OG..Pg no 720..Ice polished rocks

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OG..Pg no 720..Ice polished rocks

by prachich1987 » Sat Dec 25, 2010 11:53 am
His studies of ice-polished rocks in his Alpine homeland, far outside the range of present-day glaciers, led Louis Agassiz in 1837 to propose the concept of an age in which great ice sheets had existed in what are now temperate areas

(A) in which great ice sheets had existed in in now currently temperate areas
(B) in which great ice sheets existed in what are now temperate areas
(C) when great ice sheets existed where there were areas now temperate
(D) when great ice sheets had existed in current temperate areas
(E) when great ice sheets existed in areas now that are temperate

The OA is B
Would the experts please explain this one. Led Louis to propose...is in the past. So shouldn't the ice-age be before that. Hence, an ice-age had existed before he proposed. I am confused between A and B.
I understand that A can be rejected based on the fact that it mentions both "now" & "currently"
But what if A is like this "in which great ice sheets had existed in what are now temperate areas"
Which one to choose in that case??
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by Geva@EconomistGMAT » Sun Dec 26, 2010 1:01 am
prachich1987 wrote:His studies of ice-polished rocks in his Alpine homeland, far outside the range of present-day glaciers, led Louis Agassiz in 1837 to propose the concept of an age in which great ice sheets had existed in what are now temperate areas

(A) in which great ice sheets had existed in in now currently temperate areas
(B) in which great ice sheets existed in what are now temperate areas
(C) when great ice sheets existed where there were areas now temperate
(D) when great ice sheets had existed in current temperate areas
(E) when great ice sheets existed in areas now that are temperate

The OA is B
Would the experts please explain this one. Led Louis to propose...is in the past. So shouldn't the ice-age be before that. Hence, an ice-age had existed before he proposed. I am confused between A and B.
I understand that A can be rejected based on the fact that it mentions both "now" & "currently"
But what if A is like this "in which great ice sheets had existed in what are now temperate areas"
Which one to choose in that case??
I believe the issue here is that the verb in question is part of the relative clause modifying the ice age. the relative clause beginning with "in which" modifies the ice age, and thus describes things that happened DURING that age. This gives you a specific time in the past in which the verb "existed" happened - during that age - and thus the past simple is indeed correct. In fact, using the past perfect as A does is an error, as the ice sheets are implied to have existed BEFORE the ice age - which is illogical.
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