Before the climax of the dispute between King Henry and Archbishop Thomas of Canterbury was reached at Clarendon, the archbishop had resisted the king in a matter of arbitrary taxation and had fallen further in the king’s disfavor.

Before the climax of the dispute between King Henry and Archbishop Thomas of Canterbury was reached at Clarendon, the archbishop had resisted the king in a matter of arbitrary taxation and had fallen further in the king’s disfavor.

A – was reached at Clarendon, the archbishop had resisted

B – was reached at Clarendon, the archbishop resisted

C – had reached at Clarendon, the archbishop had resisted

D – had reached at Clarendon, the archbishop resisted

E – reached at Clarendon, the archbishop had resisted

Right Answer: A

Error Identification

Identifier	Fix
Was reached, reached, had reached	Tense
Had resisted, resisted	Tense

Explanation: 

The shifting verb forms across the options identifies verb tense issues. Exploring the underlying meaning of the sentence, we notice that the sequence of events are such : the archbishop had resisted, fallen further in favor; then, the situation reached climax. Therefore past perfect tense should be used and the had + past participle form must be applied on the verb ‘resisted’. 

A – This uses the correct verb forms. 

B – ‘resisted’ is incorrect, since the use of past perfect tense is required. 

C – The use of ‘had reached’ is illogical since this is not grammatically correct. The chronologically earlier action is the one that must use the had + past participle form. 

D – The use of ‘had reached’ is illogical since this is not grammatically correct. The chronologically earlier action is the one that must use the had + past participle form; ‘resisted’ is incorrect, since the use of past perfect tense is required. 

E – ‘Before the climax …. reacher…” since ‘climax’ cannot be a logical ‘doer’ or the action. Passive voice is required for the sentence to be  logical.