11. They had never before been in a museum with such an
extensive collection, they had a difficult time deciding
how to make the most of the limited time they could
spend there.
(C) Never before had they been
(D) Never before having been
(E) Because of never before being
Okay. Know this sentence contains a comma splice eliminating A and B. Now what?
C is still a comma splice as the first clause is still independent.
E is a wordy mess (we'd prefer a main verb in this because clause); it also contains "being," which is almost always used incorrectly on the SAT
D (correct) is a participial phrase modifying "they" in the independent clause
