Doubtful SC: A March 2000 Census Bureau survey showed

[direstraits007]

A March 2000 Census Bureau survey showed that Mexico accounted for more than a quarter of all foreign-born residents of the United States, the largest share for any country to contribute since 1890, when about 30 percent of the country’s foreign-born population was from Germany.
A. the largest share for any country to contribute
B. the largest share that any country has contributed
C. which makes it the largest share for any country to contribute
D. having the largest share to be contributed by any country
E. having the largest share to have been contributed by any country

I eliminated C,D and E, but stuck between A and B. I marked B but I think instead of "has" in B, it should be "had". Also, I read somewhere on manhattangmat forums only that: To report an action performed at some unspecified time in the past use present perfect: I have seen the Statue of Liberty. To state that an action or state was completed by a specified time in the past use past perfect: By noon we had gathered three hundred bushels..
So I think the OA which is given as B, is wrong.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks!

GeeMate.

[Ben Ku]

Please cite the source (author) of this problem. We cannot reply unless a source is cited (and, if no source is cited, we will have to delete the post!). Thanks.

[direstraits007]

Please cite the source (author) of this problem. We cannot reply unless a source is cited (and, if no source is cited, we will have to delete the post!). Thanks.

I got this in one of the PrincetonReview tests.

Thanks!

GeeMate.

[gnetiq]

A March 2000 Census Bureau survey showed that Mexico accounted for more than a quarter of all foreign-born residents of the United States, the largest share for any country to contribute since 1890, when about 30 percent of the country’s foreign-born population was from Germany.
A. the largest share for any country to contribute
B. the largest share that any country has contributed
C. which makes it the largest share for any country to contribute
D. having the largest share to be contributed by any country
E. having the largest share to have been contributed by any country

Hi, "has contributed" (present perfect tense) seems the correct choice here.

The present perfect tense links the past and the present. It can be used to express an action that began in the past and continues into the present. Hopefully, you would find the information here and here useful.

We shouldn't have to worry about "had" since it is not in any of the answer choices. anyhow..... Past perfect tense is used to talk about two actions/events (one before the other) that happened in the past ("had + past participle" used for the earlier event). A good explanation is available here.

[RonPurewal]

actually, the only acceptable tense for a clause modified by "since..." is 'has/have __ed' (as long as the sentence is written from a present point of view).

be careful! note that this is for the clause being modified by "since...", NOT for the words following "since".

[direstraits007]

actually, the only acceptable tense for a clause modified by "since..." is 'has/have __ed' (as long as the sentence is written from a present point of view).

be careful! note that this is for the clause being modified by "since...", NOT for the words following "since".

So, Ron you mean the answer should be B in this case? right..

Thanks!

GeeMate.

[sureshnmishra]

why opt D is incorrect?

[d_taneja]

actually, the only acceptable tense for a clause modified by "since..." is 'has/have __ed' (as long as the sentence is written from a present point of view).

be careful! note that this is for the clause being modified by "since...", NOT for the words following "since".

So, Ron you mean the answer should be B in this case? right..

Thanks!

GeeMate.

Yes answer would be B

[sachin.w]

The right answer 'the largest share that any country has contributed' makes it to be placed beside United States.

Though it is the best of answer choices here, doesn't it represent an example of misplaced modifier?

[Willy]

The right answer 'the largest share that any country has contributed' makes it to be placed beside United States.

Though it is the best of answer choices here, doesn't it represent an example of misplaced modifier?

I think it is correctly placed. Where would you place it without rewriting the sentence?

[tim]

thanks Willy. let us know if there are any other questions about this one..

[shikhersingh002]

thanks Willy. let us know if there are any other questions about this one..

Hi,

Can someone plz reply why B is wrong. It looks good in context to use perfect tense

[RonPurewal]

Option B is the correct answer to this problem.

[deepak1990verma]

Ron,
Can you please explain what is wrong with option E.

[RonPurewal]

"having" is problematic, because mexico doesn't "have" that share of people anymore. (the people are gone from mexico--they live in the US now, according to the sentence.)