PAST PERFECT TENSE

[pappup5]

Hi Ron,

Please refer Page 98 of the Sentence Correction Guide "Fifth Edition" :-

The band U2 WAS just one of many new groups on the rock music scene in the
early 1980's, but less than ten years later, U2 HAD fully ECLIPSED its early rivals in
the pantheon of popular music.

My questions :-

> Are "before" and "after" the only words that ,by establishing sequence, can help eliminate the need for PAST PERFECT ?

The sentence uses the word "later..10 years" which seems sufficient to eliminate "HAD ECLIPSED" by establishing the correct sequence.
So can we not write the sentence as follows :-

The band U2 WAS just one of many new groups on the rock music scene in the
early 1980's, but less than ten years later, U2 fully ECLIPSED its early rivals in
the pantheon of popular music

> Is the following construction grammatically correct and also a valid interpretation of what the sentence is trying to say ?

The band U2 WAS just one of many new groups on the rock music scene in the
early 1980's, but within ten years, U2 had fully ECLIPSED its early rivals in
the pantheon of popular music.

> Can I use the word "it" avoid repeating "U2". The band.......later, it....music ? Will this be considered okay too if not better than the original?

Thanks in advance!

[RonPurewal]

hi, this is the wrong folder for problems about material from the MPrep guides.
please re-post this question in the correct folder, thanks.