prasadyanz wrote:
When a man appeared in the village of Artigat in the summer of 1556 and presented himself as Martin Guerre, only a few locals suspected whether he assumed the identity of the man who had disappeared eight years earlier.
(A) whether he assumed
(B) whether he had assumed
(C) he assumed
(D) his assuming
(E) that he had assumed
(A) whether he assumed
(B) whether he had assumed
(C) he assumed
(D) his assuming
(E) that he had assumed
Dear prasadyanz,
I'm happy to respond.
This is not a stellar question, not very GMAT-like. It is extremely easy. The construct "suspected whether" is not correct. The word "whether" implies uncertainty, an indirect question. We would use "whether" with other verb: "ask whether," "wonder whether," "inquire whether," etc. The "suspect" implies at least a tentative conclusion, so "whether" would not be appropriate. The verb "suspect" is a verb that requires a "that" clause. There is only one answer choice that has a "that" clause, choice (E), so that has to be the answer.
This question is not very GMAT-like. Here's a much higher quality GMAT practice question:
Balancing the need for
Does all this make sense?
Mike