<p>Thanks to those who helped me last time. Here are a few more for those who are interested:</p>
<p>1) With one of the most successful African American
businesses in history, the Motown Record Corporation
was founded in 1959 in Detroit by Berry Gordy, Jr.</p>
<p>(C) Being one
(D) One
(E) As one</p>
<p>2)First run in 1867 and still taking place every summer,
the Belmont Stakes, a horse race for thoroughbred
three-year-olds, was one of the oldest races in the
United States.</p>
<p>(A) was
(B) is
(E) has been</p>
<p>3)While Dixon's upbeat blues compositions helped usher in the Chicago blues sound during the 1950's and have become standard numbers for the many young rock groups trying to achieve popularity during the 1960's.</p>
<p>Could "have become" be replaced with "became" or "had become"?</p>
<p>Thanks all in advance.</p>
<p>1) D: One. This creates an appositive phrase. If you said “As one…,” that would lead the reader to expect that in the main clause, Motown would be doing something in its capacity as a successful AA business. Instead, the main clause of this sentence just gives details of Motown’s founding.</p>
<p>2) B: is. You need the present tense of the verb because the Belmont Stakes is still being run every summer.</p>
<p>3) Certainly not “had become.” That tense, the pluperfect tense, denotes a time before the time of the main verb; this would amount to saying that the songs became standards in the 1960s before they ushered in the Chicago blues sound during the 1950s. That’d be quite a trick! “Have become” is preferable to “became.” “Have become” conveys that the process went on for some time but is now complete, as opposed to “became,” which could suggest that the process happened all at once.</p>
<p>^Thanks a lot Sikorsky.</p>
<p>For 2), Can you explain the difference between “is” and “has been”?</p>
<p>And for 3), the question was an identifying errors question, with “have become” to supposedly be the error. I was thinking, because the sentence began with “While Dixon’s upbeat blues compositions helped,” would it make sense to use “became” to match the verb tenses?</p>
<p>Thanks again</p>
<p>For #2, yes. For #3, I’ve reread, and I want to change my answer.</p>
<p>“Has been” would say that the Belmont had the distinction of being one of the oldest thoroughbred races for a while, perhaps even intermittently, but does not have it any longer. “Was” would say that it used to be one of the oldest, but isn’t any more. Since the Belmont is still being run, and since it’s completely illogical that it could continue to exist but cease to be among the oldest races, the Belmont Stakes must still be (present tense) among the nation’s oldest races for thoroughbreds. </p>
<p>For #3, I read badly before, and I apologize. “Became” is correct. “Have become” does convey a sense that while the process of becoming is now complete, the standard-ness of Dixon’s music persists to the present day. But the sentence says that they were standard selections for musicians in the 1960s–over and done with. And if your choice is between “became” and “had become,” then the tense issue I mentioned above makes “became” clearly correct compared to “had become.”</p>
<p>Sikorsky has a misunderstanding of the usage of the words “has been.”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is wrong.
“has been” means that something happened in the past and continues to happen today. “has been” is the best choice.</p>
<p>[ENGLISH</a> PAGE - Present Perfect Continuous](<a href=“http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfectcontinuous.html]ENGLISH”>Present Perfect Continuous Tense | ENGLISH PAGE)
Look at use 1</p>
<p>And sentence 3 is not even a complete sentence! It does not have a verbal phrase modifying the subordinating conjunction “while”</p>
<p>I’ll agree that “has been” can mean what airfreshener says, but I stand by the assertion that it can also express that something has been from time to time, but is not now.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, it doesn’t change the fact that the proper choice is “is.”</p>
<p>Yes in fact it does. You said yourself that you agree that has been is used to mean something that happened in the past and continues to happen today. That description completes the sentence better than the word “is” which only describes the present.</p>
<p>In addition, provide a source that agrees with your contention that “has been” doesn’t describe something in the present. I don’t know if you noticed, but it is a contradiction that you think that “has been” could describe the present and think that “has been” could not describe the present</p>
<p>“Is” is an okay choice but it is incomplete. “HAs been” describes the fact that the horse race, started in the past, still continues today.</p>
<p>The correct answer for #2 is “is.” I originally thought it was “has been” as well.</p>
<p>And yes, it is from a CollegeBoard test.</p>
<p>I don’t understand. Where was this question from? CB tests?</p>
<p>I disagree. </p>
<p>I think the present perfect continuous emphasizes the pastness of an event, while also denoting that it persists. In the example from your link, “You have been waiting for two hours,” the construction stresses what you have been doing in the recent past.</p>
<p>The present emphasizes current status. That’s the more appropriate emphasis in this instance. For one thing, if the Belmont is currently one of the oldest races for thoroughbreds in the US, it cannot recently have been otherwise; the present implies something about the past in this case. Additionally, the participial phrase “still taking place every summer” makes the present tense more sensible.</p>
<p>which test? from the BB? or QAS? if QAS, which QAS?</p>
<p>ok i agree with your explanation.</p>
<p>Online course. I believe Test #4.</p>
<p>But it’s only because “is” can used for FACTS or GENERALIZATIONS. The fact that it is one of the oldest races makes “is” more suitable.</p>