The boom in agricultural exports

[hemant_rajput]

The boom in agricultural exports in the early 1970's emptied United States grain
bins and many were led to thinking that overproduction was now a problem of the
past.
(A) many were led to thinking that overproduction was now
(B) many had been led to thinking of overproduction as if it were
(C) the thought this led to was that overproduction had become
(D) led many to the thought of overproduction as if it were
(E) led many to think that overproduction had become

[spoiler]OA:E[/spoiler]
[spoiler]My question is why is the usage of past perfect is justified over here? I really don't see any timeline over here.

Also if someone can elucidate on eliminating D[/spoiler]

[sameerballani]

(D) led many to the thought of overproduction as if it were
(E) led many to think that overproduction had become

Option E -> The boom in agricultural exports in the early 1970's emptied United States grain bins and led many to think that overproduction had become a problem of the past.

Points for which I chose option E esp in comparison with option D -
1) LED is parallel to EMPTIED
2) Prefer TO THINK over THE THOUGHT OF
3) Correctly placed THAT after think
4) The phrase "problem of past" means something prior to 1970's, the period in which boom occurred. WERE is used in case of HYPOTHETICAL or WISHFUL event,however in this case OVERPRODUCTION was A REAL PROBLEM OF PAST and boom in export made OVERPRODUCTION look like something which is gone with the past. Also, the use of "as IF it were" in option C uses IF which leads to concept of conditionals..
5) Option E is grammatically correct and CONCISE at the same time.

I hope this helps..

Thanks.

[bhakk]

(D) led many to the thought of overproduction as if it were
(E) led many to think that overproduction had become

Option E -> The boom in agricultural exports in the early 1970's emptied United States grain bins and led many to think that overproduction had become a problem of the past.

Points for which I chose option E esp in comparison with option D -
1) LED is parallel to EMPTIED
2) Prefer TO THINK over THE THOUGHT OF
3) Correctly placed THAT after think
4) The phrase "problem of past" means something prior to 1970's, the period in which boom occurred. WERE is used in case of HYPOTHETICAL or WISHFUL event,however in this case OVERPRODUCTION was A REAL PROBLEM OF PAST and boom in export made OVERPRODUCTION look like something which is gone with the past. Also, the use of "as IF it were" in option C uses IF which leads to concept of conditionals..
5) Option E is grammatically correct and CONCISE at the same time.

I hope this helps..

Thanks.

Use of IF with WERE makes it a hypothetical event. Eg. If I were a rich man ...

IF IT WERE -- means a hypothetical event but here it was real and was overshadowed by boom of agricultural exports.
So
E over D

[GMATGuruNY]

The boom in agricultural exports in the early 1970's emptied United States grain
bins and many were led to thinking that overproduction was now a problem of the
past.
(A) many were led to thinking that overproduction was now
(B) many had been led to thinking of overproduction as if it were
(C) the thought this led to was that overproduction had become
(D) led many to the thought of overproduction as if it were
(E) led many to think that overproduction had become

The intended meaning is that the boom did two things:
it EMPTIED grain bins and LED many to think.
Only E conveys the intended meaning.

The correct answer is E.

A problem of the past is something that is no longer a problem.
In other words, a NONISSUE.
The OA implies the following sequence:
The boom LED many people TO THINK.
WHAT did they think?
That overproduction -- at some PRIOR point in the past -- HAD BECOME a nonissue.

Other errors:

In A and B, led to thinking is unidiomatic.
The preferred idiom is led + infinitive, as in the OA:
led many TO THINK.

In C, this lacks a clear referent.

In D, the boom led many to the thought of overproduction makes no sense.

[Gowri@CrackVerbal]

The boom in agricultural exports in the early 1970's emptied United States grain
bins and many were led to thinking that overproduction was now a problem of the
past.
(A) many were led to thinking that overproduction was now
(B) many had been led to thinking of overproduction as if it were
(C) the thought this led to was that overproduction had become
(D) led many to the thought of overproduction as if it were
(E) led many to think that overproduction had become

[spoiler]OA:E[/spoiler]
[spoiler]My question is why is the usage of past perfect is justified over here? I really don't see any timeline over here.

Also if someone can elucidate on eliminating D[/spoiler]

Elaborating on why D is incorrect:
D: led many to the thought of overproduction -> implies that the boom made people think about overproduction itself.
E: led many to think that overproduction had become a problem of the past -> implies that the boom made people think something about overproduction.

E conveys the intended meaning.

I hope the shift is clear now.