administered complex societies in northern regions of the Middle East were arising simultaneously with but also - were arising is the action here which is not complete, its an ongoing action and it is questionable (you never know whether it got completed or not) hence not preferred in GMAT.

Moreover the option ends with also - wrong and uses singular verb yields - wrong again.

Tense issue should be the last one to look upon and i have explained above without bringing in the tense problem as why E is the right answer. If you are still not convinced let me know :)
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by avik.ch » Mon Feb 13, 2012 9:33 pm
nonameee wrote:No, I don't quite understand why option (2) can't be the case for centrally administered complex societies and city states of southern Mesopotamia?
When the two action occur simultaneously, the tenses have to be consistent.

I went to the room but he left. - simultaneous action
When I reached the station, the train had left - not simultaneous action

When Metallica was playing "Enter sandman", the crowd was dancing. - simultaneous action

This is the same thing here. - "cut" and "arose"

Hope this helps !!
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by jgmatk » Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:00 pm
sam2304 wrote:B/D - uses yields for plural trenches - wrong
C - simultaneously not parallel to independently of - with is missing, having been is not necessary.

A - that were - redundant or unnecessary and evidence for is wrong idiom.

Between Past continuous and Simple past it is better to use simple tenses unless it involves different times. 'were arising' refers to an ongoing action that was never completed in the past. Continuous tenses are not preferred in GMAT questions as its questionable. So be wary of continuous tenses. Moreover in A the shift in tense seems so awkward. that were cut - unnecessary simple past ... have yielded - past perfect ... were arising - past continuous ... Its so confusing and not clear in presenting the order of events, the same is more clear in E - the first trenches have yielded - past perfect (earlier past action) arose (later past action).

Hope this helps !!
Hi,
I have a question.
I agree that (E) is the best choice, however, in option (A), since the trenches cannot cut trenches themselves(active), I guess "were cut" is necessary.
Someone can help on this?
Thanks.
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by avik.ch » Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:10 pm
jgmatk wrote: I have a question.
I agree that (E) is the best choice, however, in option (A), since the trenches cannot cut trenches themselves(active), I guess "were cut" is necessary.
Someone can help on this?
Thanks.

The students who were taught by Jessica scored 98 in maths.

who were taught by Jessica -- essential modifier. ( the main verb is in be + past participle form )

this can be written as :

The students taught by Jessica scored 98 in maths. -- its a past participle modifier here. We are deleting the relative pronoun and the be verb.

This is the same case here - the past participle form of cut is cut.

Hope this helps !!
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