Having lived in Tahiti for several years, where life was

[chitrangada.maitra]

Having lived in Tahiti for several years, where life was slow and relaxed, it was difficult for Paul Gauguin to readjust to the hectic pace of Paris upon returning.

Having lived in Tahiti for several years, where life was slow and relaxed, it was difficult for Paul Gauguin to readjust to the hectic pace of Paris upon returning.
Having lived for several years in Tahiti, where life was slow and relaxed, it was difficult for Paul Gauguin to readjust to the hectic pace of Paris upon returning.
Having lived in Tahiti for several years, where life was slow and relaxed, Paul Gauguin had difficulty readjusting to the hectic pace of Paris upon his return.
Having lived for several years in Tahiti, where life was slow and relaxed, Paul Gauguin had difficulty readjusting to the hectic pace of Paris upon his return.
Having lived for several years in Tahiti, where life was slow and relaxed, Paul Gauguin had difficulty readjusting upon returning to Paris because of the hectic pace.

SOurce: mgmat question bank

OA: D

Explanation for ruling out E: The phrase "because of the hectic pace" appears to be modifying the verb "returning" (in other words, it sounds like Gauguin returned because of the hectic pace). The verb "readjusting" is without a complement, so that the reader is left to wonder: "readjusting to what?".

I could not figure out from the explanation why E is ruled out.

[gokul_nair1984]

OA: (E)

D looks more like the Official Answer. Here is my school of thought...

The phrase "because of the hectic pace" appears to be modifying the verb "returning" (in other words, it sounds like Gauguin returned because of the hectic pace). The verb "readjusting" is without a complement, so that the reader is left to wonder: "readjusting to what?"

"because of the hectic pace" is modifying returning

But WHO returned...It is Paul. It cannot be Paris.

Why Did Paul return ?---Because of hectic pace?( Did Paul Return because of his hectic pace or due to Paris' hectic pace)

Having lived for several years in Tahiti, where life was slow and relaxed, Paul Gauguin had difficulty readjusting upon returning to Paris because of the hectic pace.


He returned because of the hectic pace of Paris not because of his hectic pace.


Having lived for several years in Tahiti, where life was slow and relaxed, Paul Gauguin had difficulty readjusting to the hectic pace of Paris upon his return ---Clear and concise

Return to and Returning in this context are fine because of the gerund vs infinitive context does not hold good. Try substituting "UPON" with " AFTER"

[ajay_mavz]

I too had the same doubt... Great explanation Gokul...

Thanks

[ajay_mavz]

@chitrangada: If I am not wrong, OA according to you was E a few minutes ago.... I see that you have now changed it to D....


Can anyone please explain.......I feel D is great as per the explanation posted above...

[chitrangada.maitra]

D is the correct answer!

The OA that I had mentioned earlier was a typo. I have edited it in the original post so that others who read this post don't get confused.

[tim]

everybody cool with D now? :)

[thapliyalabhi]

everybody cool with D now? :)

I am also fine with D. My only doubt is "had". We are told that "had" is used in case of 2 events that happened in the past, where one event happened before the other one. Also, "had" should be used with the event that happened earlier rather than the one that happened later.
But, here it is written as Paul Gauguin had difficulty readjusting to the hectic pace of Paris upon his return. While, it is clear from the sentence that Paul came to Paris after living in Tahiti, the answer choices C,D and E add "had" to the event that happened later i.e. difficulty in readjusting in Paris.

Confused :S
Please clarify.

[jnelson0612]

everybody cool with D now? :)

I am also fine with D. My only doubt is "had". We are told that "had" is used in case of 2 events that happened in the past, where one event happened before the other one. Also, "had" should be used with the event that happened earlier rather than the one that happened later.
But, here it is written as Paul Gauguin had difficulty readjusting to the hectic pace of Paris upon his return. While, it is clear from the sentence that Paul came to Paris after living in Tahiti, the answer choices C,D and E add "had" to the event that happened later i.e. difficulty in readjusting in Paris.

Confused :S
Please clarify.

Got it! Well, remember that "had" can be used by itself as a past tense verb: "I had dinner with friends yesterday" is a perfectly decent sentence.

It's when you use the "had" with another word, often a past participle, that you create the past perfect situation:

He had studied for the GMAT for six months before he aced the test.

"had studied" is the past perfect and "aced" is the simple past tense verb in this case.

I hope that this makes more sense.

[thapliyalabhi]

everybody cool with D now? :)

I am also fine with D. My only doubt is "had". We are told that "had" is used in case of 2 events that happened in the past, where one event happened before the other one. Also, "had" should be used with the event that happened earlier rather than the one that happened later.
But, here it is written as Paul Gauguin had difficulty readjusting to the hectic pace of Paris upon his return. While, it is clear from the sentence that Paul came to Paris after living in Tahiti, the answer choices C,D and E add "had" to the event that happened later i.e. difficulty in readjusting in Paris.

Confused :S
Please clarify.

Got it! Well, remember that "had" can be used by itself as a past tense verb: "I had dinner with friends yesterday" is a perfectly decent sentence.

It's when you use the "had" with another word, often a past participle, that you create the past perfect situation:

He had studied for the GMAT for six months before he aced the test.

"had studied" is the past perfect and "aced" is the simple past tense verb in this case.

I hope that this makes more sense.

Thanks Jamie.

[tim]

:)

[Tadashi]

Hi experts,

C:Having lived in Tahiti for several years, where life was slow and relaxed,
(OA) D:Having lived for several years in Tahiti, where life was slow and relaxed,

I can't understand the OE: The modifier "where life was slow and relaxed" incorrectly modifies "years" instead of "Tahiti."

Anyone with an average IQ knows that the "where life was slow and relaxed" can never modifies the word "years". and that it can only modify a place.

If we want to modify "years", we may use "when" .

Would someone elaborate it?

ARIGATO.
Tadashi.

[RonPurewal]

Anyone with an average IQ knows that the "where life was slow and relaxed" can never modifies the word "years". and that it can only modify a place.

^^ This is a perfect summary of why that modifier is incorrect. It's describing something it's not allowed to describe.

If you replace "where" with "when", the modifier becomes logical (though with a different meaning"”implying that those years, rather than Tahiti, were stress-free).

[Tadashi]

So does that mean where clause should strictly follow the rules that where clause must modifies the noun before it.

& That's why "Having lived in Tahiti for several years, where life was slow and relaxed, " is inferior to
"Having lived for several years in Tahiti, where life was slow and relaxed,"

Will you agree with me Ron?
Tadashi.

[RonPurewal]

So does that mean where clause should strictly follow the rules that where clause must modifies the noun before it.

& That's why "Having lived in Tahiti for several years, where life was slow and relaxed, " is inferior to
"Having lived for several years in Tahiti, where life was slow and relaxed,"

Will you agree with me Ron?
Tadashi.

Yes, but not just "inferior""”the first one is wrong.

[Tadashi]

A new question.
can where + clause modify the word: years?

IMO, we should use when because where can only modify a place.

DOMO ARIGATO
Tadashi