OG16 VERBAL#38

酸辣年糕

Around 1900, fishermen in the Chesapeake Bay area landed more than seventeen million pounds of shad in a single year, but by 1920, over-fishing and the proliferation of milldams and culverts that have blocked shad migrations up their spawning streams had reduced landings to less than four million pounds.

(A) that have blocked shad migrations up their spawning streams had reduced landings to less
(B) that blocked shad from migrating up their spawning streams had reduced landings to less
(C) that blocked shad from migrating up their spawning streams reduced landings to a lower amount
(D) having blocked shad from migrating up their spawning streams reduced landings to less
(E) having blocked shad migrations up their spawning streams had reduced landings to an amount lower


答案选B
贴上gmatclub的解释：他的意思是说会有例外，可以先过去式，再过去完成时，所以就是记住就可以了吗？
另外，解释说lower不对，对我觉得less也不对，应该是fewer啊，因为是修饰pounds，感觉lower amount比less还好一些




There is an adage which says that be wary of the obvious. The first obvious is to say that when there was an earlier event in 1990, a later event as in 1920 should never be assigned a past perfect. Second, obvious is that use of less is inappropriate because 17 million pounds is countable. Therefore, a lower amount should be the right one. Both these assumptions are wrong as per the custom of American English, including GMAT.
It is customary to use a past perfect for a later event, when there is a time reference such as 1920. Don’t we say that I started my GMAT preparation in 2005 and by 2015, I had completed it. As there are exceptions to every rule, the use of past perfect is taken for granted in such rare cases.
17 million pounds is taken as a mass quantity rather than as countable individual pounds. Therefore the use of less is justified
By this token of reasoning, B is an acceptable answer.

(A) that have blocked shad migrations up their spawning streams have
reduced landings to less that have blocked is a wrong tense for an event that was completed in the past

(B) That blocked shad from migrating up their spawning streams had reduced landings to less ------ Correct
(C) that blocked shad from migrating up their spawning streams reduced landings to a lower amount ----- 'lower' is out of sync
(D) having blocked shad from migrating up their spawning streams reduced landings to less ---Shad migrations were blocked by the hurdles and not the shads themselves

(E) Having blocked shad migrations up their spawning streams had reduced landings to an amount lower –amount lower is out of sync

emmahiggins09

过去完成时和现在完成时是基本一样的道理都是表示一个延续的动作且对其结果产生了影响，而它们的区别就在于：

1/ 前者发生于过去 + 动作一直延续到一个过去的时间点（在题目中的延续到过去的时间点就是 by 1920) + 且这一直延续的行为对结果产生了影响
2/ 后者发生在过去 + 但是延续到了现在 + 且对现在的结果产生了影响

我对这道题目的理解是，这里是想要强调一个发生在过去且延续到1920的一个行为（overfishing and the proliferation of milldams) 所产生一个影响且这个影响发生在过去时间点中（had reduced landings...)

那么用我的理解再来套用下楼主举出的例子中：我从2005年开始准备GMAT，终于在2015年时和G分手了

1/ 开始准备G这个动作发生在2005年 （这个动作发生在过去）
2/ 准备的这个过程发生在2005年到2015年之间，所以是个延续的过程（而这个延续的过程也发生在过去的时间段）
3/ 然后这个准备的过程所给出的结果便是2015年和G这个小婊砸分手了。（这个延续的过程对结果产生了影响而这个结果又是发生在过去的）

PS： 这是我自己的理解，如果楼主又或是大家有其他的想法，欢迎来指正

emmahiggins09

首先 an amount 和 X million pounds 是 redundant 的

在英语中 time, money, quantities of weight, and distance 的表达通常都被认为是单数数，所以这里用的是 less 而不是lower amount
less serves to refer to any noun that takes a SINGULAR VERB.
fewer serves to refer to any noun that takes a PLURAL VERB.

这个考点在 OG2016 SC12 题中出现过，一下是SC12题，楼主可以体会下，答案是B

In 1979 lack of rain reduced India’s rice production to about 41 million tons, nearly 25 percent less than those of the 1978 harvest.

(A) less than those of the 1978 harvest
(B) less than the 1978 harvest
(C) less than 1978
(D) fewer than 1978
(E) fewer than that of India’s 1978 harvest


这是在beatthegmat 上一位大神的说的，这个大神和RON是齐名的

SamKboardW

引自beat the Gmat 论坛
Notice that, in B, the factors "reduced landings to less than four million pounds."

So less clearly refers to the weight, and so landings, which seems to be a plural noun, is recast as meaning something along the lines of "the of weight of shad."

When we talk about weight, as is the case when we talk about time and distance, we generally use less rather than fewer.

How far is it to the next town? Less than two miles.

How long until we get there? Less than ten minutes.

How much do our bicycles weigh? Less than twenty pound each.

To make this more clear, consider that each of these quantities often uses a singular verb.

Two miles IS a short distance.

Ten minutes IS a not much time.

Twenty pounds IS not much weight.

source: https://www.beatthegmat.com/og-verbal-review-2017-sc-verb-diction-t293274.html

Sophiew17

SamKboardW 发表于 2018-10-13 09:21
引自beat the Gmat 论坛
Notice that, in B, the factors "reduced landings to less than four million po ...

同意！