一道疑惑题：inflation has made ......

will980980

　　13.Inflation has made many Americans reevaluate their assumptions about the future； they still expect to live better than their parents have， but not so well as they once thought they could.
　　（A） they still expect to live better than their parents have
　　（B） they still expect to live better than their parents did
　　（C） they still expect to live better than their parents had
　　（D） still expecting to live better than their parents had
　　（E） still expecting to live better than did their parents
答案是D，如果只依据前面的一般时态，应该选A，对吗？ 但是后面跟了一句“but not so well as they once thought they could.”，是不是就只能选择D？但似乎did与前面的时态不一致？

sapan

是不是选B啊。。我理解是不是，分号后面就是一个单独的句子，只要看这分号后部分的时态一致。parents的life发生在过去，所以用过去时，have是现在完成时，和后面那个thought不对也和实际的逻辑不对。

will980980

我写错了，答案是B.

dajiahaoh

我写错了，答案是B.

-- by 会员 will980980 (2010/4/16 2:56:24)

吓我一跳。前面是分号，后面是but，当中当然是句子啦

好色之图

Well, it's debatable whether the difference is clear-cut enough to pass GMAT quality control, but in my opinion B makes much more sense:
Wording in A: meaning = ...to live better than their parents have lived (up to this point, right now in the current timeframe)
Wording in B: meaning = ...to live better than their parents lived when the parents were in the same stage of life that the next generation is in NOW.

B makes much more sense to me.