<p>In 1972, to reduce air pollution in the Great Lakes, (limits having been set by the United States and Canada) on the amount of phosphorus that could be discharged into Lake Erie and Ontario.</p>
<p>(B) limits set by the United States and Canada
(C) limits have been set by the United States and Canada
(E) the United States and Canada set limits</p>
<p>Answer: E</p>
<p>Why are B and C wrong? Isn't it better to begin with limits since the limits are the cause of the reduced air pollution?</p>
<p>To reduce air pollution in the Great Lakes, LIMITS
To reduce air pollution in the Great Lakes, the UNITED STATES AND CANADA</p>
<p>I know C is wrong because "have" doesn't belong, but, would the sentence be better than choice E if it was:</p>
<p>In 1972, to reduce air pollution in the Great Lakes, limits were set by the United States and Canada on the amount of phosphorus that could be discharged into Lake Erie and Ontario.</p>
<p>in the prepositional phrase its better if the subject begins it for example:
TO REDUCE (who is reducing?) United states and Canada + its more concise/not passive</p>
<p>^^^^^^^ yes, it is. but in most (95/100) SAT questions, PV is never a correct answer choice. There is no problem with PV, but error in expression certainly has. most of these PV options contain one thing. they are wordy. simple. 5/100 times a PV is correct and you know that when you see those questions. :D</p>
<p>I recommend you ignore passive voice and just note that there is a verb form error in the original sentence (having) that creates a sentence fragment. The correct answer will fix this error without creating any new grammatical errors. </p>
<p>It is extremely rare to see an incorrect answer choice that is logical and error free be wrong simply for using a passive construction. Passive voice is not an error in and of itself on the SAT.</p>
<p>Choice B removes the verb form error but still fails to introduce a main verb and thus is still a sentence fragment (the implied subject of the sentence is the entire final clause “limits…Ontario”).</p>
<p>Choice C fixes the fragment error but introduces a verb tense error (have been set). The present perfect progressive tense is not appropriate here because the action (the setting of limits) is not continuing up to the present or into the future. It is a one time action that happened in the past.</p>
<p>Choice E is the only grammatically correct answer. It removes the verb form error of the original and gives the subject of the sentence (the United States and Canada) a main verb that logically describes the action the subject is taking, thus fixing the sentence fragment error.</p>
:D</p>