SC, Difficulty level: 700, Meaning, Source: Kaplan

Hello!

Great example to bring to the forum! Let's take a look at it, one problem at a time, and narrow it down to the right option! Here's the original question, with the major differences between each option highlighted in orange:

Some of the wild dogs that were distributed to local pet sanctuaries by city health officials and exterminated last year were collected as part of the city's initiative to protect local residents from dog attacks.

(A) Some of the wild dogs that were distributed to local pet sanctuaries by city health officials and exterminated last year were
(B) Some of the wild dogs that the local pet sanctuaries received and city health officials exterminated have been
(C) Some of the wild dogs that were distributed to local pet sanctuaries or exterminated by city health officials last year had been
(D) Last year some of the wild dogs that were distributed to local pet sanctuaries or exterminated by city health officials made
(E) Last year city health officials distributed to local pet sanctuaries as well as exterminated some of the wild dogs that had been

After a quick scan over the options, a couple major issues jumped out:

1. Were the dogs distributed to pet sanctuaries AND exterminated / OR exterminated?
2. Which verb tense makes sense: were / have been / had been / made?

Let's start with #1 on our list. Were the dogs both distributed AND exterminated, or were they distributed OR exterminated? If dogs are sent to a sanctuary, it is generally understood that they're not killed. It doesn't make sense that city health officials would send all of those dogs to a sanctuary AND kill all of them too. It makes more sense that the city health officials sent some dogs to sanctuaries, and some dogs were exterminated.

This is a tricky issue of meaning, so let's look more closely at what each sentence is actually saying to determine which ones don't work:

(A) Some of the wild dogs that were distributed to local pet sanctuaries by city health officials and exterminated last year were

This is INCORRECT because it suggests that the city health officials had the dogs both sent to sanctuaries (which don't typically kill dogs) AND had them all exterminated, which doesn't really make sense.

(B) Some of the wild dogs that the local pet sanctuaries received and city health officials exterminated have been

This is also INCORRECT because it creates a different overall meaning. This sentence suggests that a different group of people sent dogs to local pet sanctuaries, and the city health officials ONLY did the exterminating part. We know that the city health officials did both things, so this option doesn't work how it's written.

(C) Some of the wild dogs that were distributed to local pet sanctuaries or exterminated by city health officials last year had been

This is CORRECT! By saying that some of the dogs were distributed to sanctuaries and some dogs were exterminated by city health officials, it's clear that the city health officials did BOTH actions. It's also clear that only some dogs were killed, while others were not, which is what we're going for.

(D) Last year some of the wild dogs that were distributed to local pet sanctuaries or exterminated by city health officials made

This option is INCORRECT. While it does use the correct "or" to show that the city health officials sent some dogs to sanctuaries, and some dogs were exterminated, the verb at the end doesn't work. It doesn't make sense to say the dogs "made collected," so let's toss this one out.

(E) Last year city health officials distributed to local pet sanctuaries as well as exterminated some of the wild dogs that had been

This is INCORRECT because again, it suggests that the city health officials both distributed AND exterminated all of the dogs, which doesn't make sense.

There you have it - option C is the correct answer because it conveys the clearest and most logical meaning!

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