manhatan sc 3

[resilient]

Until Antoine Lavoisier proved otherwise in the eighteenth century, many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood.
a.many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood
b.many scientists believed that phlogiston was an imaginary substance released by combustion and its properties were not fully understood
c.phlogiston was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood and which many scientists had believed was released by combustion
d.phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood, was believed by scientists to be released by combustion
e.many scientists had believed that phlogiston was released by combustion and was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood




qa is a

[joshi.komal]

Until Antoine Lavoisier proved otherwise in the eighteenth century, many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood.
a.many scientists had believed that combustion released phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood
b.many scientists believed that phlogiston was an imaginary substance released by combustion and its properties were not fully understood
c.phlogiston was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood and which many scientists had believed was released by combustion
d.phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood, was believed by scientists to be released by combustion
e.many scientists had believed that phlogiston was released by combustion and was an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood

qa is a

Well the SC cab be attacked on th basis of Verb Tense Split. Since the Lavosier 'proved' which is past tense and Scientists 'believed' before that proving so the tense should be past perfect and you must use 'had'. This will eliminate answer choices B, C & D.

Now look for the Next split. you notice that the phrase 'an imaginary substance whose properties were not fully understood' is describing the 'phlogiston'. This effect can be best achieved by using this phrase as a modifier and placing it immediately after 'phlogiston'. Answer choice E is making the sentence too wordy. Hence correct answer is A.

Thanks
Komal

[marustern]

In addition to Joshi.Komal's response, choice E also slightly changes the meaning from the original's intent (choice A). Be very careful of this in all SC Sentences.

[lunarpower]

In addition to Joshi.Komal's response, choice E also slightly changes the meaning from the original's intent (choice A). Be very careful of this in all SC Sentences.

in fact, ALL of the wrong choices, except perhaps choice d, involve significant changes in meaning. to wit:

choice a (correct)
= "lavoisier proved that combustion does not release phlogiston. phlogiston, by the way, is an imaginary substance."

choice b
= "many scientists believed that phlogiston was imaginary and that it was released by combustion,** but lavoisier proved them wrong on at least one of those counts"
**notice the contradictory nature of these claims

choice c
= "phlogiston actually WAS imaginary until lavoisier proved otherwise; at that point, phlogiston decided not to be imaginary anymore"

choice d
not as radically different from (a) as the other choices, but still obfuscates the meaning of the original. on first reading, this sentence sounds as though scientists still believed that phlogiston was released by other chemical processes (just not combustion).

choice e
same contradiction as in choice b ("it's imaginary, but it still exists")

--

[resilient]

I usually get so stuck on the differences between the sentences that I end up getting snared by a meaning distortion. OTher than saying "be more careful" is there anything I can do?