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Before the Civil War, Harriet Tubman, along with other former slaves and white abolitionists,helped create what had become known as the Underground Railroad, and were responsible forleading hundreds, if not thousands, of slaves to freedom.
  • a)
    had become known as the Underground Railroad, and were
  • b)
    would become known as the Underground Railroad, and were
  • c)
    had become known as the Underground Railroad, and was
  • d)
    has been becoming known as the Underground Railroad, and was
  • e)
    would become known as the Underground Railroad, and was
Correct answer is option 'E'. Can you explain this answer?
Verified Answer
Before the Civil War, Harriet Tubman, along with other former slaves a...
The original sentence contains two flaws. First, "what had become known as the Underground Railroad" is incorrectly in the past perfect tense ("had become"). The past perfect is used to describe a past event that occurred before another past event.
In this case, however, the "Underground Railroad" did not become known as such (or known as anything at all) until after it was created, and there is no past action that occurs afterward that would justify the use of the past perfect tense. Second, the subject of the sentence is "Harriet Tubman" only; phrases such as "along with,"
"accompanied by," and "as well as" do not create plural subjects (only "and" allows for the formation of a plural subject). Yet, the verb used in the original sentence is "were," which suggests a plural subject. Instead, the correct verb form "was" is necessary in order to agree with the singular subject "Harriet Tubman."
(A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.
(B) This choice corrects the verb tense by replacing the past perfect with the conditional "would become known" (used to express the future from the point of view of the past: "I said yesterday that I would go to the store today.") However, it does not correct the subject-verb agreement problem (retaining "were").
(C) This choice does not correct the verb tense issue, retaining the incorrect past perfect tense. It does correct the subject-verb agreement by replacing "were" with "was."
(D) This choice uses the incorrect and awkward verb phrase "has been becoming," which incorrectly suggests that the labeling of the Underground Railroad continues to the present day. However, it does correct the subject-verb agreement by replacing "were" with "was."
(E) CORRECT. This choice corrects the verb tense by replacing "had become" with "would become." Moreover, it corrects the subject-verb agreement issue by replacing "were" with "was."
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Most Upvoted Answer
Before the Civil War, Harriet Tubman, along with other former slaves a...
Answer:

The correct answer is option 'E': would become known as the Underground Railroad, and was.

Explanation:

To determine the correct answer, we need to consider the verb tense and subject agreement in the sentence.

Verb Tense:
The sentence is discussing events that occurred before the Civil War, so the past tense is appropriate.

Subject Agreement:
The subject of the sentence is "Harriet Tubman, along with other former slaves and white abolitionists." This is a plural subject, so the verb must be plural as well.

Options Analysis:
a) had become known as the Underground Railroad, and were: This option uses the past perfect tense ("had become known"), which suggests that the Underground Railroad was already established before Harriet Tubman and others helped create it. However, the sentence is discussing a future action ("would become known"), so this option is not correct. Additionally, the verb "were" does not agree with the plural subject.

b) would become known as the Underground Railroad, and were: This option uses the correct future tense ("would become known") to discuss the creation of the Underground Railroad. The verb "were" does not agree with the plural subject.

c) had become known as the Underground Railroad, and was: This option uses the past perfect tense ("had become known"), which suggests that the Underground Railroad was already established before Harriet Tubman and others helped create it. However, the sentence is discussing a future action ("would become known"), so this option is not correct. The verb "was" does not agree with the plural subject.

d) has been becoming known as the Underground Railroad, and was: This option uses the present perfect progressive tense ("has been becoming known"), which suggests an ongoing action. However, the sentence is discussing events in the past, so this option is not correct. The verb "was" does not agree with the plural subject.

e) would become known as the Underground Railroad, and was: This is the correct answer. It uses the correct future tense ("would become known") to discuss the creation of the Underground Railroad. The verb "was" agrees with the plural subject.

Overall, option 'E' is the correct answer as it uses the appropriate verb tense and subject agreement to convey the intended meaning of the sentence.
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Before the Civil War, Harriet Tubman, along with other former slaves and white abolitionists,helped create what had become known as the Underground Railroad, and were responsible forleading hundreds, if not thousands, of slaves to freedom.a)had become known as the Underground Railroad, and wereb)would become known as the Underground Railroad, and werec)had become known as the Underground Railroad, and wasd)has been becoming known as the Underground Railroad, and wase)would become known as the Underground Railroad, and wasCorrect answer is option 'E'. Can you explain this answer?
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