Sentence Correction

Most studies approximate that 70 percent of individuals with an amputation experience phantom sensations in the amputated limb, often in the form of pain that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but contorted in an unnatural position.

(A) that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but
(B) that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when that limb was still attached to the body but that was
(C) that was identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but was
(D) identical to the pain that they typically experienced when that limb had still been attached to the body but that had been
(E) identical to the pain that they would be experiencing when the missing limb was still attached to the body but when

OA A
Explanation is at the end of the page.

Hi,
IMO A

ImO E

IMO E

Most studies approximate that 70 percent of individuals with an amputation experience phantom sensations in the amputated limb, often in the form of pain that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but contorted in an unnatural position.

(A) that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but
(B) that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when that limb was still attached to the body but that was
(C) that was identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but was
(D) identical to the pain that they typically experienced when that limb had still been attached to the body but that had been
(E) identical to the pain that they would be experiencing when the missing limb was still attached to the body but when

Logic of the sentence drives the tense used hence I found A the best choice

Frankenstein wrote:Most studies approximate that 70 percent of individuals with an amputation experience phantom sensations in the amputated limb, often in the form of pain that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but contorted in an unnatural position.

(A) that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but
(B) that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when that limb was still attached to the body but that was
(C) that was identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but was
(D) identical to the pain that they typically experienced when that limb had still been attached to the body but that had been
(E) identical to the pain that they would be experiencing when the missing limb was still attached to the body but when

OA and explanation please

Good question ...took me arnd 4 mins to solve.

I removed C, D and E because of tense issue. C puts "was identical", but we require present tense to do the comparison. D uses unnecessary past perfect, and E makes the sentence hypothetical.

A and B both are close. I choose A because B uses unnecessary "that" to refer back to "the limb" under discussion.

IMO A

i am confused between A and B....

really brain teasing

regards nafi

The headline (Tricky one) itself said, there wont be a direct ans to it !
As discussed above, once you start identifying Tense errors, you can eliminate all except A.Hence the ans.

well definitelyA seems to sound better than all the other choices in terms of tense as well as its concise nature...

If i had a second guess though i would bet E

Explanation of the answer:

Hint : Sometimes an answer choice will be wordy and awkward but still correct
The original sentence, though slightly awkward, is grammatically correct. The sentence compares the pain caused by phantom sensations to a previous pain caused by a limb placed in a contorted position; the pain is identical to the pain experienced when the limb was attached but contorted... At first glance, the sentence might not appear to be in parallel form, but the different elements in the comparison accurately describe what they are supposed to describe. All the other choices introduce errors.

Choice B adds the word that and the verb was in an attempt to parallel the previous that with pain. However, this makes two parallel clauses about pain, and the pain...that was contorted makes no sense.

Choice C changes the first verb to was. Since the verb experience in the non-underlined portion of the sentence is in the present tense, the verb describing the pain must be in the present tense as well. The first part of the comparison is about the pain that is currently experienced; the second part of the comparison is about a past feeling of pain.

Choice D, like B, illogically describes the pain as pain...that had been contorted and incorrectly uses the past perfect had been, which must describe an event that took place before other past tense events in the sentence. However, the pain that they typically experienced was pain that took place at the same time that the limb was attached; the limb was not attached before they experienced the second type of pain compared.

Choice E uses would be experiencing to describe the pain that people actually experienced when a limb was attached to their bodies. Would be describes a hypothetical event, one that would be taking place if some other condition allowed for this event to occur.

Cheers![/quote]

All those words and it comes down to parallelism "attached . . . but contorted".

The GMAT loves parallelism so much, the two of them should get married.

I think the words "missing limb" has a different meaning altogheter... theft kind of

dv2020 wrote:Logic of the sentence drives the tense used hence I found A the best choice

Frankenstein wrote:Most studies approximate that 70 percent of individuals with an amputation experience phantom sensations in the amputated limb, often in the form of pain that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but contorted in an unnatural position.

(A) that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but
(B) that is identical to the pain that they typically experienced when that limb was still attached to the body but that was
(C) that was identical to the pain that they typically experienced when the limb was still attached to the body but was
(D) identical to the pain that they typically experienced when that limb had still been attached to the body but that had been
(E) identical to the pain that they would be experiencing when the missing limb was still attached to the body but when