<p>Is this question on page 161, # 13 an error? </p>
<p>the underlined has been put in parentheses</p>
<p>Before dinner was served A(during) the American Airlines flight from New York to Rome, the brothers B(began) to watch "Scary Movie 3" C(on) D(their) dad's laptop DVD player. (No error)</p>
<p>I would think it is the (began). Shouldn't it be "had begun"</p>
<p>Barron's says the correct answer is E, No error.</p>
<p>nope i think began and had begun are interchangeable, making the sentence correct.</p>
<p>"Had begun" would actually be a poor choice. Nonetheless, this book did have a few errors. Do not buy it, it sucks. Only buy Barron's if you're taking SAT II Physics.</p>
<p>my head started hurting when i opened barrons 2400. =P</p>
<p>well...as one of the people who got a 2400 on the SAT using Barron's 2400, I can say that it works.....but w/e</p>
<p>
[quote]
as one of the people who got a 2400 on the SAT using Barron's 2400, I can say that it works
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Quod erat demonstrandum.</p>
<p>Began is more present-tense when it seems the rest of the sentence is in past-tense.</p>
<p>I think it still should be had begun since the action is happening before another action "before dinner was served"</p>
<p>
[quote]
Began is more present-tense
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No. Began is the preterit, past tense.</p>
<p>I began
You began
He began
We began
They began</p>
<p>Begin would be the present tense.</p>
<p>Begun is the past participle, which, used in conjunction with the auxiliary verb "to have" in the preterit, past tense, forms the pluperfect tense.</p>
<p>I had begun
You had begun
He had begun
We had begun
They had begun</p>
<p>Barron's 2400 is WAY harder than you would need to kno to GET a 2400..</p>
<p>Some of its passage questions are not just hard, but complete BS. But I like the strategies, so it's worth the 17 bucks.</p>
<p>how many do you guys think I can miss and get over 2300, I am getting like 1-2 on writing, 3-4 on math and 5-8! on CR.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Hi walton12,</p>
<p>The answer to your most recent question is a little tricky, because the curve is more forgiving on CR than on M. If you miss just one on M, your score drops (I think 20 pts or so? Somebody help me out) but you can miss one on CR and still get a perfect score. This pattern continues throughout the 700s.</p>
<p>You might get your hands on a previously released real exam and calculate the curve in order to answer your own question: you need a formula, not a simple number.</p>
<p>About your original question, the formal rules are as follows:</p>
<p>You use the past perfect tense ("had begun") only when it is needed to indicate which action in the sentence happened <em>first</em>.</p>
<p>If the sentence already contains a word like "after" or "before," which clearly reveals which action happened first, you can use <em>either</em> the past <em>or</em> the past perfect. </p>
<p>if you want more information on this rule, I can give it to you: I drill students on it periodically, and I've got the textbooks in my classroom to prove it. :)</p>
<p>The only reason I know this rule, however, is because I teach advanced ESL. . . not because it shows up on the SAT. So, while Barrons is technically right, all the other posters on this thread make a really important point: you just aren't going to see this rule tested on a real College Board exam.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help guys. If it does appear on the test, I wish the best of luck to you all..</p>