Some scientists contend that many species of dinosaur had a metabolism more like a warm-blooded mammal’s than a cold-blooded reptile’s.
A. that many species of dinosaur had a metabolism more like
B. that the metabolism of many dinosaur species were more like
C. that the metabolisms of many species of dinosaurs were more like those of
D. there were many species of dinosaurs that had metabolisms more like those of
E. there were many dinosaur species that had a metabolism more like that of
In terms of subject verb agreement and comparisons it is clear that A is the correct option,but the usage of ‘Had’ brings an unnecessary spectrum of doubt.
As per the OG’s definition of grammar rules including many – The usage of past perfect tense is to show the order of two events.But,I do feel its perfectly normal to use ‘had’ in this case.
I made a mistake of cancelling out options based on the GMAT rule and eliminated A,D,E and was stuck.
a.How do I not fall into traps like these?
b.Is the understanding of the usage of past perfect tense correct?
Thanks!
Hi Pravin,
Your understanding that past perfect tense is used to show the order of 2 events is correct. But there’s no past perfect tense in the given sentence.
Example:
When she had chocolates, she was happy – had is simple past
After she had eaten chocolates, she wanted ice cream – had eaten is past perfect
Now let’s look at the given sentence
B: “metabolism” is singular whereas “were” is plural. Eliminate
C: The “‘s” in warm-blooded mammal’s and cold-blooded reptile’s denotes possession. Hence “those” is redundant. Also unnecessarily wordy. Eliminate
D: Same as C. Eliminate
E: Same as C. “that of” is redundant.Eliminate
Hope this is clear 🙂
Oh – yes!
Thank you so much for clearing that up!.