<p>When M. R. Harrington, an archaeologist from the Museum of the American Indian, began to excavate the ruins he named the Pueblo Grande de Nevada, he unearthed artifacts indicating a 500-year occupation by indigenous peoples. No error</p>
<p>A) When
B) began to excavate
C) he named
D) indicating
E) No error</p>
<p>The answer is E but how come it's not C. Seriously, I thought it should have been the past perfect "he had named" because that was an action prior to the excavation.</p>
<p>And this one too...</p>
<p>Some plants use chemicals that repel insects, and also, these signals help to put neighboring plants on alert so they can mount their own defenses. No error</p>
<p>A) that repel
B) also, these
C) so they can
D) mount their own defenses
E) No error</p>
<p>The answer is B, but I see nothing wrong with that sentence. ?#@*.</p>
<p>"had named" would imply that he had been naming it continuously during a period of time, but he only has to name it once.</p>
<p>"and" and "also" are redundant. Just "and" will do</p>
<p>How would "had named" imply a continuous action?</p>
<p>Either way, if you think about this way...</p>
<p>Would you take..</p>
<p>You named your dog Fido.</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>You had named your dog Fido?
.. began to excavate the ruins he named the Pueblo Grande de Nevada.. Saying "he had named the Pueblo Grande de Nevada" implies he named over a period of time - saying he named the Pueblo Grande de Nevada implies he named it once.</p>
<p>Also, the rest of the sentence is in the past tense, not past perfect.</p>
<p>EDIT: lolilaughed explained it well</p>
<p>I thought "had been naming" was used for repeated past action and "had named" was used for an action before something else in the past. I don't see anything wrong with saying "You had named your dog Fido before you went to the bank".</p>
<p>You learn to tell the difference with time. Pay attention to when/how people use the past tense (he named...) and the past perfect tense (he had named...). You'll figure it out eventually. It's kind of like the difference between Ser and Estar in Spanish, or the difference between the imperfect tense and the past composed tense in French. (I know too many languages for my own good.)</p>
<p>lol...i was like...past composed?
then i was like...oh pass</p>
<p><em>Saying "he had named the Pueblo Grande de Nevada" implies he named over a period of time - saying he named the Pueblo Grande de Nevada implies he named it once.</em></p>
<p>Um...why?</p>
<p>Because it's the definition of past perfect. Memorize it. There's no why to it.</p>