Although dark matter was first postulated in 1932 to account for the o...
Although dark matter was first postulated in 1932 to account for the orbital velocities of stars in the Milky Way, it did not drive the discovery of more information about it to be done by astrophysicists until it was the 1990s.
Meaning Analysis
- Although dark matter was first postulated in 1932 to account for the orbital velocities of stars in the Milky Way,
- it did not drive the discovery of more information about it to be done by astrophysicists
This sentence presents a contrast. It says that dark matter was first hypothesized in 1932 to explain the orbital velocities of stars in the Milky Way. However, it was only in the 1990s that astrophysicists started to discover more information about it.
Note that the way the sentence is written, it appears as though dark matter was responsible for not driving astrophysicists to discover more about it. This meaning is illogical since dark matter itself cannot be responsible.
Error Analysis
As pointed out in the meaning analysis, the construction of the sentence does not convey the meaning of the sentence very clearly.
Answer Choices
A
it did not drive the discovery of more information about it to be done by astrophysicists until it was the 1990s
Incorrect: This choice has errors pointed out in the error analysis.
B
it was not until the 1990s that astrophysicists were driven to discover more information about it
Correct:
This choice corrects the meaning error since it is worded in a way that the intended meaning is communicated clearly.
C
it was not the drive of astrophysicists’ discovery of more information about it until the 1990s
Incorrect:
This choice distorts the intended meaning of the sentence. Dark matter was not the drive for astrophysicists to find more information about it.
D
until the 1990s astrophysicists have not been driven to discover more information about it
Incorrect:
Use of the present perfect tense verb “have been driven” is not correct because astrophysicists were driven to find more information about dark matter in the 1990s. This action of being driven is over in the past.
E
not until the 1990s was it that it has driven astrophysicists to discover more information about it
Incorrect:
- The way “was it” has been used in this sentence is ungrammatical.
- Use of the present perfect tense verb “has driven” is not correct for the same reason already explained in Choice D.