SC: Please help with this question

[Suapplle]

To be more specific: What is wrong with "D" especially "There were concerns"

for starters, it doesn't have the correct meaning. in particular, it doesn't have the flavor of exclusivity - i.e., those were THE reasons that led to the construction - that is implied by the original.

analogy:
humans walk on two legs. --> meaning: all humans (or at least all normal humans) walk on two legs.
there are humans that walk on two legs. --> there are at least some.

these statements are nowhere close to the same.
neither are (a) and (d).

there's also just a general awkwardness about (d) that would be apparent to most native-born speakers of english. it doesn't look good, it isn't easily readable, and, most importantly, it doesn't emphasize the right thing: the main skeleton of the sentence is "there were concerns", which is NOT the main point. in choice (a), the main skeleton is "concerns led to the construction", which IS the main point.

--

"to serve" is better than "serving", because
* "to serve" implies a sense of purpose or intention (which is precisely what is to be conveyed here), and
* "serving" implies that the systems were already serving boston at the time when they were being constructed.

Hi,Ron,I do not get the idea about "there were concerns..."
when this construction is used correctly?can you give more examples and explanations? What does the "exclusivity" means?please clarify,thanks!

[Suapplle]

the major problem in choice (b) is the use of the present perfect tense, as has been pointed out by several posters above. you don't use this tense unless the action is still continuing, or is still relevant, to the PRESENT.
that's certainly not the case here; the construction ceased over 100 years ago!

--

actually, the placement of the modifiers in choice (a) is actually better, and more logical, than the placement of the modifiers in choice (b).

notice that we have two modifiers that modify "construction":
* between 1876 and 1904
* of three separate sewer systems

although there are no 100% hard and fast rules for the placement of modifiers like these, the general idea is that you should place modifiers as close as possible to the things that they describe/modify.

in this case:
"between 1876 and 1904" describes the CONSTRUCTION.
"to serve metropolitan boston" should be attached to SEWER SYSTEMS.
both of these are properly placed in choice (a): the first modifier is placed next to "construction", and the second modifier is placed close to "sewer systems".

in choice (b), neither of these modifiers is placed appropriately close to the word that it actually modifies.

Hi,Ron,how to judge whether the action is relevant to the present? In this case,as I see,the concern lead to the construction,and the construction serve to Boston,I think it has effects on the present.please point out my fault,thank you!

[RonPurewal]

The sentence is only describing the impact of health concerns on the construction of the sewer systems. The construction of the sewer systems ended in 1904, so that impact definitely does not extend into the present.

E.g.,
The city's economic boom has inspired builders to build dense apartment communities.
--> The boom is still going on / the desire to build the communities continues into the present.

The dot-com boom of 2000-2003 inspired builders to build dense apartment communities in Mountain View.
--> Can't use "has inspired" here, because we're talking specifically about an impact on a past timeframe.

[douyang]

the major problem in choice (b) is the use of the present perfect tense, as has been pointed out by several posters above. you don't use this tense unless the action is still continuing, or is still relevant, to the PRESENT.
that's certainly not the case here; the construction ceased over 100 years ago!

--

actually, the placement of the modifiers in choice (a) is actually better, and more logical, than the placement of the modifiers in choice (b).

notice that we have two modifiers that modify "construction":
* between 1876 and 1904
* of three separate sewer systems

although there are no 100% hard and fast rules for the placement of modifiers like these, the general idea is that you should place modifiers as close as possible to the things that they describe/modify.

in this case:
"between 1876 and 1904" describes the CONSTRUCTION.
"to serve metropolitan boston" should be attached to SEWER SYSTEMS.
both of these are properly placed in choice (a): the first modifier is placed next to "construction", and the second modifier is placed close to "sewer systems".

in choice (b), neither of these modifiers is placed appropriately close to the word that it actually modifies.

I thought "of three separate sewer system" needs to place next to "the construction" because we are talking about the construction of the sewer systems. That's why I picked B over A.

What's wrong with above thought process?

It seems to me that thinking about the placement issue like the one above is a relatively subjective thinking process and i think we might be better off looking for easier splits somewhere else (i.e. led vs. have led" split).

[RonPurewal]

It seems to me that thinking about the placement issue like the one above is a relatively subjective thinking process

no, not really. you're neglecting the stuff on the OTHER side of those modifiers.

in terms of the two modifiers at hand (between 1876 and 1904 and of three separate sewer systems):

• BOTH must follow the construction.
...so, this isn't so much 'subjective' as altogether useless.

...BUT
• to serve should follow sewer systems.
^^ there you go. issue resolved—and with no 'subjectivity' whatsoever.

[TooLong150]

the major problem in choice (b) is the use of the present perfect tense, as has been pointed out by several posters above. you don't use this tense unless the action is still continuing, or is still relevant, to the PRESENT.
that's certainly not the case here; the construction ceased over 100 years ago!

--

actually, the placement of the modifiers in choice (a) is actually better, and more logical, than the placement of the modifiers in choice (b).

notice that we have two modifiers that modify "construction":
* between 1876 and 1904
* of three separate sewer systems

although there are no 100% hard and fast rules for the placement of modifiers like these, the general idea is that you should place modifiers as close as possible to the things that they describe/modify.

in this case:
"between 1876 and 1904" describes the CONSTRUCTION.
"to serve metropolitan boston" should be attached to SEWER SYSTEMS.
both of these are properly placed in choice (a): the first modifier is placed next to "construction", and the second modifier is placed close to "sewer systems".

in choice (b), neither of these modifiers is placed appropriately close to the word that it actually modifies.

Hi Ron,

I am not questioning the official answer, but how does "between 1876 and 1904" modify "construction" rather than "led", since it explains when something occurred, a function limited to only adverbs?

[RonPurewal]

timeframes can describe nouns, too—provided that the nouns represent events (not, say, people or things).

e.g.,
I need a list of postal holidays in November and December.

Concerts on weekends tend to draw larger audiences than those on weekdays.