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Beginner Asked on September 11, 2013 in Sentence Correction.
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22 Answer(s)

Hi Dolly,

E- is incorrect or the meaning changes because of this usage , “-ing”/ Participle which would modify the entire Clause before the comma?

And My question about Verb Tense: 🙂 My Fav:)
1997 is clearly past 1981 and had is used in choice B, So i went ahead and eliminated it and chose C although its Passive..!
And this is not the only scenario i am troubled by Verb tense..!
Thanks to the poster..! This question seriously rocks.. I get stuck in these type of questions
Request your explanation and advice:)

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Default Answered on September 18, 2013.
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‘they’ is actually fine as it’s a subject pronoun and refers to children. 
A- Children did not spent 6 hours/ week before 1997. It’s a continuous process.
B Looks right!
C- Passive construction
D-It’s not clear what is compared with a figure.
E- this implies that overall figure grew ‘in 1997’ itself. 
Dolly
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Expert Answered on September 18, 2013.
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I agree why HAD is not wrong.

Please help
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Default Answered on October 2, 2013.
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Bharat- sorry! I missed your comment.

See this is one of such usages in which the time prior to the past tense is implied by the year.
By 1997 points to a specific time in past and rest of the statement refers to a time frame before that. 
1997 is working as a trigger for past time. 
Dolly
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Expert Answered on October 4, 2013.
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As far as time frame goes, 1981 is irrelevant in this sentence. This is there to tempt you to eliminate A. 

“by 1997” suggests completion in past – trigger for the first time is implied (the time when the number of hours began to grow)

For example
Sachin scored a century in 2013.
Sachin had scored 100 centuries by 2013. (since the time he started)

As for C, 
passive construction leads to grammatically inferior structure in the context. 
It seems slightly unclear who is doing the work. 
Passive construction is not really parallel in structure. 
Dolly
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Expert Answered on October 7, 2013.
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Ramneet,

The issue with A is about meaning.
The intended meaning of the sentence is that the children were spending 6 hours a week in 1997.
But the wording of option A – the children had spent 6 hours a week by 1997 – implies that the children reached the 6 hour mark at some point prior to 1997. Not necessary that they were still doing so in 1997.
B brings this out much more clearly.
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Intermediate Answered on May 21, 2014.
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In 1981 children in the United States spent an average of slightly less than two and a half hours a
week doing household chores; by 1997 they had spent nearly six hours a week.

  1. chores; by 1997 they had spent nearly six hours a week

  2. chores; by 1997 that figure had grown to nearly six hours a week

  3. chores, whereas nearly six hours a week were spent in 1997

  4. chores, compared with a figure of nearly six hours a week in 1997

  5. chores, that figure growing to nearly six hours a week in 1997 


    I eliminated A but stuck in all the other four.  

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Beginner Answered on September 11, 2013.
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Why have you eliminated A?  Question clearly tests you for comparison. Check which entities are getting compared. 

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Expert Answered on September 13, 2013.
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Eliminated A because ‘they’ is ambiguous.
The comparison we are looking for is the average time spent on chores.
 

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Beginner Answered on September 15, 2013.
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Aha !! seeing your reply feels like it was a cake walk !! 

Thanks for a great explanation
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Beginner Answered on September 18, 2013.
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