Question

Simplify the underlined part of the given sentence (if necessary):
In a review of 2,000 studies of human behavior that date back to the 1940s, two Swiss psychologists, declaring that since most of the studies had failed to control for such variables as social class and family size, none could be taken seriously.

• A. psychologists, declaring that since most of the studies had failed to control for such variables as social class and family size,
• B. psychologists, declaring that most of the studies failed in not controlling for such variables like social class and family size, and
• C. psychologists declared that since most of the studies, having failed to control for such variables as social class and family size,
• D. psychologists declared that since most of the studies fail in controlling for such variables like social class and family size,
• E. psychologists declared that since most of the studies had failed to control for variables such as social class and family size,

Answer 1

The correct option is E psychologists declared that since most of the studies had failed to control for variables such as social class and family size,

Here, options A and B are incorrect because the subject 'psychologists' needs a main verb and 'declaring' cannot be a main verb (as 'declaring' functions as a noun here). Thus, we come to the conclusion that the use of the verb 'declared' would be correct. Option C is also incorrect because 'having failed' is a participle form and cannot be the main verb in the clause. D cannot be correct because it does not follow the sequence of events - the sentence means to state that because the studies failed to control the variables, they [the studies] could not be taken seriously. The use of 'fail' disrupts this sequence of events - 'fail' reflects the present aspect of time, whereas the sentence is in Past Perfect tense. Therefore, the correct answer is E.