Regarded by publishing analysts to be

[Tadashi]

Regarded by publishing analysts to be increased by international tensions during the Cold War, sales of the spy novel reached the zenith in the 1960s, when most Americans perceived the U.S.S.R. like a constant threat.


A. Regarded by publishing analysts to be increased by international tensions during the Cold War, sales of the spy novel reached the zenith in the 1960s, when most Americans perceived the U.S.S.R. like

B. The spy novel, regarded by publishing analysts to be increased by international tensions during the Cold War, reached the zenith of its sales in the 1960s, when most Americans perceived the U.S.S.R. to be

C. Regarded by publishing analysts as increased by international tensions during the Cold War, in the 1960s the spy novel reached the zenith of its sales, when most Americans perceived the U.S.S.R. as

D. Reaching the zenith of its sales in the 1960s, the spy novel was regarded by publishing analysts as increased by international tensions during the Cold War, when most Americans perceived the U.S.S.R. as

E. Regarded by publishing analysts as increased by international tensions during the Cold War, sales of the spy novel reached their zenith in the 1960s, when most Americans perceived the U.S.S.R. as

OA: E

My question: I can't understand the underline part of the sentence presented in choice D.

As far as I know, the word "regard" should be used in 2 different ways. 1. regard sth. as NOUN. 2. regard sth. as ADJ

Here, we have regard sth. as verb-ed by XXX

can't understand.
Can anyone help me.

ARIGATO.
Tadashi.

[RonPurewal]

"Increased" acts as an adjective here.

It plays the same role in this sentence:
The company expects increased sales in December.
Just substitute "high" for "increased" here, and you'll see that "increased" is an adjective.

[cheeseburst]

Hello,


I understand the reasons, which make answer choices A through D wrong.

Just wanted to know is "sales" always plural? (I eliminated E initially thinking plural "their" can't refer to singular "sales")

Also, what is the difference between "its/their zenith" and "the zenith"?

Thanks.

[RonPurewal]

Hello,


I understand the reasons, which make answer choices A through D wrong.

Just wanted to know is "sales" always plural? (I eliminated E initially thinking plural "their" can't refer to singular "sales")

If "sales" is used to mean a career field, it's singular. If it refers to numbers, it's plural.

More importantly, this test will not try to "trick" you. If a word looks plural and that aspect of the word is actually tested, then the word will pretty much always be plural.

[RonPurewal]

Also, what is the difference between "its/their zenith" and "the zenith"?

Thanks.

"A"/"an"/"the" are NEVER tested on this exam.
From the perspective of this exam, the only relevant aspect of this split is the pronoun issue (= whether "its" or "their" can properly refer to a noun).

[cheeseburst]

Also, what is the difference between "its/their zenith" and "the zenith"?

Thanks.

"A"/"an"/"the" are NEVER tested on this exam.
From the perspective of this exam, the only relevant aspect of this split is the pronoun issue (= whether "its" or "their" can properly refer to a noun).

Thanks for the reply.

My bad, I asked my question in an unclear way.

How do "reached the zenith in the 1960s" and "reached its/their zenith in the 1960s" differ? Is the former wrong?

[RonPurewal]

No, I understood the question. What I'm saying is that, on this exam, you don't ever have to judge "the" (or "a(n)").


So:
- In the option with "their", just make sure "their" has an appropriate plural noun as a referent.
- In the option with "the", ignore "the", and pay attention to other issues.