Question

Simplify the underlined part of the given sentence (if necessary)-
The widely accepted big bang theory holds that the universe began in an explosive instant ten to twenty billion years ago and has been expanding ever since.
A. That the universe began in an explosive instant ten to twenty billion years ago and has been expanding
B. That the universe had begun in an explosive instant ten to twenty billion years ago and had been expanding
C. That the beginning of the universe was an explosive instant ten to twenty billion years ago that has expanded
D. The beginning of the universe to have been an explosive instant ten to twenty billion years ago that is expanding

Answer 1

Hint:The underlined words are drawing some comparison or similarities between the different cultures that are there. We need to find the best phrase (in the given options).

Complete answer:
Option A) That the universe began in an explosive instant ten to twenty billion years ago and has been expanding - The sentence requires a simple past tense with respect to 'universe'. So, 'began' is correctly used in the given sentence. This is the correct option.
Option B) That the universe had begun in an explosive instant ten to twenty billion years ago and had been expanding - The past perfect 'had begun' of B implies that we are talking about some other event in the past and the universe had begun before that. Hence, this is an incorrect option.
Option C) That the beginning of the universe was an explosive instant ten to twenty billion years ago that has expanded – This option uses 'that has expanded' as if the Big Bang phenomenon is already over. Even if we do not understand the Big Bang theory, it’s been mentioned as something that is still going on. Also, the beginning of C uses too many words to state something simple. Hence, this is an incorrect option.
 Option D) The beginning of the universe to have been an explosive instant ten to twenty billion years ago that is expanding - –"to have begun" is way too complicated when we need a simple past tense. Hence, this is an incorrect option.

Hence the correct answer is option A.

Note:Trying to frame an answer by yourself before seeing the options would be beneficial in such questions as it would avoid confusion.