scurvy humor 41

[real2008]

Not since Galileo suffered the “scurvy humor” of the Inquisition has a religious organization so effectively curbed the ability of a major scientist that he could pursue a theory.
(A) has a religious organization so effectively curbed the ability of a major scientist that he could pursue
(B) did a religious organization so effectively curb the ability of a major scientist that he could pursue
(C) has a religious organization so effectively curbed the ability of a major scientist to pursue
(D) did a religious organization so effectively curb the ability of a major scientist to pursue
(E) has a religious organization so effectively curbed whether a major scientist had the ability that he could be pursuing


pl. discuss the choices....

[real2008]

:!: :

[hk]

thats pretty tricky!!! Is the answer B ????

[dumb.doofus]

IMO C

Its a 3:2 split.. between has and did..

Clearly has is the winner.. because the sentence uses, "Not since Galileo suffered", implying that we are talking about present too.. Ex: It has been long since I played cricket..
Meaning I have not played cricket for long and also till now..

Alrighty, that takes care of B and D.. they are out.

A and E - You need an infinitive.. correct idiom is "ability to".. so these are out

C remains..

[lamhe]

Agree C as esplained by Dumb....

[rd85]

IMO C

Its a 3:2 split.. between has and did..

Clearly has is the winner.. because the sentence uses, "Not since Galileo suffered", implying that we are talking about present too.. Ex: It has been long since I played cricket..
Meaning I have not played cricket for long and also till now..

Alrighty, that takes care of B and D.. they are out.

A and E - You need an infinitive.. correct idiom is "ability to".. so these are out

C remains..

Not since Galileo suffered the “scurvy humor” of the Inquisition has a religious organization so effectively curbed the ability of a major scientist that he could pursue a theory.

Please Correct me if I am wrong. Can we write the skelton statement as the following?

A religious organization...curbed...the ability...to pursue..

If this is correct, how can someone curb "the ability to pursue"??

I think I might be messed up. Can someone provide a proper explanation? Test Instructors, are thou listening?

[ketkoag]

Not since Galileo suffered the “scurvy humor” of the Inquisition has a religious organization so effectively curbed the ability of a major scientist that he could pursue a theory.
(A) has a religious organization so effectively curbed the ability of a major scientist that he could pursue
(B) did a religious organization so effectively curb the ability of a major scientist that he could pursue
(C) has a religious organization so effectively curbed the ability of a major scientist to pursue
(D) did a religious organization so effectively curb the ability of a major scientist to pursue
(E) has a religious organization so effectively curbed whether a major scientist had the ability that he could be pursuing

IMO A coz the statement says that organisation has so effectively curbed the ability that......
but C says organisation has so effectively curbed the ability to PURSUE. I THINK "THAT" IS REQUIRED HERE..
hence choose A.

[amazonviper]

Not since Galileo suffered the “scurvy humor” of the Inquisition has a religious organization so effectively curbed the ability of a major scientist that he could pursue a theory.
(A) has a religious organization so effectively curbed the ability of a major scientist that he could pursue
(B) did a religious organization so effectively curb the ability of a major scientist that he could pursue
(C) has a religious organization so effectively curbed the ability of a major scientist to pursue
(D) did a religious organization so effectively curb the ability of a major scientist to pursue
(E) has a religious organization so effectively curbed whether a major scientist had the ability that he could be pursuing


pl. discuss the choices....

We have a 3:2 split here - > "did" and "has". But I was unsure which one was correct. I used the second pair of 2:2:1 split at the end of the sentence "That he could pursue","That he could be pursuing" and "to pursue".

"That he could pursue" in too wordy,"That he could be pursuing" is changing the tense and hence incorrect. Therefor one of the answer choices has to end with "to pursue" (C &D).

Then re-reading the sentence with C and D made me choose C.

Can anyone help me how to choose between "has" and "did" from a grammatical standpoint ??.

OA please..

[vinayakdl]

I agree with C.

"has" is more appropriate here because, sentence seems to be comparing an even with history with present times...and hence and DD pointed out we need present tense.

Vinayak

[real2008]

OA is C