MGMT SC (V.5) - Chapter 7 - Q 13

[MoussaR234]

Hi,

This question is from MGMAT SC (V.5) book - The Verb Tense, Mood, & Voice (chapter 7) problem set, question number 13.

Question: In the Fischer- Tropsch process, which developed in Germany by Franz Firshcer and Hans Tropsch, coal is converted into a liquid fuel similar to petroleum.

MGMT Answer: was developed, is converted.

I do not understand why "has been developed" and "would be converted" are wrong, and why "was developed" a "is converted" are correct.

The intended timeline here is not clear: has the development of the process finished yet? or still ongoing? we have no indication of the time here. Maybe if you had said "... developed in Germany in 1870..." we could have inferred the timeline.

So we cannot just read the author's mind (with no pointers in the rest of the sentence) and adjust the tense sequence in this case. Therefore, I believe we need to use a predefined structure just to be safe:

You have mentioned in the same book that the tense sequence has to be either "present + future", or "past + conditional" - you have mentioned this with a "reporting problem" in that chapter, so I am not sure if this is a generally applicable rule ( in times of uncertainty!)

In your answer you have "past(was developed) + present (is converted)". This does not make sense to me, as you have just assumed the development was finished earlier.

I believe we can use "has been developed" here, because either the development of the process is still ongoing, or the EFFECTS of the development of process are still valid (since the process still works!), and then use "would be converted". I find this the safest approach.

Or am I just over complicating the whole thing? :)

Thank you.

[RonPurewal]

the use of the present tense ("is converted") is unquestionable, since we're describing how a process works.

[RonPurewal]

"has been developed" doesn't make sense here, because there is no evidence of an impact on the present.

e.g., The Tesla Model S, which first reached the market in the United States, runs entirely on electric power.
––> the idea of "first reaching the market in the US" is presented purely as a historical fact here; again, no relevance to the present.

My grandfather, who is unaware that several fully electric cars have reached the market, still thinks of electric cars as an element of science fiction.
––> now we have a direct impact on the present situation. there is no such thing in the sentence at hand.