<p>[That] the thieves [were unable] to sell the sculptures they [had smuggled] out of Sicily suggests that the market for stolen antiques [has shrunk.]</p>
<p>The answer was no error, but I put [has shrunk.] I was under the assumption that since the tenses were different, it was incorrect. Would someone explain to me why it is no error? Thank you very much.</p>
<p>So basically what you have here is a present perfect tense verb. There is nothing wrong here, because the verb agrees with the sentence. </p>
<p>The event of the thieves not being able to sell their stolen sculptures indicates something. It indicates that the market HAS SHRUNK because they can’t sell them.</p>
<p>What I think you may have been confused about was the conjugation of the word “shrink,” which in this case has become “shrunk.” The verb “shrink” has three forms. The forms are:</p>
<p>Shrink; shrank; shrunk.</p>
<p>These are the base form, the past tense, and the participle respectively. You would say.</p>
<p>We made the market shrink.</p>
<p>The market shrank.</p>
<p>The market has shrunk.</p>
<p>When you put “has” or “have” in front of a verb you will use the participle, which in this case is shrunk. For a complete list, go to silverturtle’s 14th post in his complete SAT guide at the top of this thread. It is an excellent guide.</p>
<p>As written (with “has shrunk”) the sentence implies that the market for stolen antiques is shrinking and continues to shrink. The is the reason for using the “present perfect”. Assuming that this meaning is intentional the sentence is correct as correct.</p>
<p>If the sentence were written with the past perfect “had shrunk”, then the meaning would be different, i.e. that the market for stolen antiques is smaller than it was in the past and it is no longer shrinking, or perhaps that there is no longer a market for stolen antiques at all.</p>
<p>In the SAT writing you’re asked to decide if the sentence is correct as written, and not if there is some possible alternative (which in this case would have a different meaning than the one in the original sentence).</p>
<p>The decision of whether or not the sentence is right as written may be easier to make if you strip the sentence down to:</p>
<p>That the thieves were unable to sell the stolen sculptures suggests that the market for stolen antiques has shrunk.</p>