Some more writing questions

Sikorsky
Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:15:38 +0000

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.

2) B: is. You need the present tense of the verb because the Belmont Stakes is still being run every summer.

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.