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was or had?

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was or had?

by kiranlegend » Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:29 am
Geologists once thought that the molten rock known as lava was an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days, sporadically erupting through volcanoes, but they now know that it is continuously created by the heat of the radioactivity deep inside the planet.

1. was an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days, sporadically erupting
2. had been an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days and sporadically erupted
3. was an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days, which sporadically erupted
4. would be an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days that sporadically erupted
5. was an underground remnant of Earth's earliest days, having sporadically erupted
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by Vignesh.4384 » Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:46 am
Hi,

"Had" should be used when there are two actions and both of them occured in the past ..
in this sentence both do not occur in the past..

IMO C.

Regards,
Vignesh
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by fourier » Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:38 am
https://www.beatthegmat.com/manhatan-sc-2-t8706.html

I think A is correct. I wouldn't use C because of the use of which
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by loki.gmat » Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:55 am
in all the answer options, antecedant of "they" is ambiguous.
is "they" referring to "Geologists" or "days"? not clear.


Thanks!
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by ricky » Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:01 pm
IMO C...

What is OA?
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by nitingupta5 » Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:26 pm
IMO A
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by Aldiablo » Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:43 pm
IMO A. Nothing wrong with it.

"they" is clearly referring to "Geologists".
When you think you can or you cannot, you are generally correct.
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by mksreeram » Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:04 pm
I go with B.

A. , sporadically erupting
C. , which sporadically erupted
E. , having sporadically erupted

all looks wrong as the statement after comma is not modifying correctly.

B usage of Had looks fine as "geologists once thought that x had been y now they know now it is z"

let me know your comments. What is the OA?
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by bsandhyav » Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:39 am
Guyz i also quite think in the same way
"geologists once thought that x had been y now they know now it is z"
So i feel B is fine,as both the actions are indicative of the past.

However the right answer is A. Can some1 explain how?
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by lachlanc » Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:42 am
"Geologists once thought..." - we want to use the past tense, not past perfect.

A - "was an underground remnant" - correct
B - "had been an underground remnant " - incorrect

Try this.
I once thought that Santa Claus WAS real.
I once thought that Santa Claus HAD BEEN real.
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by bsandhyav » Wed Nov 19, 2008 1:58 am
hey thanks a lot lachlanc......your example made it really really simple!!!
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